Vera Bradley launches rebranding with updated stores, website, product selection

Vera Bradley executives say the local company’s essence remains despite a rebranding effort – being launched today – that remade almost everything.

Jacqueline Ardrey, president and chief executive, said the effort took 19 months and involved every part of the business. A new logo is among the changes. So are redesigned retail stores, including the one in Jefferson Pointe, where staff in 40 locations overhauled product displays overnight.

The new line of handbags, luggage and accessories are made in softer fabrics and more solid colors, Ardrey said.

“Our customers are going to see Vera Bradley modernized,” she said during an interview over Zoom just days before the launch. “It’s unmistakable. It’s colorful. It’s still recognizable (as) Vera Bradley.”

Cotton gaberdine, leather and nylon are among the new collection fabrics.

Floral fabrics are included in the product line, but customers have increasingly been buying solid handbags and filling them with colorful, floral accessories.

“Over time, solids had become much more a part of our business than we had recognized,” Ardrey said, adding that black and navy have been the most popular. “You’re still going to see a lot of prints, don’t get me wrong.”

Alison Hiatt, chief marketing officer, said the company’s rebranding process began by going back to the beginning. Company founders Barbara Bradley Baekgaard and Patricia Miller were sitting in an airport when they noticed the dull uniformity of travelers’ luggage.

The Fort Wayne women returned home and began designing colorful tote bags. They sewed together floral fabric pieces they cut from quilted cotton material they spread out on a basement ping pong table. 

“The real reason,” Hiatt said of the company’s founding, “was about inspiring people. Be bold. Have fun.”

Ardrey said Baekgaard and Miller have provided “an amazing amount of support” throughout the rebranding process.

“We’ve learned a lot from them,” she said.

Hiatt, who also participated in the Zoom call, said employees across the company were involved in the rebranding.

“Nobody is on the sidelines,” she said.

Even the 70 Vera Bradley outlet stores are involved in the rebranding – though to a lesser extent. Products removed from the “brand stores” are being sent to the outlets, which didn’t receive an overnight makeover. The closest one to Fort Wayne is in Edinburgh, which is about 30 miles south of Indianapolis.

Ardrey described this as “a joyful week.”

“The excitement – you can just feel,” she said, adding staff members are eager to buy the new products being revealed today. “That’s a good sign.”

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