Ok…we’ll take a little detour from our usual topic list and actually talk about our Women’s Triathlon Clothing, our Cycling Jerseys, our Women’s Running Gear and our Swimwear. Specifically, we’d like to share our philosophy on pricing.
With every business, there’s a relationship between quality and price. Typically, the higher the quality, the higher the price. When we started Coeur, the first thing we did was look at the quality of other garments in the market. We wanted to create, the best women’s gear period and we wanted to have it all Made in the U.S.A. And we wanted to keep the price reasonable.
So, with our women’s Triathlon Kits, Cycling Jerseys and Running Shorts and Tops, we actually started with the fabric at the mill. There’s a company called Antex right here in L.A. and they agreed to help us formulate our fabric. We worked with their experts and tweaked the formulation until we found the perfect blend of softness and durability.
Antex Mills
Then we created custom patterns that ensured we had garments that literally were women’s specific. It would have been a heck of a lot easier to use someone else’s pattern but that would have defeated the purpose. Kebby and Hailey had some very specific requirements for their gear and the only way to meet them was to create the patterns from scratch. To do that we enlisted the help of Pattern and Sample Makers and we went through several iterations until we had the fit and cut that we felt was perfect for a woman’s body.
The next step was to come up with the designs that would be printed. Kebby drew inspiration from her time living in Europe on the East Coast of the U.S. and from her new home here in Southern California. The end result is a fusion of East Coast Prep with West Coast Chill that manifests itself with highly fashionable yet fun designs.
East Coast Prep, West Coast Chill
The final step was to develop a relationship with a sewing factory. After much looking, we finally found the best active wear factory in the U.S. They sew for several other well-known brands and their quality is excellent. Sewing active wear can be tough but these folks have it figured out.
Our sewing is done in down town Los Angeles
When you add in the fabric, the women’s specific design elements and the high quality sewing (all done in the USA as we mentioned), you end up with, what we think, is the absolute highest quality women’s Triathlon, Cycling, Running and Swimwear anywhere. The price points for the Triathlon Kits and the Cycling Kits should be north of $120 per garment and the Running Tops and Shorts should be up there as well.
But that’s where we took a chance. We lowered the sales price to the point where we feel like it is within reach for many women. We took a big hit on margin but we want to make the sport accessible and Triathlon Kits that cost an arm and a leg don’t help. So, instead, we’ve set the price to a point, where we think we have the absolute best value in all the industry. Add to that Free Shipping and a Risk Free Return policy and we think we’re in a good spot.