Twenty years ago, at the height of the bubble economy, Coach Inc. started out small in Japan, selling its products at the Mitsukoshi department store in Yokohama.

At that time, the Coach brand was just starting to become popular in its home market in the United States, but it was still far from well-known in Japan.

"When we opened our first stores in Japan, of course we had a little bit of awareness," said Victor Luis, president and chief executive officer of Coach Japan Inc. "But among those people who hadn't traveled (to the U.S.) from Japan, the awareness was small."