Item 1. Business
Item 1. Business
Our Company
Vera Bradley, Inc. operates two unique lifestyle brands – Vera Bradley and Pura Vida. We believe Vera Bradley and Pura Vida are complementary businesses, both with devoted, emotionally-connected, and multi-generational female customer bases; alignment as causal, comfortable, affordable, and fun brands; positioning as “gifting” and socially-connected brands; strong, entrepreneurial cultures; a keen focus on community, charity, and social consciousness; multi-channel distribution strategies; and talented leadership teams aligned and committed to the long-term success of their brands.
In July 2019, Vera Bradley, Inc. acquired a 75% interest in Creative Genius, Inc., which operates under the name Pura Vida Bracelets (“Pura Vida”). Pura Vida results are consolidated within the Company’s financial statements beginning on July 17, 2019, the first full day following the acquisition.
Beginning in the second quarter of fiscal 2020, the Company has included an additional segment for Pura Vida due to its acquisition. As a result, the Company now has three reportable segments: Vera Bradley Direct (“VB Direct”), Vera Bradley Indirect (“VB Indirect”), and Pura Vida. For financial information about our reportable segments, refer to Note 17 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements set forth in Part II, “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data,” of this report.
Our Brands
Vera Bradley
Vera Bradley is a leading designer of women’s handbags, luggage and other travel items, fashion and home accessories, and unique gifts. Founded in 1982 by friends Barbara Bradley Baekgaard and Patricia R. Miller, the brand is known for its innovative designs, iconic patterns, and brilliant colors that inspire and connect women. The reportable segments within the Vera Bradley brand are VB Direct and VB Indirect.
VB Direct . The VB Direct business consists of sales of Vera Bradley products through Vera Bradley full-line and factory outlet stores in the United States; e-commerce sites verabradley.com and verabradley.ca; the Vera Bradley online outlet site; and typically the Vera Bradley annual outlet sale in Fort Wayne, Indiana. As of January 29, 2022, the Company operated 70 full-line stores and 75 factory outlet stores. The annual outlet sale was cancelled in 2020, 2021, and 2022 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
VB Indirect . The VB Indirect business consists of sales of Vera Bradley products to approximately 1,800 specialty retail locations, substantially all of which are located in the United States; sales to department stores, national accounts, third-party e-commerce sites, and third-party inventory liquidators; and royalties recognized through licensing agreements related to the Vera Bradley brand.
Pura Vida
Pura Vida, based in La Jolla, California, is a digitally native lifestyle brand that we believe deeply resonates with its loyal consumer following. The Pura Vida brand has a differentiated and expanding offering of bracelets, jewelry, and other lifestyle accessories. The Pura Vida segment represents revenues generated through the Pura Vida websites, www.puravidabracelets.com, www.puravidabracelets.eu, and www.puravidabracelets.ca and through the distribution of Pura Vida-branded products to wholesale retailers and department stores, substantially all of which are located in the United States, as well as through its first retail store which opened in August 2021. Refer to Note 14 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements set forth in Part II, “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data,” of this report for additional information regarding the Pura Vida acquisition.
Our History
When they were traveling together, Fort Wayne, Indiana friends Barbara Bradley Baekgaard and Patricia Miller realized there was a lack of stylish travel accessories in the market. Within weeks, the friends created Vera Bradley, named after Ms. Bradley Baekgaard’s mother, and began manufacturing and marketing their distinctive products. The founders, together with past and present members of the executive management team, have been instrumental in our growth and success.
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The passion for design and customer service established by our founders has driven our Compan y for nearly 40 years and remains the cornerstone of Vera Bradley, Inc. today. Ms. Baekgaard retired from Vera Bradley operations in 2017 but continues to serve on the Board of Directors and as a brand ambassador. Ms. Miller retired in October 2012 as our National Spokesperson and in August 2019 from the Board of Directors.
In July 2019, Vera Bradley, Inc. acquired a majority interest in Pura Vida.
Similar to the Vera Bradley brand, Pura Vida was founded by two friends, Griffin Thall and Paul Goodman. Thall and Goodman, from Southern California, where traveling through Costa Rica in 2010 and crossed paths with two bracelet artisans. Thall and Goodman asked the artisans to make 400 bracelets to take home with them.
Upon returning to San Diego, Thall and Goodman placed the bracelets in a bowl at a local boutique. Within days, the bracelets sold out and customers were asking for more. Thall and Goodman quickly recognized the significance of these simple string bracelets. They were more than just ordinary locally-crafted bracelets; they symbolized a movement valuing the simple things in life. So, Pura Vida, which means “pure life” in Spanish and is a philosophy that encourages the appreciation of life’s simple treasures, was born.
We believe Pura Vida is a great strategic fit for Vera Bradley and that the two companies have combined to make Vera Bradley, Inc. a unique lifestyle company.
Enterprise Vision and Growth Strategies
We are committed to being a purpose-driven, multi-brand, stable-growth company, generating strong cash flow. We are positioned to continue to invest in our two lifestyle brands; seek out accretive acquisitions of other cash-generating, purpose-driven brands over time; and return capital to shareholders.
During fiscal 2022, we focused on four key strategies to further enhance our brands and strengthen our operations. Our accomplishments related to these strategies are as follows:
• We continued to drive our digital-first strategy. We made strategic organizational shifts and investments to pivot us to a digital-first company, evolving into a customer-centric, data-driven, technology-enabled, and digitally-focused enterprise which we believe allows us to effectively engage with our customers and offer a seamless shopping experience. Over one-third of our consolidated revenues are now generated from e-commerce sales, and excluding our factory stores, over half of our total company sales are driven by e-commerce.
• We further enhanced our product innovation pipeline, collaborations, and category extensions . We continue to build our Vera Bradley and Pura Vida lifestyle brands to attract new customers and increase share of wallet with existing customers.
• We continued to build our community through marketing. Both brands are working to engage, diversify, and grow their customer bases through analytics; targeted marketing; and environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) efforts.
• We further evolved our distribution channels. We are continually looking for new ways to reach our customers and to reinvent the shopping experience in the ever-changing retail environment; the future for both brands will be a combination of digital and brick and mortar.
Product , Marketing, and Distribution Strategies
Vera Bradley
Product. We have identified three key franchise businesses – Everyday, Travel, and Youth/Campus where we can offer our customers thoughtful solutions that we believe will propel our future growth. We will continue to look for opportunities to expand into relevant new categories that reflect our brands and signature attributes of comfortable, casual, affordable, and fun. We will also continue to use licenses and strategic partnerships as appropriate to expand our product categories.
