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BUSINESS CLASS ONLY

Exclusive luggage maker and retailer T. Anthony is a challenge for malls to bag

By Molly Knight

Lisa Braunreiter, a baggage handler for Midwest Airlines in Milwaukee, says she has never noticed a T. Anthony bag. A statement like that might keep many manufacturers awake at night, but it’s just fine with the exclusive baggage retailer.

Indeed, T. Anthony is so exclusive, it only has two stores: one at its headquarters on Manhattan’s Park Avenue, the other in Taubman Centers’ exclusive Mall at Short Hills, Paramus, N.J. And while Taubman has pressed it to open more, T. Anthony says it will take its time.

“Taubman is after us for a few different malls,” said Jack D. Weiss, T. Anthony’s director of retail. “They’re very aggressive and that’s part of what makes them so successful. We will open more stores in the near future, but we haven’t signed on the dotted line just yet.”

The “T. Anthony” lettering on the navy blue awning above its front door is gold; its carpet is money green. The suitcase the company created for Marilyn Monroe decades ago, candy-apple red.

Its Park Avenue store rubs shoulders with Bentley and Mercedes-Benz dealerships and the like. It is T. Anthony’s 60th year in business, and despite its paucity of locations, the travel-minded company continues to flourish. In 2005, New York magazine named it the “Best of New York Luggage.”

“We have customers who come in with a T. Anthony bag they’ve had for 60 years,” said Weiss. “We pride ourselves on the implied warranty that you can carry this luggage for a millennium.”

Among the people who’ve been carrying T. Anthony luggage for the long haul, Weiss says, are lawyers, businessmen and well-to-do socialites.

“We have a major celebrity clientele,” he said. “Our customer is an A-list, jet-setting type person who recognizes the value and aesthetic of our product.”

Luggage sets organized by color line the store’s back wall. The spectrum bleeds from purple to red to black to gray to black-and-white. A large, hard-sided case costs $825; its small tote counterpart goes for $195, while a large hatbox runs $695.

“People make a long-term investment when they buy T. Anthony luggage,” said Weiss. “It’s pricey, but an extraordinarily sturdy product — and with the abuse that luggage takes that’s really important.”

Braureiter the baggage handler didn’t mean to offend when she said she’s never seen a T. Anthony bag during her five and a half years on the job. In fact, she might well have seen one without ever knowing it. It takes a keen eye to notice the company logo on the bag. Flying under the radar is a calculated part of T. Anthony’s unorthodox strategy.

“There is a logo of some sort, but we get more and more requests for less logo,” said Weiss. “We pride ourselves on not being flashy and logo driven. We leave that to others.”

Part of what makes T. Anthony’s products extraordinary, says Weiss, is the process by which they are made.

“With the exception of Louis Vuitton, most of our competitors’ luggage is made in China,” he said. “Our canvas is made in America. That’s our big selling point.”

The durable leather that trims the canvas bags is harvested in America, tanned in France and assembled in Italy, says Weiss. Leather wallets from the store’s wildly popular “Pressure Skin Collection” come from the belly skin of Louisiana alligators, for example.

“We’ve been told to expect a big shortage because of Hurricane Katrina,” said Weiss. “Which means they are going to be even more exclusive.”

On the back right wall behind a sales counter sits a large bookcase filled with briefcases. Weiss says T. Anthony has the biggest selection of briefcases in all of Manhattan, and its best seller is a 16 by 11 by 6 briefcase with two compartments that retails for $660.

“Hard cases don’t sell as well as they used to, and that’s because computers tend to slide around,” said Weiss. “People beat these to death because they carry them every day. Men become so attached to their briefcases that they simply will not give them up. They think it is like their lucky charm. It’s usually their wives or girlfriends who come in and say, ‘Enough! It’s time to get a new one.’ ”

Once in the store, Weiss says those wives and girlfriends are drawn to the company’s beauty cases ($850), large leather-bound photo albums ($175), umbrellas ($145) and large, elegant jewel boxes ($1,500).

