Tumi & Roam Luggage: Charlie Clifford

How I Built This with Guy Raz

Guy Raz | Wondery

Business

4.8 • 31.1K Ratings

🗓️ 25 July 2022

⏱️ 71 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Over nearly 50 years in the luggage business, Charlie Clifford has built two premium brands and weathered three existential crises: the recession of 1982, the travel slowdown post- 9/11, and the extreme aftershocks of Covid. His fist luggage company, Tumi, was inspired by his time as a Peace Corps volunteer in Peru. Charlie began by importing hand-crafted leather duffels from South America, but quickly pivoted into more durable and distinctive ballistic nylon bags. Business travelers loved them, and by the 1990’s, Tumi was spreading to Europe and Japan. Today, Tumi is owned by Samsonite and its stores are in airports and shopping malls around the world. Meanwhile, Charlie—unfazed by the challenges he’s faced over the years—has launched another premium luggage brand, Roam.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, Prime Members, you can listen to how I built this early and ad-free on Amazon Music.
0:07.0	Download the app today.
0:10.0	So, 1982, this is the first year since the Founder Tumey in 75 that you actually lost money.
0:19.0	And the bank, I guess, was lending you money starting in nervous.
0:23.0	Yes, we had got a call from the bank, saying that they wanted to come down and read a very traditional bank building.
0:29.0	And I've been calling, getting off the elevator, walking down the hall, and the sign on the frosting glass above the door, said,
0:38.0	Asset Recovery Department.
0:39.0	Asset Recovery Department. That's not a good sign.
0:43.0	One didn't have to be a banker to realize what that meant.
0:46.0	Welcome to How I Built This, a show about innovators, entrepreneurs, idealists, and the stories behind the movements they built.
1:01.0	I'm Guy Ross, and on the show today, how Charlie Clifford's time as a Peace Corps volunteer inspired an import business that eventually became the high-end luxury brand Tumey.
1:15.0	There's a moment you may remember from my interview a few years ago with John Foley, the Founder of Peloton.
1:29.0	He mentioned that when he first started selling his stationary bikes, he priced them at around $1,200.
1:36.0	At the beginning, sales were sluggish.
1:39.0	Apparently, customers thought a $1,200 bike was too cheap and was probably low quality.
1:46.0	So John Foley raised the price to $2,000. And soon, sales started to pick up.
1:54.0	Now, as some of you went to business school now, this is called a premium pricing strategy.
1:59.0	It's what you do to signal to consumers that what you're selling is exclusive, special, available only to the most discerning customer.
2:08.0	It helps explain why people will pay more for a bottle of dome perignon or a cotton t-shirt by Balenciaga.
2:16.0	The price is part of the brand's very identity.
2:20.0	I mean, is that Canada Goose Coat really keeping you warmer than the one at H&M?
2:25.0	Well, for the consumer who pays $1,000 for that Canada Goose Coat, it doesn't really matter.
	...

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