Apparel

New York City -- Coach said Tuesday its first quarter profit increased 14% on strong demand for its products at home and abroad. Its results beat expectations and reflected the continuing strength of the luxury market.

Coach reported net income of $215 million for the three months ended Oct. 1, up from $188.9 million in the year-age period.

Revenue rose 15% to $1.05 billion, from $912 million a year ago. Same-store sales were up 9.2% in North America.

By Steven Kramer, [email protected]

New York City -- VF Corp. reported that its third-quarter net income rose 24% on higher prices and sales, and raised its full-year outlook and quarterly dividend.

The clothing and footwear company said profit growth came from its September acquisition of Timberland and strong sales across most of its categories. 
 

Los Angeles -- Fifty-two percent of consumers plan to spend $500 or more on gifts this season, according to a new survey by PriceGrabber, a part of Experian. Thirty-six percent said they will spend less than $500, and 12% indicated that they do not have a budget.

Other key findings of the survey, conducted from Sept. 7-15, 2011, include:

Consumers overwhelmingly chose clothing as the most popular holiday gift purchase (chosen by 66%), followed by gift cards (52%), books, CDs, DVDs or videogames (46%) and toys (43%).