“You can search the entire city and you won’t find such a selection of handmade, lined jewel boxes,” said Weiss. “They’re very, very special.”

It’s this kind of diverse selection of goods that sets T. Anthony apart, says Mary Whitfield, senior vice president of New York City-based retail consulting firm Retail Forward.

“T. Anthony is a good example of a company with broad appeal,” said Whitfield. “They offer a unique, distinctive, luxury good that people everywhere are attracted to.

Although the company might be old-fashioned, it isn’t too old-fashioned to have embraced the Internet. Weiss says that Internet sales have been a major reason why the company has been able to succeed despite only having two locations.

“We’ve been increasing in hits and annual sales every year,” said Weiss. “I would say right now our business is 25 percent Internet, 75 percent in stores. But our Internet sales are flourishing, so that breakdown may change soon.”

Whitfield says that companies this sensitive to Internet business must focus on making their Web sites easily accessible to the masses.

“To do well, they need to keep researching Internet search engines to determine how to make their name come up more often,” said Whitfield. “Search-engine optimization and marketing is really in its infancy. There are various algorithms and keyword functions to put products at the top of the search results page, so increasing aggregate Web traffic is mainly what these companies should focus on. More traffic equals higher revenue.”

Despite a burgeoning clientele base facilitated by cyberspace, Weiss maintains that business has remained the same on some fundamental level.

“Our best seller is still the classic duffle. It’s a unisex item, and a very popular gift,” said Weiss. “People like shoulder bags they can take on flights as carry-ons with minimum fuss. Wheeled suitcases are also very popular. The market has made clear that this is what the world wants, so now we’ve got wheeled wardrobes and even wheeled duffle-bag hybrids.”

In an e-mail to SCT, Braunreiter, the baggage handler said she agrees with Weiss’ assessment. “The most popular from my perspective is definitely a black, soft-sided 22" bag. That’s just your average medium-size bag, with the pull-out handle and wheels,” she wrote. “Those work the best as far as loading the luggage bin, and they hold up well.” So perhaps she has seen a T. Anthony bag after all.

Weiss says that part of retaining its “A-list” clientele is T. Anthony’s commitment to sticking with classic, soft leather, lightweight designs regardless of sea changes.

“We try to keep abreast of some fashion items, but mostly we stick with the classics,” said Weiss. “We have colorful ladies handbags for spring, but we don’t go overboard like some of the trendy, logo brands.”

Another important way T. Anthony woos its customers is with its old-fashioned customer service. At the Park Avenue location, five congenial salesmen in suits work the floor, while additional employees toil away in the basement, repairing and shipping luggage, engraving, stitching monograms and taking care of inventory. Some staff members have been with the company for 25 years.

“We have an old-school way of doing things around here,” explained Weiss. “When someone picks out something, we call downstairs. They monogram and gift wrap the item, and unless it’s Christmastime they’ll have it up to us in just 20 minutes.”

Weiss says that although T. Anthony was content with its one store on Park Avenue, it couldn’t pass up the opportunity to open at Short Hills and retail alongside tenants such as Cartier, Chanel, Tiffany and Gucci.

“Short Hills is an exceptionally upscale mall that attracts our customer,” said Weiss. “It’s an ideal spot for us. There are very few, if any, open spaces at Short Hills. They’re extremely careful about who they let in. Our people are always complaining that when they get a headache and want to run down to the CVS to get some aspirin, they’ve got to get in the car and drive somewhere.”

“We’re thrilled to have T. Anthony here,” said Janet Cesario, Short Hills’ marketing director. “It is one of over 40 stores at Short Hills that are unique to the state of New Jersey. It really adds to the quality of the stores that we have here, and it really helps drive business to the shopping center. It obviously fills a specific niche in the fine, well-made products it carries.”

Weiss is reticent about where the company wants to expand to, or how many stores it needs to open. “We’re considering locations that will best serve our needs,” is all he’ll say.

Until then, the little luggage company with big taste will continue to fly high, boosting its jet-setting clientele one suitcase at a time.

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