Michael Kors's Paltry Project Runway Gains
Judging from the Times Style section profile of Michael Kors, the Project Runway judge can't go out in public without being recognized and accosted. But what's the financial upside on Kors' two-year association with the fantastically popular reality show? Kors' sales at Bergdorf Goodman in Manhattan are up 50 percent over three years, which is encouraging. But some of that success has to be credited to a 2003 capital infusion from two British jewelry investors and, allegedly, to Kors' dogged prowling of sales floors. When the Times finally buttonholed a Kors company executive into estimating the financial benefit from Runway specifically, the returns aren't so bright as the anecdotes suggest: An estimated mere 5 percent bump in gross sales thanks to Runway. The Times' Style writer doesn't say if this compounds each year or is a one-time increase, but a business reality show judge would be fast with a mean quip either way. [Times]