Tumi Inc.

Tumi, Inc., a manufacturer of suitcases and bags for travel, is based in South Plainfield, New Jersey. Founded in 1975 by Charlie Clifford after a stint in the Peace Corps in Peru, the company is named after a Peruvian ceremonial knife used for sacrifices.^[1] Tumi, Inc. has been a unit of Doughty Hanson & Co. since 2004.^[2]

Tumi's products are traditionally known for their black-on-black ballistic nylon.^[3] Nautica founder David Chu, who unified Tumi's product lines and introduced the luxury Townhouse collection, was appointed Tumi’s executive creative director in 2007.^[4] Tumi is available at department stores and specialty stores as well as over 80 Tumi stores around the world.^[5]

In recent years, Tumi has branched out from its core offering of luggage to offer accessories such as watches, belts, pens, and electronic equipment. New initiatives include the extension of its women's lines and an aggressive expansion into international markets such as India.^[3] The company teamed with designer Anish Kapoor in 2006 to produce the PowerPack Backpack that incorporated solar technology for charging phones and PDAs.^[6] The company also has a licensing agreement with Italian motorcycle manufacturer Ducati, launching a collection of eight co-branded pieces in 2006 sold through both of the brands' retail outlets.^[7]

Tumi puts a metal plate with a unique 20-digit registration number in each of its bags. Customers can register for the Tumi Tracer program to have their contact information entered into a central database so they can be reunited with their bag if it is found.^[8]

Tumi was, at one time, made entirely in the US and offered a lifetime warranty. Since 2004, however, Tumi has moved production of items to China and stopped offering a lifetime warranty citing need to do so based on industry norms.

References

External links

• Tumi company website