In fiscal 2022 we saw year-over-year growth in our traditional cotton, Recycled Cotton, Performance Twill, and ReActive fabrications, and continued traction on our Factory Ultralight collection. We also continued product collaborations with several iconic brands, including Harry Potter™, Disney, and Crocs. In fiscal 2022, we launched our collaboration with Classic Accessories for our first-ever outdoor collection. We are planning another year of brand collaborations in fiscal 2023 that we believe engage existing and new customers, increase brand awareness, generate media attention, and provide Vera Bradley the opportunity to strategically test and enter into new product categories.
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Distribution Channels. Vera Bradley products are available through our Direct channel including full-line and factory outlet stores, online through verabradley.com, verabradley.ca and our online outlet site, and typically our Vera Bradley annual outlet sale, as well as through the Indirect channel including department and specialty retail stores, national accounts, third-party e-commerce sites, and third-party inventory liquidators. We continue to focus on tightly integrating our multi-channel business by strengthening and right-sizing both our Direct and Indirect distribution channels.
We are continuing to improve the profitability of our full-line store portfolio by re-balancing our existing fleet through select closures along with identifying future market opportunities. We will continue to focus on our highest-potential stores by enhancing the customer experience and will continue to develop and test new formats; however, we have currently suspended full-line store growth. In fact, we have closed 44 underperforming full-line stores since the beginning of fiscal 2018 and forecast that we will close additional full-line stores, although this remains a fluid process. We opened six new factory outlet stores in fiscal 2022 and plan to open five new factory outlet stores in fiscal 2023.
We continue to focus on enhancing and reinventing the customer experience in our full-line stores, and certain digital shopping additions that gained popularity during the pandemic have remained popular, such as appointment selling, buy-online/pick-up in-store, and curbside pickup.
Over the long-term, we have prioritized digital as the primary revenue growth driver for Vera Bradley, making major strategic shifts and investments to pivot us to a digital-first company; however, we are enabling her to shop in a seamless manner and want her to shop where and how she wants to shop. Stores continue to be an integral part of this omni-channel strategy. During fiscal 2021, we converted our e-commerce platform to Shopify Plus. This conversion was part of our overall IT project called Project Novus, which also replaced our ERP, POS, Business Intelligence, and Order Management systems. These changes decreased the complexity of our systems and provided us with a technology platform to help us make quick, data-based, informed decisions, which we believe will further enhance the customer experience and help us achieve our growth objectives.
Our Vera Bradley online outlet flash sales allowed us to continue to sell clearance merchandise in a more discreet manner, reducing clearance activity on verabradley.com and in our full-line stores. In fiscal 2022, we had over 52 million visits to our website and our online outlet site.
In our Indirect channel, we will continue to expand our digital marketplaces such as Amazon, as we focus on meeting customers where they are in their shopping.
Our department store relationships allow us to expose our brand to new customers and showcase new product assortments. We are currently in approximately 300 dep artment store locations. In the department stores, we continue to work on enhancing our brand presentation and profitability.
The specialty retail channel is the heritage of our business and remains important to us. We continue to add select accounts while discontinuing unproductive accounts. While the specialty retail business is a smaller percentage of our total revenue base, we are working to stabilize it by assisting retailers with optimizing their businesses.
Marketing. Marketing and brand positioning are both critical elements as we continue to engage new consumers and strengthen our bond with existing customers.
Our investments in customer data science and business analytics have continued to position us well, allowing us to collect and analyze data and respond to customer changes and adjust marketing spend on a real-time basis and in an agile way. Our goal is to drive our performance through marketing and community engagement.
We are continually focused on looking for new ways to creatively engage our customers, grow brand awareness, and introduce new customers to our brands in a cost-effective manner, but that is becoming more challenging and expensive for both of our brands.
Since the Company’s 2019 acquisition of Pura Vida, Pura Vida has shared its digital expertise with Vera Bradley and helped Vera Bradley enhance its digital effectiveness. Vera Bradley’s marketing platform will continue to be a blend of digital and more traditional channels, such as direct mail, email, quality media placements, PR, and targeted TV ads. Our marketing efforts are increasingly reflective of our ongoing commitment to diversity and inclusion.
We will continue to drive social media engagement by employing more user-generated content, growing our influencer and ambassador programs, further enhancing social storytelling and social selling, expanding Facebook Live and Reels, and growing TikTok engagement.
Under the umbrella of VB Cares, we reinforced our position as a total stakeholder-focused and socially-conscious organization and continued to strengthen our community support and charitable initiatives that are meaningful to our customers and that make a significant impact on those in need, particularly women and children. In fiscal 2022, efforts included supporting the
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Vera Bradley Foundation for Breast Cancer, New Hope Girls, and our national “Blessings in a Backpack” program. We will continue our VB Cares focus.
Pura Vida
Product. Pura Vida offers prod ucts mostly in the accessories category, primarily bracelets, with the balance of products in other jewelry categories such as rings and necklaces. These products are created with the “pura vida” lifestyle and aesthetic in mind, slowing down and living life to the fullest. During fiscal 2022, Pura Vida expanded into new product categories, such as apparel. Nearly 50% of the Pura Vida business is comprised of jewelry categories other than bracelets, such as rings, anklets, and necklaces. We believe these product categories highlight the brand's lifestyle appeal which we believe will continue to be a key driver of growth. Charity bracelets remained popular, reaching over $4.0 million in lifetime charitable contributions to more than 200 charities.
During fiscal 2022, we entered into high-profile product collaborations, including Hello Kitty, Disney, and Harry Potter, bringing new customers to our brand.
Distribution Channels. Our Pura Vida products are available on our websites, www.puravidabracelets.com, www.puravidabracelets.eu, and www.puravidabracelets.ca. Pura Vida is a digitally native brand and continuing to develop our websites and transmit the “pura vida” lifestyle through our digital storefront is a key distribution strategy. Pura Vida’s website immerses visitors in the brand, its products, and its social mission.
We also distribute Pura Vida products through select wholesale accounts throughout the U.S. and Europe. We will continue to target some larger accounts for growth which we expect to help build the Pura Vida brand.
