Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. (RL), a leading global designer and distributor of premium lifestyle products, has decided to relocate some of its distribution business from West Virginia to Piedmont Triad in order to consolidate its operation in the region.  The company plans to close a warehouse and distribution center in Martinsburg, West Virginia in Dec 2010 and shift its children wear distribution operations to Piedmont Triad. The decision is likely to affect approximately 100 employees. Ralph Lauren intends to offer either relocation packages to the retrenched employees or severance-related benefits.  The relocation of the facilities is primarily based on the decision to consolidate the distribution operations of the company. Ralph Lauren already has two facilities in High Point, a city in Piedmont Triad. These include a retail distribution center that was opened in 1991, and a 300,000 square feet distribution and facilitation center opened in 2008. ...

Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation (RL) reported results for the second quarter of fiscal 2010 with earnings of $1.75 per share. Earnings were well above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 96 cents and were up 10.8% year-over-year. Net sales for the quarter declined 3.4% year-over-year to $1.3 billion, primarily due to lower domestic wholesale sales, a reduction in same-store sales at the company’s retail segment and approximately 1% unfavorable impact of foreign currency translation. These were partially offset by the wholesale contribution of formerly licensed childrenswear and golf apparel products in Japan, and low single-digit currency growth in Europe. Gross margins for the quarter expanded 189 basis points (bps) to 59.1% versus 57.3% in the comparable prior-year quarter. The increase was attributable to improved wholesale and retail segment margins, particularly in international markets, and supply chain cost savings initiatives. The operating margin for the quarter also expanded ...

By now we’ve all heard of Amazon’s near-billion dollar acquisition of Zappos which provided a tremendous return to Zappos’ original investors – Sequoia Capital and Venture Frogs. In fact, they only invested $60 million in the company over seven rounds. And, now, they’re sitting on a billion dollar return. How’s that for IRR?

Obviously, this is the magic of venture capital and outside of investing in a publicly traded venture BDC like Harris and Harris (Ticker: TINY), there’s not much we at home investors can do to get in on the ground floor. But, with up and coming retailers, we can still win! Heck, everyone remembers when Zappos was a low-price retailer instead of just a “customer service focused” retailer. Those were good days weren’t they?

Well, it seems a new trend is hitting the web. “Private” members-only luxury sample sale sites.  These retailers focus on getting limited quantities of

...

Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. (RL) has recently launched an Apple, Inc. (AAPL) iPhone application that allows users to customize the Rugby brand of shirts. The move is an extension of the so-called "merchantainment" program of the company that blends its merchandising efforts with entertainment. Polo Ralph introduced the Rugby brand in 2004 to primarily target young adults. The new application enables iPhone and iPod touch device users to personalize the Rugby line of shirts including varsity sweaters, rugby shirts, polo shirts and hooded sweatshirts. Customers can now add patches that feature numbers and letters on their shirts, and upload their photos with chosen hairstyles, skin tones and backgrounds. The strategic move is aimed at utilizing popular networking sites to augment sales and establish direct communication with end users. Similar moves had already been taken by diverse companies such as Dell Inc. (DELL) and Starbucks ...

div style="text-align: justify;"Merrill Lynch/BAM is out with span style="font-weight: bold;"cautious comments on Apparel players /spansaying following easy sales and weather comparisons in March, underlying momentum may still be weak (adjusting for the Easter shift) as retailers continue to face traffic and ticket pressures.br /br /Firm also notes relative outperformance of retail stocks (vs. SP500) usually ends in May as Retail stocks typically outperform the SP500 starting in Jan / Feb, peaking in Mar, and then underperform in May/Jun until Aug/Sep. Branded Apparel stocks typically start to underperform the SP500 in Jun and July.br /br /They are downgrading span style="font-weight: bold;"Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL)/span to Underperform from Neutral (with a $42 tgt) noting that after benefiting from the upward mobility in customer spending patterns (as key dep’t stores customers focused on up-scaling merchandise assortments through ‘06-’07), dep’t stores shift away from a higher AUR strategy and emphasis onsharper price points, coupled with ...

div style="text-align: justify;"Goldman Sachs is downgrading span style="font-weight: bold;"Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL)/span to Sell from Neutral with a reduced price target of $37 (vs $51 previously), reflecting 10% potential downside, as they see the following unfold:br /br /1) likely next aspirational laggard to join this peer group (TIF, COH, JWN and EL) which have all negatively preannounced,br /br /2) fundamental EPS risk on the horizon and a likely cautious outlook well below consensus, andbr /br /3) multiple contraction much like in past periods of slowing EPS and returns. 2008/2009/2010 estimates are moving to $3.79/$3.09/$3.35 from $3.88/$3.34/$3.68 to reflect a tougher outlook for RL’s retail division.br /br /Goldman sees an on-gong shift in consumer spend from aspirational to desperational. RL has bucked this trend with impressive inventory and expense management; however, they believe the shift worsened over the past few months and will prove more challenging for RL to withstand. As such, ...

What casino-resort company did billionaire Ron Baron recommend on Tuesday?

In this video, Baron recommends Wynn Resorts (WYNN) as well as Ralph Lauren (RL).

Disclosure: At time of publication, William Trent has no financial position in the companies mentioned in this article.

Sponsor: Financial Education Everything you need to know about finance