Can't live on the past glories but I certainly think Fossil still has many advantages over other companies. It’s not that it’s wonderful for me to work here, but I’m still attached to this company and I hope it gets back on track. I don’t like to look at things pessimistically. The only question is whether the superiors will want and know how to use the strengths of this brand.
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I respect others opinion on this post, who may have a better, deeper and longer dated understanding about the company and management dynamics. I do not want to minimize the mistakes that were made nor how those who were let go or not leveraged well may feel. My only suggestion is that a certain type of longed dynamism may also reflect a much more favorable market environment and that one way or the other Fossil needed to address the high cost and suddenly outdated distribution model.
@ninety The negativity doesn’t come from people under false understanding of what Fossil as a company does. If someone thinks we’re a tech company, that automatically tells me they’re a young’un and believe every buzzword said at a huddle. If someone thinks we’re a luxury European operation, it’s their first day in the watch business. The negativity comes from people who’ve put decades into Fossil and have long memories of how the company was managed and how decisions were made during good times and bad. None of the ingredients are there anymore, bud. Fossil still exists, but it ain’t the sc-appy, smart company we knew it to be. That’s why we’re not long on it.
@ninety...Comments, while "negative" in nature are unfortunately full of absolute truth. Fossil will more in likely survive and thrive.....and that's great. ....for Fossil.
I am not optimistic because I have been here way too long and see the same nonsense, year after year. Our ELT will get Os on their performance reviews while the rest of us will be told to be happy with a M because that’s where we all should be, mediocre.
The ELT are a bunch of incompetent mo–ns.
I am optimistic too and a lot of negative comments willingly forget the reality of what Fossil sells: fashion watches and value-oriented accessories. This is neither a tech powerhouse, nor a European mechanical watch maker. It s strenght and moat, if any, comes from volume scale, supply chain, democratic and accessible brand positioning and messaging and relatively high product turnover. It s not the best business in the World, not the worst and with the right sizing and execution it can return to be healthy. Downsizing and some outsourcing is part of that process and, again, the comparison should be with direct peers not companies in orher sectors. Fossil needs to be compared to Movado, Timex, maybe Citizen and the likes. Relative to those the company is in respectable shape even though it suffered more financially precisely because it had many more stores (and therefore greater headcount) and is more vertically integrated in Asia: both aspects in a declining market have caused higher fixed costs and negative operating leverage which can only be fixed in two ways: the first is higher revenue, the second is lower costs through downsizing. Things remain challenging but i am optimistic about the future now that the scale and reach has been calibrated for the new market reality.
So you're optimistic about the fact that a U.S. company is sending much needed U.S. jobs overseas? Hmmm....