During fiscal 2022, we added Pura Vida shop-in-shops to 23 Vera Bradley full-line stores and completed the roll-out of the Pura Vida charity bracelet program to all Vera Bradley full-line and factory stores. We opened our first Pura Vida retail location in San Diego in August 2021 and have plans to open additional retail locations in fiscal 2023. Additional Pura Vida stores will likely be in tourist, coastal, and/or college towns with established customer bases.
The San Diego store is allowing us to showcase the Pura Vida lifestyle with a full array of existing products and new product innovations, especially as we expand into new product categories such as apparel. Stores will play an important role going forward in new customer acquisition as we continue to diversify our marketing platforms.
Marketing. The Pura Vida digital marketing strategy is anchored in innovative and effective ways to connect with our customers, including partnerships with select individuals who we believe encapsulate the brand’s identity and serve as natural extensions of the Pura Vida marketing strategy. These partnerships translate into authentic, user-generated content that we can repurpose as ads, e-mail campaigns, and our own social media content.
Since spring of fiscal 2022, there has been a significant shift in social and digital media effectiveness due to the Apple IDFA (identifier for advertisers) update impacting direct-to-consumer companies, including Pura Vida. We are in the process of strengthening our internal marketing and data analytics talent at Pura Vida. Our team has continued to work diligently to dive deeper into customer analytics and build a more diverse and balanced marketing program through growing our SMS subscriber base, onboarding a new email marketing agency, and spreading a portion of our marketing resources to new platforms such as TikTok, podcasts, and YouTube. As digital marketing becomes more expensive, Vera Bradley will be able to assist Pura Vida with more traditional marketing channels, such as direct mail and e-mail.
Pura Vida remains one of the most highly-engaged brands in the accessories space, surp assing the 2.0 million m ark of followers on Instagram and is consistently listed as one of the most engaged jewelry brands on Instagram. Pura Vida continued to rank among the top of the industry for our Net Promoter and Customer Satisfaction Scores.
To date, over 150,000 micro-influencers have been on-boarded, and reliance on micro-influencers is a key part of Pura Vida’s strategy. Micro-i nfluencers are brand ambassadors who showcase Pura Vida products on their social media channels in exchange for commission. We plan to continue to build upon the influencer program, particularly focusing on individuals with the greatest number of followers.
Our Product Release Strategy
Vera Bradley . We typically introduce new collections monthly. Each launch typically consists of one to three signature cotton-quilted prints, as well as other fabrications including Performance Twill, Re-Active, and microfiber, some of which are also available in solid colors. These collections of prints and solids are incorporated into the designs of a wide range of products, including bags, accessories, and travel items. These collections typically include classic styles, updates to existing designs, and new product introductions.
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To keep our assortment current and fresh, and to focus our inventory investments on our best performers, we discontinue prints and fabrications as necessary. We sell our remaining inventory of retired products primarily through our websites (including our online outlet site), factory outlet stores, typically our annual outlet sale, and third-party liquidators.
Pura Vida . We introduce new Pura Vida products seasonally, approximately three times a year (spring, summer, and fall). We release curated product assortments multiple times per season that each embody a trend that we believe resonates with our customer base. Each product launch collection typically consists of 50 to 100 SKUs. We offer a mix of seasonally inspired designs and next generation designs of core bestsellers. In April 2021, we launched our Pura Vida apparel collection of shirts and hoodies and plan to further expand apparel in fiscal 2023 with new silhouettes and materials.
Our Products
The following chart presents net revenues generated by each of the Company’s product categories and other revenues as a percentage of our total net revenues for fiscals 2022, 2021, and 2020.
Fiscal Year Ended
January 29,
2022 January 30,
2021 February 1,
2020
Accessories 34.5 % 35.1 % 31.3 %
Bags 32.0 % 28.2 % 35.9 %
Travel 17.5 % 15.3 % 21.9 %
Home 8.6 % 7.3 % 7.2 %
Apparel/Footwear 4.7 % 11.1 % 1.2 %
Other (1)
2.7 % 3.0 % 2.5 %
Total 100.0 % 100.0 % 100.0 %
(1) Includes primarily stationery, licensing, freight, merchandising, and gift card breakage revenue.
Bags. Bags are a core part of our product offerings and are the primary component of every seasonal assortment. The category consists of classic and new styles developed by our product development team. Our bag product category includes items such as totes, crossbodies, satchels, clutches, backpacks, baby bags, and lunch bags. Bags play a prominent role in our visual merchandising, and we showcase the different fabrications, patterns, colors, and features of each bag.
Accessories. Accessories include Vera Bradley-branded fashion accessories such as wallets, wristlets, eyeglass cases, scarves, various technology accessories, as well as Pura Vida-branded accessories such as bracelets, rings, and necklaces. We believe our accessories are attractively priced and allow the consumer to include some color in her wardrobe. Our product development teams consistently update the accessories assortment based on consumer demand and fashion trends.
Travel. Our travel product category includes rolling luggage, cosmetics, travel and packing accessories, and travel bags which includes our iconic duffel and weekend bags. The first Vera Bradley product offering included duffel bags, which have consistently been strong performers. We believe their popularity, as well as the appeal of our other travel items, results from our vibrant designs, functional styles, and lightweight fabrications.
Apparel/Footwear . Our apparel and footwear category includes sleepwear, footwear, cotton face masks, outerwear, socks, scarves, and Pura Vida tees and hoodies. Cotton face mask sales began during fiscal 2021 at both Vera Bradley and Pura Vida.
Home. Our home category includes textiles, including throw blankets, beach towels, and comforters, as well as items such as mugs and tumblers.
Product Development
Vera Bradley. We have implemented a fully integrated and cross-functional product development process that aligns design, trend and market research, merchandising, planning, sales, marketing, and sourcing. We believe product development is a core capability that makes our products unique and that our designs and aesthetics set our products apart and drive customer loyalty. Our design and product development teams combine an understanding of the desires of our target customers, with knowledge of upcoming color, material, consumer, and fashion trends to design new collections, as well as new product categories.
We typically begin the development stage of our products in the Vera Bradley portfolio twelve to eighteen months in advance of their release. The development of each new pattern includes the design of a primary print and sometimes a secondary coordinating print. All print development is managed by our internal print design team. Once developed, we generally copyright
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our patterns as appropriate. We believe that great design is not only central to our products, but also is a fundamental part of our brand development and growth strategies.
Our design team works to ensure that new collections contain an assortment of products and styles that are in line with both trends and customer desires and regularly updates classic styles to enhance functionality. Our team monitors fashion trends and customer needs by typically attending major trend and industry shows in Europe, Asia, and the United States, subscribing to trend monitoring services, and engaging in comparison shopping.
