Coronavirus prompts Coach parent Tapestry to manufacture 3D-printed medical equipment
Company will print disposable parts required for respirators, ventilators, test swabs, face shields
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Coach parent company Tapestry announced Monday that it has launched an initiative, in coordination with the National Health Institute's 3D Print Exchange and various 3D-printing companies, to manufacture medical equipment for health care workers dealing with the coronavirus pandemic by repurposing its existing 3D-printing capabilities in New York.
The company will print the disposable parts required for respirators, ventilators, test swabs and face shields. Resources will also be made available to create 3D-printed parts for "R&D prototypes needed by engineers and specialists working on COVID-19 related development projects."
"I am incredibly proud of the initiative and dedication shown by our people and our partner organizations in finding new ways to support our communities during this difficult time,” said Jide Zeitlin, Tapestry Inc.'s chairman and CEO and the Coach Foundation's chairman. “We are committed to quickly mobilizing resources to support healthcare workers and community organizations on the front lines of this public health crisis.”
The Coach Foundation will also donate $200,000 to support COVID front-line assistance charities in the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, France and Germany, $200,000 to The Council of Fashion Designers of America's A Common Thread COVID response, and $50,000 to the British Fashion Council COVID response through the Foundation’s Fund at CAF America.
Meanwhile, the Coach brand will be donating "product with a retail value of over $3.5 million to COVID-19 related charities and impacted individuals."
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Separately, another Tapestry-owned fashion company, Kate Spade New York, is donating $100,000 through its foundation to their partner Crisis Text Line in order to fund the #Forthefrontlines Initiative, which provides crisis counseling and emotional support to doctors and nurses in the U.S., U.K., Ireland and Canada who are feeling the "immediate, and ongoing, effects of the heavy stress" caused by the coronavirus. It will also give $100,000 to provide $10,000 grants of short-term funding for "technology needs, virtual programming adaptation, covering missed revenue and emergency needs" for 10 nonprofits.
Tapestry's latest efforts to aid in the fight against the coronavirus come in addition to the Coach Foundation's $2,000,000 commitment to support New York City small businesses by expanding investment in impacted communities.
According to the release, the Coach and Kate Spade New York Foundations are actively pursuing new opportunities to "partner with private and public sector entities to provide assistance to the most vulnerable."
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On March 18, Coach joined a growing list of retailers that were forced to shut their doors as a result of the virus. Zeitlin said in February that Coach could lose up to $250 million in sales, according to Reuters.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TPR | TAPESTRY INC. | 40.51 | +0.01 | +0.04% |
Tapestry stock closed at $15.70 per share, up nearly 5 percent, at the end of Thursday's trading session.