ABOUT SAMSONITE

is one of the world's largest and most recognized designers and distributors in the
luggage industry.
With a rich heritage that includes nearly a century in business, Samsonite has a proud
tradition of developing innovative, high-quality products that integrate style, functionality
and design technology to meet the changing lifestyle needs of people on the move.
Samsonite's tagline – 'Life's a Journey' – embodies the brand's belief and vision,
symbolizing the role Samsonite has in the multi-faceted lives of travelers.

The Samsonite brand was born in 1910 when founder Jesse Shwayder began
producing luggage for turn-of-the-century travelers – a small and affluent group who
appreciated the Company's unique, durable and finely crafted products. As travel
evolved into a mainstream activity, Samsonite's product mix evolved with it, growing to
encompass a diverse range of items for a host of travel needs Along the way,
Samsonite continued to anticipate and fulfill the changing requirements of travelers by
introducing a string of "firsts", including the first matching luggage sets, the first
lightweight luggage and the first wheeled suitcases

Today, the global travel industry continues to grow, and Samsonite continues to lead
through the continuous introduction of innovative technologies, materials and design
concepts, which we market through some of the most recognized brand names in the
world. And while each of our brands is specifically focused on its own clearly defined
customer group, every product we create continues to embody the same values on
which Samsonite was founded – high quality, fine craftsmanship, exceptional reliability
and enduring style.

To become one of the world’s most highly regarded premium lifestyle

travel brands.
Three years ago, Samsonite embarked upon a journey to transform itself into a leading
global lifestyle travel company. To serve it’s purpose,it established three primary
financial goals:

increase sales,

grow gross margins and

generate improved cash flow

Samsonite's journey over the past three years has, indeed, been both deeply
meaningful and highly rewarding. During this time, it has created and developed a new
brand and successfully positioned it in the luxury market; built brand equity across our
complementary portfolio on a global scale; and firmly placed Samsonite on the path to
becoming a globally recognized innovation, quality and style leader

Samsonite is pursuing several strategic initiatives designed to capitalise on its

underlying business strengths, grow and diversify our revenue stream, improve its
profitability and cash flow generation and enhance the resiliency of its business. Key
elements of SAMSONITE business development strategies include:
• introducing a stream of innovative and contemporary products into the market;
• strengthening support behind brand and product marketing and advertising;
• expanding retail distribution platform;
• pursuing expansion opportunities in high-growth geographic markets;
• exploiting new business opportunities;
• improving gross margins; and
• continuing to improve operating efficiencies and cash flow generation.

Collectively, SAMSONITE brands serve every segment of the market, reaching

customers in all walks of life, all over the world. It meet the discerning needs of the
luxury market through Samsonite Black Label brand, while the innovative, high-
quality offering within time-honored Samsonite brand serves both middle- and
upper-market customer segments. It’s American Tourister brand provides
affordable, quality products to value-conscious consumers.

AMERICAN TOURISTER
American Tourister, Inc., is one of the oldest and best-known luggage brands in the
United States. Its commitment to selling durable and affordable luggage, which began
with the company's founding in the 1930s. Despite several changes in parent companies in
the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, American Tourister retained its brand recognition with the
public,

Sol Koffler, founder of American Tourister. In 1933 Koffler founded American Luggage
Works by opening a shop in a vacant grocery store in Providence, Rhode Island In 1933
Koffler founded American Luggage Works by opening a shop in a vacant grocery store in
Providence, Rhode Island. Although his first luggage did not revolutionize luggage design,
Koffler was sure he had created a significantly more durable product than any
competitor's in the same price range. The suitcase sold for one dollar, and, in the first
year of operation, American Luggage Works sold 5,000 suitcases. As the company's only
employee, Koffler handled all aspects of the business himself that year. Within two years,
Koffler had hired several employees, although he himself continued to handle the luggage
design and the company's sales. The company's product line had expanded to include two
sizes, which sold for two and three dollars. Each size was produced in two colors, black or
brown.

The company's major breakthrough came soon after its founding. Koffler adapted
machinery used to make plywood radio cases so that it would bend materials to make his
luggage. The new equipment enabled him to simplify suitcase design significantly and still
increase its durability. Koffler's new design was slim and round-cornered but still provided
more room than other suitcases did. Other new features, such as linings and zippered
pockets, enhanced the product's appeal. To distinguish this line from the previous ones,
Koffler named it American Tourister.

In 1945, despite its rapid growth in the previous decade, American Luggage Works
remained a regional firm. Aiming for sales across the United States, Koffler decided to
spread awareness of the American Tourister brand. He apportioned $12,000 for a national
advertising campaign, the first ever undertaken on behalf of the company. An amount
unusually large for the time, that first national advertising budget set the stage for the
company's continued commitment to large-scale advertising in future years

Pioneering New Materials

Innovation helped propel the company forward during the next two decades. The first
luggage manufacturer to make an all-vinyl case

the new line of American Tourister hard-sided luggage introduced a new standard of
durability and economy to the luggage industry. Customers immediately responded well
to the product. The company improved the chemical composition further in 1954,
resulting in a case that was virtually indestructible. When the company started to receive
reports of American Tourister luggage surviving incredible accidents, Koffler used them in
advertisements to promote the luggage's durability. One true-life account reported that
an American Tourister suitcase fell off a car traveling 60 miles per hour and was run over
by another car. Other than a few scuff marks on the outer surface, the case was
undamaged.

Testimonials and Gorilla Advertisements

These true-life accounts inspired the company's famous gorilla advertisements. Doyle
Dane Bernbach agency created an award-winning print and television campaign that
combined customer testimonials with photos or film of a ferocious-looking gorilla hurling
and stomping on an American Tourister case in a zoo cage. Other advertisements
demonstrated the luggage's durability even in unlikely luggage mishaps, such as a case
being dropped from an airplane or a speeding train.

In 1978 Koffler sold his company to Hillenbrand Industries. American Tourister's first year
as a Hillenbrand subsidiary marked a peak for the company. Sales in 1978 reached a
record $83.8 million and operating profits amounted to a substantial $16.2 million. These
figures may have simply reflected the market in general, however; Industry
Week reported that the luggage industry was "enjoying a banner year." When the
economy turned sour in 1980, American Tourister sales declined 7 percent and operating
profits more than followed suit, dropping 60 percent in that year alone. The company
tried to rally for its 50th anniversary in 1983, investing in prime time television
commercials and print ads in such mainstream magazines as Reader's Digest, Better
Homes and Gardens, andPeople. But the company was unable to regain the steady growth
it had experienced throughout its history.

Sold to Astrum International in the Early 1990s. Although at the time of the purchase
Astrum said it would run American Tourister as a unit separate from Samsonite, it clearly
planned some connection between the two. In 1994, Astrum named as president of
American Tourister the former Samsonite vice-president of sales and marketing, Frank
Steed

In an attempt to distinguish American Tourister from Samsonite, Astrum initiated a major

advertising campaign in early 1994. Capitalizing on the well-known gorilla ads from a
decade before, the campaign featured a gorilla, a family of chimpanzees, and an
orangutan. The ads targeted family vacationers, a market clearly different from the
business-oriented one pursued by Samsonite. The print ads ran in issues of Parenting,
Family Circle, and Ladies Home Journal and used the tagline, "American Tourister:
Making travel less primitive."

In 1995 Astrum split into two public companies, Samsonite Corp. and Culligan Water
Technologies Inc., with Samsonite taking Astrum's other luggage brands, Lark and
American Tourister, with it.