Our product development team works closely with our marketing and merchandising teams to gather consumer insights through a variety of methodologies, including seasonal market research, in-store testing, scheduled interviews, and online and in-person surveys conducted by our internal team. Our work is also informed in part by market data analysis provided through our membership in industry services and organizations. The design and product development teams work to ensure that we offer products that are constructed to meet our design, function, construction, and quality standards in a cost-effective manner. We believe that, with our cross-functional, collaborative approach, we are able to introduce and market our products in a way that clearly communicates the Vera Bradley brand.
In addition to products developed in-house, we also pursue brand extensions through strategic partnerships, licensing agreements, and brand collaborations. We currently have licenses in place for eyewear; collegiate (NCAA); bedding; technology accessories; stationery/drinkware; sleepwear and loungewear; certain footwear; female shaving products; outdoor furniture, accessories, and décor; wallpaper and luxury vinyl tile; and pickle ball racquets and accessories. We also have licensing agreements with Disney Consumer Products, Warner Brothers Consumer Products, Peanuts Worldwide, and certain U.S. Military forces. We will continue to look for the right strategic partners and licensees that can augment the brand and provide established distribution networks for certain categories of business.
Pura Vida . Pura Vida continues to develop new styles and re-invent existing styles. We have a cross-functional team that aligns product development with merchandising to strategically manage the design process. Our cross-functional team attends trade shows and performs market research to develop what we believe will be on-trend products that communicate and emulate the “pura vida” lifestyle. We also pursue brand extensions through licensing agreements and we have partnered with Shark Week, Warner Brothers Consumer Products, Disney Consumer Products, Sanrio, and other companies that are consistent with our brand.
Marketing
We believe that the growth of our brands and our business is influenced by our ability to introduce and sell our merchandise in a way that clearly conveys the Vera Bradley and Pura Vida brand personalities. We use marketing as a critical tool in our efforts to promote our brands.
Vera Bradley
Retention Advertising. We communicate with our established customers consistently throughout the year with regular e-mails, social media, and notifications, as well as seasonal direct mail related to the Vera Bradley brand. Our retention advertising is geared to keeping Vera Bradley top of mind with our customers, rewarding our customers, and providing them with news of our seasonal launches, new product introductions, and VB Cares initiatives.
New Customer Acquisition Advertising. We primarily employ digital (i.e., display banner, mobile, geo-targeting, and pre-roll video) advertising to increase overall brand awareness and attract new customers.
Public Relations and Product Placement. Vera Bradley has received considerable editorial exposure in the press, with mentions in Oprah Daily , In Style , People , Elle , WWD , Cosmopolitan , Good Housekeeping , and Forbes . In addition, we have expanded our public relations efforts to reach popular online influencers and bloggers.
Product placement of Vera Bradley products in feature-length films and on prime-time television shows remains strong with television placements in The Neighbors , Blackish , American Housewife , The Neighborhood , Mom, Ozark, The Blacklist, and Chicago Fire . Movie placements include: Don’t Look Up, Black Friday, Arthur the King, Jurassic World, Moxie, and The Prom .
Partnerships. During fiscal 2022, under the umbrella of VB Cares, we reinforced our position as a total stakeholder-focused and socially-conscious organization and continued to strengthen our community support and charitable initiatives that are meaningful to our customers and that make a significant impact on those in need, particularly women and children. Efforts included supporting the Vera Bradley Foundation for Breast Cancer, our national “Blessings in a Backpack” program, New Hope Girls, and Free Mom Hugs, among others.
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Social Media and Online Marketing. We use online marketing and social networking sites as tools to increase brand awareness and drive traffic to verabradley.com and to our Vera Bradley stores. Vera Bradley can be found on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Pinterest, and YouTube.
For Vera Bradley, we have captured approximately 6.5 million active customer e-mail addresses in our online customer file, with many of these customers providing age, occupation, and location data. This information provides us with deeper insight into the products and categories that are of the highest interest to our customers, and allows us to better target our customers with appropriate messages. As of January 29, 2022, we had approximately 2.0 million Facebook fans and approximately 70,000 Twitter followers. Our Instagram has grown to approximately 560,000 followers and is our most highly engaged social medium. In addition, we often partner with brand-right bloggers to promote our products.
Direct Mail. Vera Bradley mailers are a vehicle for promoting the Vera Bradley brand and product portfolio. Each mailer is sent to a targeted customer mailing list. We believe our direct mail medium generates excitement and awareness about the Vera Bradley brand and allows us to reach both new and loyal customers in their homes.
Pura Vida
Our marketing effectiveness for the e-commerce channel was negatively impacted by the Apple IDFA update in fiscal 2022. This update negatively impacted our social media advertising and tracking, particularly Facebook and Instagram, which have been our primary marketing vehicles for growing the brand. We are putting additional resources in place to address this situation in fiscal 2023 with new data warehousing initiatives to maximize our first-party data and customer retention. In addition, as previously mentioned, we are continuing to diversify our marketing program by adding new marketing channels and leveraging SMS and email marketing more than in the past.
Retention Advertising. We connect with our established customers with regular emails, affiliate marketing, SMS marketing, and social media marketing. Our retention advertising focuses on informing Pura Vida customers of new product launches, exclusive offers, inventory restocks of best sellers, upselling subscription products, promoting referral and loyalty rewards, and the latest Pura Vida news.
New Customer Acquisition Advertising. Pura Vida focuses on digital advertising through Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Google, Snapchat, and Pinterest to acquire new customers. We are consistently testing new audiences, channels, creative ads, and promotions to maximize our return on paid media spend.
Ambassador Program . We have a grassroots program of brand ambassadors who drive customers to our website and generate buzz in local communities, digitally through their social media channels, in person through events, and through word of mouth. This program helps us reach our customers in a peer-to-peer fashion, similar to word of mouth marketing. We acquire these brand ambassadors through advertising on Instagram and Snapchat, as well as regular promotion through our organic and retention channels.
Influencer Marketing . We have tiers of small to large sized influencers across various key markets and demographic profiles. We work with macro influencers on product collaborations and campaigns, and foster organic relationships with them through photoshoots, trips, and events which we believe drives organic growth for the brand. We have also built a network of micro influencers through our gifted program who post for our brand in exchange for product and exposure on our social channels.
