The news: Coach plans to open more than 20 of its Coach Coffee Shops in retail and outlet stores this year, per Business of Fashion.

• It sees an opportunity to open dozens more in the coming years, executives told BoF.
• The brand currently has three in operation: one in Jakarta, Indonesia; one in Tinton Falls, New Jersey; and another in Austin, Texas.

The rationale: Coach’s coffee shops are both an exercise in branding and a revenue stream.

The brand is inescapable throughout, with logos plastered on everything from disposable cups to napkins to coffee stirrers.

• It even extends to the food and drink: One of the café’s most popular products is a cake in the shape of its best-selling Tabby purse—which has naturally gone viral on TikTok.
• The concept has its own logo, Lil Miss Jo, as well as exclusive merch that is already being resold for considerably more than its retail price.

But the cafés are “not just a marketing initiative,” Coach CEO Todd Kahn told BoF. The company expects them to make money—and so far, they are. All three of its existing locations are profitable as freestanding stores, with some attracting long lines of customers anxious to get their hands on Coach-branded soft serve and a Lil Miss Jo tote.

Our take: There’s a reason so many luxury brands are turning to hospitality concepts: They are an excellent way to get shoppers through the door, and to keep them spending—even if it’s just on a cup of coffee or branded baseball cap.

These activations are also particularly appealing to Gen Zers, who appreciate not only the aesthetics (and the social media fodder) but also access to a third space where they can spend their downtime.