Ralph Lauren Bets Big on Fashion Island with New Store

Fashion Island secured a big win with the opening of Ralph Lauren and the state’s first-ever Ralph’s Coffee outpost. 

The new store, which took over space previously occupied by Restoration Hardware, sits next to the atrium lawn and koi pond at the upscale Newport Beach shopping center. 

The store experience is expansive with the merchandise encompassing Polo Ralph Lauren, Double RL, women’s, the men’s Purple Label and accessories. 

The comprehensive offering comes after the company said in September it was embarking on a growth plan called “Next Great Chapter: Drive.” 

The multi-pronged approach aims to elevate the lifestyle business, build on the popular core offering and expand in what the company views are “key cities.” 

On that final point, Ralph Lauren opened the doors to 38 new stores in the quarter ended Sept. 27, including Plano, Texas domestically and Munich, Hangzhou and Nagoya overseas. 

“We continue to thoughtfully expand our consumer ecosystems to deepen Ralph Lauren’s presence in our top 30 cities around the world, delivering a cohesive, elevated brand experience across each of our channels,” Ralph Lauren President and CEO Patrice Louvet told analysts during the company’s November quarterly update. “At the same time, we’ve started investing in our next 20 cities, laying the groundwork for long-term sustainable growth.”  

The introduction of Ralph’s Coffee, which first launched in 2014 in New York, further adds to the store experience with various coffee blends on hand, in addition to desserts, souvenir apparel and accessories. 

Expansion Mode

The company’s newest store is a big get for the Irvine Co.-owned Fashion Island. The coastal shopping center goes toe to toe with the Segerstrom family’s South Coast Plaza mall in Costa Mesa in vying for retail exclusives and flagships. South Coast has its own Ralph Lauren store, minus the experiential food element.  

For Ralph Lauren, the continued store expansion is key given its direct-to-consumer business accounts for the largest share of revenue.

In the September quarter, direct-to-consumer grew 13 percent with online and brick-and-mortar each posting double-digit increases. 

Overall, in the most recently reported quarter, net revenue jumped 14 percent, excluding the impact of currency, to $2 billion. Asia led the regions with a 17 percent bump to $446 million. However, North America remains Ralph Lauren’s largest market by revenue with a 13 percent rise to $832 million in the quarter. 

Companywide adjusted net income totaled $237 million, which is up from $162 million in the year-ago period.