Charity Collaborations . W e actively partner with charities to donate to causes that are important to our customers. To date, we have donated over $4.0 million to var ious charities around the world.
Events Marketing . To reach our existing customers in person, to acquire new customers, and to expose customers to the experiential aspect of our brand, we have hosted several successful events at our flagship retail store in San Diego that opened in fiscal 2022. We have additional opportunities to expand our event marketing to include new retail stores as they open.
Seasonality
Because Vera Bradley and Pura Vida products are frequently given as gifts, we have historically realized, and expect to continue to realize, higher sales and operating income in the fourth quarter of our fiscal year, which includes the holiday months of November and December. In addition, our products are popular during back-to-school periods of August and September. Fluctuations in sales and operating income in any fiscal quarter are affected by the timing of seasonal wholesale shipments and other events affecting retail sales.
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Channels of Distribution
We distribute our Vera Bradley products through our VB Direct and VB Indirect segments and Pura Vida products primarily through e-commerce and wholesale retailers. This multi-channel distribution model is designed to enable operational flexibility and maximizes the methods by which we can access potential customers.
Vera Bradley Direct Segment
Full-Line Stores. We have developed a retail presence through our full-line stores, all located in the United States, which provides us with a format to showcase our brand and the full array of Vera Bradley products. As of January 29, 2022, we operated 70 full-line stores averaging approximately 1,900 square feet per store. Our sales associates are passionate about our products and customer service, which, we believe, translates into a superior shopping experience.
Factory Outlet Stores. Our factory outlet stores are a vehicle for selling factory exclusive styles, as well as retired merchandise at discounted prices, while maintaining brand integrity. Typically, approximately 95% of the merchandise found in our factory outlet stores consists of factory exclusive styles, although supply chain challenges in fiscal 2022 caused inventory levels of factory exclusive styles to fall below this level. Factory outlet stores are an integral part of our distribution strategy, as this format provides an additional channel of distribution for our products and enables us to better target value-oriented customers. Our factory outlet stores average approximately 3,400 square feet per store and we expect to invest approximately $0.5 million per new store, consisting of inventory, pre-opening costs, and build-out costs, less tenant-improvement allowances. As of January 29, 2022, we operated 75 factory outlet stores, all located in the United States.
Store Location Selection Strategy. Our store location decisions for both full-line and factory outlet stores are made based upon our comprehensive retail strategy that includes actual and planned penetration in both Indirect and Direct segments, as well as existing e-commerce demand. At this time, we do not believe all geographical markets have been fully penetrated by our distribution channels, although we have temporarily suspended full-line store growth and forecast that we will close additional full-line stores. We believe that long-term expansion of our store base will increase brand awareness and reinforce our brand image by contributing to our omni-channel retail strategy. In addition to analyzing store economics, we pay particular attention to the location within the shopping center, the size and shape of the space, and co-tenancies. Along with seeking co-tenants that we believe share our target customer, we seek a balanced mix of moderate and high-end retailers to encourage high levels of traffic.
Store Operations. The focus of our store operations is providing consumers with a comfortable and memorable shopping experience. We strive to make the experience interactive through special store events, such as showcasing newly launched products or celebrating our namesake’s birthday. Our customer service philosophy emphasizes friendly service, merchandise knowledge, and passion for the brand. Consequently, an essential requirement for the success of our stores is our ability to attract, train, and retain talented, highly motivated district managers, store managers, and sales associates.
E-Commerce. In 2006, we began selling our products through the verabradley.com website. The objective of verabradley.com is to provide both a mechanism for marketing directly to consumers and a storefront where consumers can find the entire full-line Vera Bradley collection. During fiscal 2021, we re-platformed our website to become more streamlined, nimble, and efficient in our technology platform and business processes. Since 2018, we have also operated an online outlet site to reduce clearance sales from verabradley.com. We had approximately 52 million visits to verabradley.com and our online outlet site during fiscal 2022.
Annual Outlet Sale. We have not held our annual outlet sale for the past two years as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. We have also cancelled our calendar year 2022 sale. Our annual outlet sale is typically held in the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum Exposition Center in Fort Wayne, Indiana each spring. The annual outlet sale is an important tradition for Vera Bradley, has many loyal followers, and is an opportunity for us to sell our retired merchandise at discounted prices in a brand-right fashion. We will be assessing the feasibility of future annual outlet sales in calendar 2023 and beyond.
Vera Bradley Indirect Segment
As of January 29, 2022, we sold our products in approximately 1,800 specialty retail locations, as well as department stores, national accounts, third-party e-commerce sites, and third-party inventory liquidators, as well as through licensing agreements. In fiscal 2012, we launched our products in the department store channel. We are currently in approxima tely 300 d epartment store locations.
The to p 25% of our specialty retailers account for approximately 80% of total specialty retail er revenue. No single Indirect retailer represented more than 10% of consolidated net revenues in fiscal 2022, with the top ten Indirect retailers, representing in the aggregate approxim atel y 55% of total Indirect segment net revenues. The majority of our Indirect retailers have been customers for over five years.
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Indirect Sales Force
We believe that having a combination of an in-house field sales force and a third-party agency, covering certain geographies, results in a more consistent brand presentation and messaging, enhanced support for our Indirect customers, and a more predictable, scalable, and cost-efficient business model. As of January 29, 2022, our in-house sales team consisted of approximate ly 25 f ull-time sales consultants.
In addition to acquiring new and growing existing accounts, our sales consultants serve as a support center for our Indirect customers by assisting and educating them in areas such as merchandising and visual presentation, marketing the brand, product selection, and inventory management. Our visual merchandising program provides our sales consultants with a framework to guide our Indirect customers regarding optimal product placement and display that is intended to reinforce the message that our brand is distinctive.
Pura Vida Segment
E-Commerce. Pura Vida is a digitally native brand and the e-commerce storefront continues to be the primary source of revenues for the Pura Vida business. The e-commerce site also includes a monthly bracelet and jewelry subscription club. The subscription club is a mechanism to continue to build brand loyalty and stimulate higher retention.
Wholesale. The Pura Vida wholesale channel is comprised primarily of specialty stores including Tilly’s, The Buckle, The Paper Store, Ron Jon Surf Shops, Hallmark stores, Nordstrom, and Dillards, among others. Pura Vida also has a presence on Amazon through a third-party wholesaler. We have a combination of in-house and external sales personnel who work with our wholesale retailers regarding order fulfillment and compilation.
