Full Description

Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation (Polo), incorporated in June 1997, is a global player in the design, marketing and distribution of lifestyle products, including men’s, women’s and children’s apparel, accessories, fragrances and home furnishings. The Company operates in three integrated segments: Wholesale, Retail and Licensing. Its brands include apparel, accessories and fragrance collections for men and women, as well as childrenswear and home furnishings. Apparel products include collections of men’s, women’s and children’s clothing. Accessories encompass a range of footwear, eyewear, watches, jewelry, hats, belts and leathergoods, including handbags and luggage. Home products include bedding and bath products, furniture, fabric and wallpaper, paint, tabletop, and giftware. Fragrance products are sold under its Romance, Polo, Lauren, Safari, Ralph and Black Label brands, among others.

Wholesale Segment

The Company’s Wholesale segment sells its products to upscale and certain mid-tier department stores, specialty stores and golf and pro shops, both domestically and internationally. During the fiscal year ended March 28, 2009 (Fiscal 2009), its Ralph Lauren-branded products were sold through approximately 6,100 doors worldwide. Department stores are its major wholesale customers in North America. In Europe, its wholesale sales are a varying mix of sales to both department stores and specialty shops, depending on the country. The Company’s collection brands, Women’s Ralph Lauren Collection and Black Label and Men’s Purple Label Collection and Black Label, are distributed through a limited number of premier fashion retailers. In addition, it sells excess and out-of-season products through secondary distribution channels, including its retail factory stores.

In Japan, the Company’s products are distributed primarily through shop-within-shops at premiere department stores. The mix of business is weighted to Polo Ralph Lauren in Men’s and Women’s Blue Label. The distribution of Men’s and Women’s Black Label is also expanding through shop-within-shop presentations in top tier department stores across Japan. In addition, American Living and Chaps-branded products distributed by its Wholesale segment were sold through approximately 1,700 doors domestically as of March 28, 2009.

Retail Segment

As of March 28, 2009, the Company’s Retail segment consisted of 163 full-price retail stores and 163 factory stores worldwide, totaling approximately 2.5 million square feet, and two e-commerce Websites. During fiscal 2009, it opened 16 new full-price stores and closed 8 full-price stores. Ralph Lauren stores feature the full-breadth of the Ralph Lauren apparel, accessory and home product assortments. Club Monaco stores feature updated fashion apparel and accessories for both men and women. Rugby is a vertical retail format featuring a lifestyle collection of apparel and accessories for men and women. In addition to its stores, the Company’s Retail segment sells products online through its e-commerce Websites, RalphLauren.com (http://www.RalphLauren.com) and Rugby.com (http://www.Rugby.com).

Licensing Segment

The Company grants its product licensees the right to manufacture and sell at wholesale specified categories of products under one or more of its trademarks. Polo grants its international geographic area licensing partners rights to distribute certain brands or classes of its products and operate retail stores in specific international territories. These geographic area licensees source products from the Company, its product licensing partners and independent sources. Approximately 29% of its licensing revenue, during fiscal 2009, was derived from three licensing partners: Luxottica Group, S.p.A. (11%), L’Oreal S.A. (9%) and Peerless, Inc. (9%).