Skagen Denmark is a brand, initially of

watch A watch is a portable timepiece intended to be carried or worn by a person. It is designed to keep a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is designed to be worn around the wrist, attached by ...

es, of Skagen Designs Ltd. (a subsidiary of

Fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

), that has grown into being a wider

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

contemporary accessories brand based on Danish design. As of spring 2015, its product lines include watches,

handbag A handbag, commonly known as a purse or pocketbook in North American English, is a handled medium-to-large bag used to carry personal items. Purse, handbag or pouch The term "purse" originally referred to a small bag for holding coins. In many ...

jewelry Jewellery ( UK) or jewelry (U.S.) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the clothes. From a western ...

, and other durable personal goods, the majority of which aimed at the mid-range. Named for

Skagen Skagen () is Denmark's northernmost town, on the east coast of the Skagen Odde peninsula in the far north of Jutland, part of Frederikshavn Municipality in Nordjylland, north of Frederikshavn and northeast of Aalborg. The Port of Skagen is ...

, a

Jutland Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...

peninsula and

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

's northernmost town, Skagen Designs Ltd. was purchased in 2012 by

, for stock and cash in transaction totaling approximately , and it continues to operate as a

wholly owned subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company (law), company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company ...

under its parent, continuing the traditional brand name Skagen Denmark. Starting in New York, then in

Lake Tahoe Lake Tahoe (; was, Dáʔaw, meaning "the lake") is a Fresh water, freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada of the United States. Lying at , it straddles the state line between California and Nevada, west of Carson City, Nevad ...

and

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...

, Skagen Designs Ltd. operations are overseen from

Richardson, Texas Richardson is a city in Dallas and Collin counties in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 United States census, the city had a total population of 119,469. Richardson is an inner suburb of the city of Dallas. It is home to the University of ...

, near

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, in the United States.

Company structure and locations

As of its acquisition by

Fossil Inc. Fossil Group, Inc., is an American fashion designer and Manufacturing, manufacturer founded in 1984 by Tom Kartsotis and based in Richardson, Texas. Their brands include Fossil, Relic, Michele Watch, Skagen Denmark, Misfit (company), Misfit, W ...

on April 2, 2012, Skagen Designs, Ltd. operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of

, listing, as of May 1, 2015, Charlotte Jorst as co-founder and president, Henrik Jorst as co-founder, and Steen Albrechtslund as group managing director.Bloomberg, 2015, "Company Overview, Textiles, Apparel and Luxury Good: Skagen Designs, Ltd.," ''BloombergBusiness'' (online), May 1, 2015, se

accessed 1 May 2015. The company began in the home of its co-founders in New York, moving first to

, then

.Svend Hollensen, 2008, "Case Study II.2, Skagen Designs: Becoming an International Player in Designed Watches," in ''Essentials of Global Marketing,'' Upper Saddle River, NJ:Pearson/Prentice Hall, pp. 192-195, , se

an

accessed 1 May 2015. Its current operations under

are overseen from

, near

, in the United States. As of May 2015, the company is reported to have additional U.S. offices, as well as ones in Denmark and Hong Kong, and Boutique#Boutique lifestyle, concept stores in Japan (Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya) and Taiwan (Taipei).

Aim and products

The title brand represents

's subsidiary, Skagen Designs Ltd., which has as its stated corporate aim to "bring Danish-inspired ideals to the world through design imbued with purpose, honesty and simplicity." The company designs, manufactures and sells

es,

and sunglasses for both men and women. Products are sold in shops and online. The company sells its products in the UK, the

E.U. The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

, and the Middle East, and in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

and the US.

Company history

Founding

Founded in 1989, the company was the brainchild of Henrik and Charlotte Jorst, who had moved from Denmark to the US in 1986 when Henrik was appointed U.S. sales manager for Danish brewery

Carlsberg Carlsberg may refer to: Places * Carlsberg (district), a district in Copenhagen, Denmark ** Carlsberg station, its train station * Carlsberg, Germany, a municipality in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany * Carlsberg Fjord, Greenland Other uses * Carlsbe ...

. The couple decided to establish their own business as U.S. representative for a Danish manufacturer of corporate branded business gift watches, and for exclusive Jacob Jensen designer watches. After locating the Danish-owned clock and watch manufacturer, Comtech Watches, a supplier that could manufacture watches at a lower price through its Hong Kong factory, the Jorsts began designing their own watches, which they showed at a corporate gift fair in New York 1991. At that fair, they were encouraged by several retailers to market the watches under their own brand, which they chose as Skagen Denmark,

() for the

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

fishing village (and peninsula) of that name. The company logo symbolizes the meeting of the

Skagerrak The Skagerrak (, , ) is a strait running between the Jutland peninsula of Denmark, the southeast coast of Norway and the west coast of Sweden, connecting the North Sea and the Kattegat sea area through the Danish Straits to the Baltic Sea. The ...

and the

Kattegat The Kattegat (; sv, Kattegatt ) is a sea area bounded by the Jutlandic peninsula in the west, the Danish Straits islands of Denmark and the Baltic Sea to the south and the provinces of Bohuslän, Västergötland, Halland and Skåne in Sweden ...

bodies of sea water at

's northernmost settlement and port, in

Development

The following information, unless otherwise noted, is drawn from a case study description of Skagen Denmark, by Svend Hollensen, in ''Essentials of Global Marketing'': * 1992 — Jorsts sell watches for first time under their own brand name achieving annual salesAnnual sales volume net of all discounts and sales taxes, i.e., "turnover," se

accessed 1 May 2015. of USD, US $800,000. * 1993 — Jorsts moves from New York to Nevada for tax and personal reasons, still running company without employees. * 1995 — New York

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...

Bloomingdale's Bloomingdale's Inc. is an American luxury department store chain; it was founded in New York City by Joseph B. Bloomingdale, Joseph B. and Lyman G. Bloomingdale in 1861. A third brother, Emanuel Watson Bloomingdale, was also involved in the bus ...

agrees to trial period, selling their watches. * 1998 — Company lists as one of the 250 fastest-growing privately owned U.S. companies, opens European distribution office in

, 80 stores in that country begin selling their watches, annual sales approaches . * 1999 — Employees approaches 100, distribution begins in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. * 2000 — Distribution begins in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. * 2002 — Company expands into more European countries and the Middle East, in effort extending into the following year. * 2005 — Annual sales increases to . * 2007 — Company moves into the Asian markets, establishing an office in Hong Kong. * 2010 — Company opens online retail portals serving the U.S. and Europe. * 2011 — Asia-Pacific division launches online retail portals for

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

, and

markets. * 2012 — Fossil, Inc. agrees to purchase Skagen Designs, Ltd. and some of its partners for 150,000 shares of Fossil common stock and .Zacks Equity Research, 2012, "Fossil to Acquire Skagen," Yahoo! Finance (online), January 11, 2012, se

accessed 1 May 2015.

References

External links

Skagen_Denmark_webpage_for_its_Richardson,_Texas
_headquarters_and_webstore..html" ;"title="Richardson, Texas">Skagen Denmark webpage for its Richardson, Texas
headquarters and webstore.">Richardson, Texas">Skagen Denmark webpage for its Richardson, Texas
headquarters and webstore.
Skagen Designs, Ltd. company brochure, 2011.

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120320035328/http://www.skagendesignsmedia.com/pressreleases/masters-of-design-modern-minimalism-meets-sleek-sophisticati.html February 2010 company press release on opening of U.S. and European online retail stores.] {{Authority control Watch manufacturing companies of the United States American brands Danish design Companies based in Dallas Manufacturing companies of Denmark Fossil Group