Retail. Pura Vida has one retail store location in San Diego, California, which opened in fiscal 2022. The Company expects to open approximately three additional retail store locations in fiscal 2023.
Manufacturing and Supply Chain Model
During fiscal 2022 for the Vera Bradley brand, we faced significant supply chain disruptions that caused delivery delays, as well as inbound and outbound freight cost increases. Surges in demand for shipping containers has caused the cost per container to rise significantly. In addition, the surge in imports has caused delays in getting ships into ports and congestion once the containers arrive at the ports. Oftentimes, this has added several weeks of delays to our deliveries. We are continuing to work diligently to mitigate the situation, including shortening the product development timeline and adding inventory coverage, but we expect shipping delays and freight expense increases to continue for the near future.
We have also been impacted by higher tariffs from previously duty-free countries, where we source products, as a result of the Generalized System of Preferences (“GSP”) duty-free status expiring at the end of calendar year 2020. We cannot guarantee if or when the GSP duty-free status will be reinstated or, if reinstated, retro-actively applied by Congress.
Vera Bradley
Our multi-country manufacturing and supply chain model is designed to achieve efficient, timely, and accurate order fulfillment while maintaining appropriate levels of inventory.
Our manufacturing and sourcing strategy is part of the larger cross-functional product development process. The overall objective for our sourcing team is to build and sustain collaborative partnerships throughout our supply chain, with a focus on identifying appropriate countries and partners to manufacture our products while maintaining and focusing on flexibility. Our sourcing team leverages its expertise in negotiation, relationship management, flexibility, and change management to maintain a strong, diverse global supply chain. Our sourcing team also focuses on achieving the right balance of production sites and countries of origin to mitigate the risk of concentrated production, including potential incremental tariffs. To continue to assist in this risk mitigation, our sourcing team reduced our Vera Bradley production in China from over 50% in fiscal 2019 to approximately 15% in fiscal 2022.
We strive to maintain the appropriate balance of inventory to enable us to provide a high level of service to our customers, including prompt and accurate delivery of our products at a reasonable cost. We believe that we have an active and nimble sales and operations planning process that helps us balance the supply and demand issues that we encounter in our business, optimize our inventory levels, and anticipate inventory needs. We have also integrated our Vera Bradley planning, forecasting, and segmentation processes under one function called Merchandise Planning and Allocation.
Approximately half of Vera Bradley product sales are cotton-based. Our other fabrics include primarily fleece, polyester, and microfiber. We source our raw materials from various suppliers in Asia, with the majority coming from China and South Korea. Our global sourcing team works with select suppliers enabling us to optimize the mix of cost, lead time, quality, and reliability
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within our global supply network. We actively mitigate raw materials price increases through purchasing at advantageous times and periods. All of our suppliers must comply with our quality standards, and we use only a limited number of pre-approved suppliers who have demonstrated a commitment to delivering the highest quality products. We are continually updating our factory audit process and building a bett er compliance program to ensure our vendor code of conduct is met. In fact, in fiscal 2022 we moved from internal factory audits to partnering with BetterWork to conduct the audits. BetterWork brings diverse groups together (governments, global brands, factory owners, unions, and workers) to improve working conditions in the garment industry and make the sector more competitive. These audits encompass both the Vera Bradley and Pura Vida brands. In April 2016, we opened an office in Hong Kong to lead the global supply chain in As ia, including the oversight of sourcing and procurement.
The majority of our Vera Bradley finished goods, not sourced through licenses or strategic partners, are manufactured by a variety of global manufacturers located primarily in Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, and China. We discontinued manufacturing in Myanmar in mid-2021. With the oversight of our office in Hong Kong and our independent contractors, we believe these financial benefits have been realized without sacrificing the level of quality inherent in our products or service to our customers.
Pura Vida
Pura Vida products are sourced primarily from El Salvador, as well as China, Guatemala, Cambodia, Indonesia, and India. We have continued an active supply chain diversification process to ensure a focus on maintaining flexibility and to help mitigate the risk of concentrated production, similar to the Vera Bradley supply chain.
When determining the size of orders placed with our manufacturers, we take into account forward-looking demand, lead times for specific products, current inventory levels, and minimum order quantity requirements. Overseas production has resulted in substantial cost savings and a reduction of capital investment.
Distribution Centers
Vera Bradley owns a 428,500 square-foot distribution center in Roanoke, Indiana. This automated, computerized facility allows Vera Bradley employees to receive information directly from the order-collection center and quickly identify the products and quantities necessary to fulfill a particular order. The facility’s technology enables us to accurately process and pack orders, as well as track shipments and inventory. We believe that our systems for the processing and shipment of orders from our distribution center have enabled us to improve our overall customer service through enhanced order accuracy and reduced turnaround time; however, we continue to make technology and automation enhancements to our distribution center processes to promote optimal output.
Vera Bradley products are shipped primarily via third-party common carriers to our stores, our Indirect retailers, and directly to our customers who purchase through our website. We believe we are positioned well to support the order fulfillment requirements of our business, including business generated through our website.
Pura Vida products for the U.S. e-commerce site and wholesale accounts are distributed primarily through a third-party provider in Tijuana, Mexico. Pura Vida also distributes product through a third-party provider in the Netherlands and Canada, which supports European and Canadian e-commerce operations, respectively. To support international e-commerce sales, we are exploring a potential provider in Asia in the future.
Management Information Systems
We believe that high levels of automation and technology are essential to maintain our competitive position. We maintain computer hardware, applications, and networks to enhance and accelerate the design process, to support the sale and distribution of our products to our customers, and to improve the integration and efficiency of our operations. Our information systems are designed to provide, among other things, enterprise class business management, comprehensive order processing for all commerce channels, production, accounting, and management information and analytics for the product development, retail, sales, marketing, distribution, finance, and human resources functions of our business. In fiscal 2021 at Vera Bradley, we migrated our ERP, POS, Business Intelligence, and Order Management systems to cloud-based platforms streamlining and simplifying our work and providing for additional capabilities such as mobile POS and multi-company operations on the same platform. We completed our ERP migration during fiscal 2022 for Pura Vida, so that our entire enterprise is on a unified technology platform. We continue to assess our on-premise and cloud-based technology solutions in an effort to ensure we have the optimal solutions for our business. In fiscal 2023, we are implementing a new suite of inventory planning tools to optimize full line assortments, localized assortments, pricing and promotion planning, and inventory positions.
