How Fossil Became A Billion-Dollar Brand

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Fossil watches may be the biggest watchmaker that the masses are unaware of. The reason that Fossil is overlooked is that the brand name on the product is something else. Over the years, Fossil has had several agreements with top brands to produce their merchandise. Fossil has a philosophy that makes their products appealing, fashionable, and of superior quality, encouraging buyers to pick Fossil products repeatedly. Various brands owned or licensed by Fossil have different product philosophies. Fossil has made it a mission to provide a unique product which is reasonably priced. While coming up with new designs for each season may not be an easy task, Fossil has been doing graciously for the past few decades.

Fossil has become a billion-dollar brand that owns or licenses many top brands in the fashion industry. The founders faced many hurdles in the journey towards a leading brand. Their effort and determination has taken them places.

The Early Days And Growth Of Fossil

Founded in 1984 by brothers Tom and Kosta Kartsotis, who is currently Chairman Of The Board and CEO, respectively, Fossil focused on fashion and value at a time when the masses did not give these matters much thought. Vintage Americana, the image communicated by the company, was a huge success. Fossil was born when quartz movements from the Orient helped Fossil design and manufacture timepieces, that could be mixed and matched, and repurchased when fashion changed.

The company had a $70 million revenue in 1993. Fossil reached Wall Street to be listed in NASDAQ and trading under the symbol FOSL. Fossil started acquiring assembly facilities in the early 1990s. As the company became successful, Fossil expanded into other areas, including leather goods, sunglasses, and licensed products. It expanded geographically as well. Today, the company is spread in over 90 countries across the world. In addition to the company's retail stores and e-commerce websites, Fossil products are also sold in the department, jewelry, and specialty stores, generating yearly sales exceeding $850 million.

Top Brands Owned Or Licensed By Fossil

Fossil has a diverse portfolio made up of brands owned by or partnered with Fossil. They share the same passion for design and innovation. The Fossil family brands include Fossil, Michele, Misfit, Skagen, Armani Exchange, BMW, Chaps, Diesel, DKNY, Emporio Armani, Kate Spade, Michael Kors, Puma, Relic, Tory Burch, WSI, and Zodiac. Fossil started as a humble wholesale business, however, today it has a diverse portfolio of world-class brands. The company now creates traditional watches, wearables powered by Google, handbags, jewelry, and small leather goods.

Its Superior Watchmaking Tech

Most of the Fossil Watches have Japanese Quartz movements. As the brand made forays into the Swiss-made watch market, they introduced Fossil Swiss, which is a line of Fossil watches with quartz and mechanical movements produced by the company's subsidiaries in Switzerland's Canton Ticino. Further, the company included Emporio Armani and Tory Burch as sub-brands to strengthen their stand in the Swiss market. The majority of the watches are made from stainless steel which are highly durable and easy to repair.

The Future Of Fossil

Fossil has confirmed that the existing Wear OS smartwatches from the company will not be upgraded to the new combined Wear Operating System from Google And Samsung. The partnership OS combines Google's Wear OS and Samsung's Tizen OS to develop a future Wear Operating System for smartwatches. Fossil executives have confirmed that Fossil will not receive the upcoming update. Instead, Fossil is working on a premium smartwatch that will be equipped with some significant hardware upgrades. The designers at Fossil are working day and night to make this vision a reality. Meanwhile, Fossil also plans to offer the existing smartwatches at a much affordable price.

Overall, Fossil grew as a top brand in watchmaking by fulfilling the fashion needs of the public. Founded by the Kartsotis brothers, the company has risen to a billion-dollar empire over the decades. Fossil believes in producing quality products for the public. In the process, they signed license agreements with major companies while owning other top brands. Fossil also is known through its sub-brands and the company has new ideas for people from all age groups.

The unique ideas and a wide variety of choices have helped Fossil build a name over the years. In nearly four decades, Fossil came up with unique ideas to cater to all niches in the market. Although the company sells other products, the primary source of income is from watch sales. In a time where smartwatches are taking over the conventional dial, the Fossil Group believes it can stand strong and make a strong comeback with its superior watchmaking expertise.

Sources: Europa Star, Fossil Group, Watch Ranker, The Times Of India