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Competition
For both Vera Bradley and Pura Vida, we face strong competition in each of the product lines and markets in which we compete. We believe that all of our products are in similar competitive positions with respect to the number of competitors they face and the level of competition within each product line. Due to the number of different products we offer, it is not practicable for us to quantify the number of competitors we face. Our products compete with other branded products within their product categories and with private label products sold by retailers. Moreover, the general availability of contract manufacturing allows new entrants to relatively easily access the markets in which we compete, which may increase the number of competitors and adversely affect our competitive position and our business. We compete against other independent retailers, department stores, catalog retailers, gift retailers, and Internet businesses that engage in the retail sale of similar products.
The market for handbags and accessories, in particular, is highly competitive. Our competitors include not only established companies that are expanding their production and marketing of handbags and accessories, but also frequent new entrants to the market. We directly compete with wholesalers and direct sellers of branded handbags and accessories.
In varying degrees, depending on the product category involved, we compete on the basis of design (aesthetic appeal), quality (construction), function, price point, distribution, and brand positioning. We believe that our primary competitive advantages are consumer recognition of our brands, customer loyalty and engagement, product development expertise, and our widespread presence through our multi-channel distribution model. Some of our competitors have achieved significant recognition for their brand names or have substantially greater financial, distribution, marketing, and other resources than we do. Further, we may face new competitors and increased competition from existing competitors as we expand into new markets and increase our presence in existing markets.
Copyrights and Trademarks
For Vera Bradley, the development of new patterns includes the design of primary and secondary prints. Once developed, we generally copyright our patterns as appropriate. We currently have approximately 1,200 copyrights related to the Vera Bradley business.
We also own the material trademark rights used in connection with the production, marketing, and distribution of all of our products, both in the United States and in the other countries in which our products are principally sold. Our trademarks include “Vera Bradley” and “Pura Vida.” We aggressively police our trademarks and copyrights and pursue infringers and counterfeiters both domestically and internationally. Our trademarks will remain in existence for as long as we continue to use and renew them in advance of their expiration dates. We have no material patents.
Human Capital
Equal employment opportunities are available to all persons at Vera Bradley, Inc. without regard to race, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, age, color, religion, creed, national origin, ancestry, mental or physical disability, medical condition, genetic information, military or veteran status or any other category protected under applicable federal, state, or local law. We put this standard into practice through our hiring, training, and an annual affirmative action program.
As of January 29, 2022, we had approximately 2,490 employees. Of the total, approximately 1,775 were engaged in Vera Bradley retail selling positions; approximately 325 were engaged in Vera Bradley distribution, sourcing and quality functions; approximately 60 were engaged in Vera Bradley product design; approximately 50 were involved in the Pura Vida business; and approximately 280 were engaged in corporate support and administrative functions. None of our employees are represented by a union. We believe that our relations with our employees are good, and we have never encountered a significant work stoppage other than as related to temporary stoppages necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Project Quilt . In fiscal 2021, we launched our Company-wide diversity and inclusion initiative, Project Quilt, to continue to enhance diversity, equality, and inclusion, focusing on three key areas – the Associate Experience, the Customer Experience, and the Community Experience.
Engagement . Vera Bradley believes it is critical to engage its different stakeholders in order to understand their views, values, and ideas and to design a more responsible environment for all involved. This stakeholder group includes associates. The Company engages its associates through surveys, town halls, and focus groups. Collectively, the Company's success is based upon the unique value of each person's contributions. Our long term success depends on talented and engaged associates.
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Every year, we conduct an associate engagement survey in order to better understand our associates’ insights into our Company’s strengths and opportunities. In 2021, we once again had outstanding participation, with approximately 80% of our associates sharing their candid feedback. Our 2021 overall engagement score was once again above average in all categories compared to peer companies with some categories in the upper quartile compared to peer companies. The feedback gave us insight into improvement opportunities and was instrumental in decisions we made to shape, strengthen, and improve our Company. As a result of the survey feedback, over the last several years we have made meaningful improvements to benefits, career development, compensation, mental health and wellness programs, and our facilities. We believe listening to our associates’ feedback provided through the annual Engagement Surveys continually strengthens our corporate culture.
Pay and Benefits . The Company offers competitive pay packages that include market-competitive base and hourly compensation, healthcare, a 401(k) savings plan that typically includes a Company contribution match, paid time off (including for volunteer work), paid family leave, matching gifts program, and an Employee Assistance Program.
Leadership Programs . Our associates are our biggest asset and when they win, we all win. We recognize everyone in the Company has the ability to lead by example and influence others in a positive way that ultimately provides meaningful value and will make us stronger. Our long-term initiative, Leaders by Design, encourages our associates to grow as leaders through
new associate orientation and onboarding, formal training programs, mentorship programs, job shadowing and career-pathing programs and development, including THE LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE®, a globally recognized, research-based leadership development program designed to enhance leadership effectiveness.
Associate Safety . Associate safety and well-being is of paramount importance to our Company. We have a comprehensive Safety Manual that emphasizes our high standard of safety throughout all operations of the organization. The Safety Manual
addresses a variety of topics including reporting injuries, OSHA compliance and emergency procedures (related to workplace violence, active shooters, severe weather and blood-borne pathogens, among others). Policies are routinely communicated and training is provided to associates as appropriate.
Government Regulation
Many of our imported products are subject to existing or potential duties or tariffs that may limit the quantity of products that we may import into the United States and other countries or impact the cost of such products. Customs duties have not comprised a material portion of the total cost of a majority of our products. In addition, we are subject to foreign governmental regulation and trade restrictions, including U.S. retaliation against prohibited foreign practices, with respect to our product sourcing and international sales operations.
We are subject to federal, state, local, and foreign laws and regulations governing environmental matters, including the handling, transportation, and disposal of our products and our non-hazardous and hazardous substances and wastes, as well as emissions and discharges into the environment, including discharges to air, surface water, and groundwater. Failure to comply with such laws and regulations could result in costs for corrective action, penalties, or the imposition of other liabilities. Compliance with environmental laws and regulations has not had a material effect upon our capital expenditures, earnings, or competitive position. If we violate any laws or regulations, however, it could have a material adverse effect on our business or financial performance.
Information About Our Executive Officers
The following table sets forth certain information concerning each of our executive officers:
Name Age Position(s)
Robert Wallstrom 56 Chief Executive Officer, President and Director, Vera Bradley, Inc.
John Enwright 49 Chief Financial Officer, Vera Bradley, Inc.
Mark C. Dely 46 Chief Administrative & Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary, Vera Bradley, Inc.
Daren Hull 48 Brand President, Vera Bradley
Kevin Korney 52 Chief Merchandising Officer, Vera Bradley
Beatrice Mac Cabe 43 Chief Creative Officer, Vera Bradley
Stephanie Scheele 45 Chief Purpose & Communication Officer, Vera Bradley, Inc.
Mary Beth Trypus 56 Chief Revenue Officer, Vera Bradley
Paul Goodman 33 Co-founder, Pura Vida
Griffin Thall 35 Co-founder, Pura Vida
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Robert Wallstrom has served as our Chief Executive Officer, President and Director since November 2013. Prior to joining Vera Bradley, Mr. Wallstrom served as President of Saks Fifth Avenue’s OFF 5TH division from 2007 until November 2013. Previously, he was Group Senior Vice President and General Manager of Saks’ flagship New York store from 2002 to 2007, where he articulated a vision to return the store to its luxury heritage and dramatically improve merchandising, service, and the in-store experience.
John Enwright joined the Company in May 2014 as our Senior Director of Financial, Planning and Analysis and was soon promoted to Vice President, Financial, Planning and Analysis. Mr. Enwright was named Chief Financial Officer in April 2017. Prior to joining Vera Bradley, Mr. Enwright spent 15 years with Tiffany & Co. in various financial roles of increasing responsibility, including most recently as Director of Financial, Planning and Analysis.
Mark C. Dely joined the Company in August 2016 as our Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary and was promoted to also serve as the Chief Administrative Officer in September 2017. Between January 2013 and August 2016, Mr. Dely served as Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer, General Counsel and Secretary of Fred’s, Inc., a publicly-traded retailer and pharmacy with locations throughout the Southeast. From July 2007 to December 2012, Mr. Dely was Vice President and Divisional General Counsel of the Franchise Services Group for The ServiceMaster Company, where he managed the legal function for the Company's global franchise businesses. Mr. Dely’s additional experience includes being the first in-house counsel for NYSE-listed seed and agricultural-biotech company, Delta & Pine Land Company. Mr. Dely began his legal career at New York law firm Fried Frank, LLP.
Daren Hull was promoted to Vera Bradley Brand President in February 2021 with a focus on building customer engagement and expanding revenue while cultivating the ethos of the Vera Bradley brand. Prior to this, Mr. Hull served as our Chief Customer Officer since July 2018 where he was responsible for all sales, marketing, and digital initiatives. Prior to joining Vera Bradley, Mr. Hull served as Senior Vice President, Stores and West Elm Digital for Williams-Sonoma, a consumer retailer of cookware and tools, electrics, entertainment-related, and other products, where he evolved the technology and customer experience from November 2016 until July 2018. Between November 2015 and September 2016, he served as Chief Operating Officer of Outdoor Voices where, among other things, he developed the team, process, programs, and infrastructure to drive revenue growth. Between July 2015 and November 2015 he served as SVP Global eCommerce, Head of Disruptive Innovation at PepsiCo and between January 2012 and April 2015, he served as General Manager for MyHabitat at Amazon. Mr. Hull gained additional experience with L'Oreal and Guthy-Renker.
Kevin Korney has served as our Chief Merchandising Officer since January 2018. Prior to joining Vera Bradley, Mr. Korney served as Vice President, Global Merchandising for Converse, a shoe, apparel and accessories manufacturer and distributor, where he introduced the Global Merchandising function in June 2015. Between November 2012 and June 2015, he served as Senior Divisional Merchandise Manager for Fossil. From July 2011 to November 2012, he served as the General Merchandise Manager for Dallas Cowboys Merchandising and from September 2006 to March 2009, he served as Global Vice President within various Merchandising and Creative functions at The Walt Disney Company. Mr. Korney gained prior experience with Nautica, Ralph Lauren, and Gap.
Beatrice Mac Cabe joined the Company in January 2016 as our Vice President – Design and was promoted to her current post as Chief Creative Officer in September 2017. From 2013 until joining Vera Bradley, Ms. Mac Cabe served as Vice President, Chief Creative Director at Fossil where she directed the design process from initial concept for lifestyle categories. From 2012 to 2013 she was Design and Merchandising Director, Private Brand Accessories for JC Penney and from 2011 to 2012 she was Creative Director, Handbags for Vince Camuto. Ms. Mac Cabe gained prior design and brand development experience at other fashion brands including Diane von Furstenberg, John Galliano in Paris, and Marni in Milan.
Stephanie Scheele was named Chief Purpose and Communications officer in 2021. Before that, Ms. Scheele was Vera Bradley’s Chief Marketing Officer from April 2018 until 2021. Prior to April 2018, Ms. Scheele served as our Vice President – Marketing Strategy and Operations since 2015, leading the insights and customer database programs and overseeing the marketing strategy team. Ms. Scheele has spent over 15 years with Vera Bradley in various roles of increasing responsibility.
Mary Beth Trypus joined the Company in May 2016 as our Vice President – Global Wholesale Sales and was promoted to Chief Sales Officer in March 2018 and then to Chief Revenue Officer in March 2021. In her current role, she is responsible for all revenue channels including retail, wholesale, and e-commerce, as well as customer service. From September 2015 to May 2016, Ms. Trypus consulted for accessories start-ups and non-profit businesses where she developed brand architecture, defined the financial structure, and engineered sales and customer acquisition strategy. From August 2014 to August 2015, she was Executive Vice President Sales and Marketing for Bulova Corporation where she drove marketing strategy and revenue growth across a multi-brand watch portfolio in the wholesale and e-commerce channels. From March 2011 to July 2014, Ms. Trypus was Senior Vice President Sales and Planning at Nine West Group in the handbag division and held prior leadership positions at Liz Claiborne, Inc. and May Department Stores.
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Paul Goodman and Griffin Thall co-founded Pura Vida and continue to lead the Pura Vida operations from its corporate headquarters in La Jolla, California. The have each been with Pura Vida since its founding in 2010.
Available Information
Our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and all amendments to these reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 are available free of charge on our website, www.verabradley.com, as soon as reasonably practicable after they are filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). No information contained on our website is intended to be included as part of, or incorporated by reference into, this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
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Text extracted from the filing as submitted to EDGAR. Formatting, tables and exhibits are simplified for reading; the original document is authoritative for anything you rely on.