Coach bets big on experiential retail with fourth Coffee Shop opening in Malaysia

As experiential retail continues to reshape how brands engage consumers, Coach is deepening its commitment to multi-sensory brand experiences with the opening of its latest Coach Coffee Shop at Mitsui Outlet Park KLIA. The launch marks the brand’s fourth coffee shop in Malaysia, following earlier openings in Sunway Pyramid, APW Bangsar, and Silverlakes Outlet in Ipoh, and signals a growing focus on hospitality-led retail as part of its Southeast Asia strategy.

Located adjacent to the Coach retail store with a pass-through connection, the Mitsui outlet is designed to blur the lines between dining and shopping. Such experiences have also opened the door for Malaysians who may not yet be able to purchase a Coach bag, to still get a taste of luxury through the Coffee Shop’s menu offerings.

According to Campbell O’Shea, senior vice president and general manager of Tapestry Southeast Asia and Oceania, Malaysia has emerged as a natural hub for this experiential expansion. For context, Tapestry is the parent company behind Coach, Kate Spade and Stuart Weitzman. “Malaysia is an important hub for our experiential retail expansion, and the opening of The Coach Coffee Shop at Mitsui Outlet Park KLIA marks our fourth location in the country,” she told A+M in an exclusive interview.

The market reflects a fast-growing, youthful consumer base with a strong F&B culture and high engagement with lifestyle-led retail, all of which align with Coach’s vision to create immersive, multi-sensory brand experiences.

The choice of Mitsui Outlet Park KLIA was quite deliberate. O’Shea pointed to the location’s high footfall and mix of local and international travellers as key factors, alongside the opportunity to create a more integrated brand journey. “With The Coach Coffee Shop directly connected to the Coach store, guests can move seamlessly between dining and retail, creating a more engaging, holistic brand experience,” she explained.

Don't miss: How Coach is winning over Gen Z one experience at a time

_{The latest opening at Mitsui Outlet Park KLIA}

Part of Coach’s growing network across North America and Asia, the Mitsui coffee shop reflects how the brand is scaling its food and beverage concepts while staying rooted in its identity. Launched under Coach’s vision of "Expressive luxury", the space combines quality beverages, comforting food, and design details inspired by the brand’s heritage of craft and spirit of play.

The all-day menu draws from classic Americana with a modern twist, featuring in-house favourites such as beef hotdogs, grilled cheese, maple-glazed crullers, and cinnamon rolls. Beverages are served with playful brand signatures, including specialty drinks featuring Coach’s “C” ice cubes, and chocolate-based drinks paired with C-shaped chocolates designed to be mixed in.

Spotlighting local flavours

One of the highlights of the Mitsui location is its rotating soft serves, offering nostalgic flavours such as apple pie, red velvet, and peaches and cream. Exclusive to this outlet is a Nasi Lemak (coconut rice with chilli relish) soft serve, a locally inspired creation that nods to Malaysia’s national dish through Coach’s playful lens. O'Shea said: 

These touches allow us to localise global brand values in culturally meaningful ways.

“At Mitsui Outlet Park, the exclusive Nasi Lemak soft serve pays tribute to Malaysia’s national dish through Coach’s playful lens. In Singapore, flavours such as chilli crab carry that same spirit of local relevance.”

And of course, Malaysians love a good Instagram and TikTok moment with branded foods and seasonal menus, so these have been a hit on social media. The buzz was also amplified with KOLs and content creators invited to the opening of the Mitsui outlet.

Beyond food and drink, the Coach Coffee Shop also serves as a brand engagement platform. Limited-edition merchandise, including T-shirts, tote bags, caps, notebooks, and enamel pins, allow visitors to take a piece of the experience home, extending the interaction beyond just the café visit.

_{Coach Coffee Shop Mitsui's exclusive Nasi Lemak soft serve}

Southeast Asia as an experience-driven playground

O’Shea noted that Malaysia has also played a critical role as a test-and-learn market for Coach’s experiential formats. “Our three existing Coach Coffee Shops here have shown that Malaysian consumers are highly receptive to experience-driven concepts,” she said. “These insights inform our wider Southeast Asia strategy, allowing us to build scalable concepts that complement retail while expanding the emotional connection people have with the Coach brand.”

While fashion-led cafés have become increasingly common across the region, O’Shea believes Coach’s approach stands apart. According to the SVP:

Coach’s F&B concepts are not simply retail extensions, they are authentic expressions of our brand world.

"They are built around craft, approachability, and a menu that reflects our New York heritage, with spaces designed to spark connection," said O'Shea. 

Looking ahead, experiential retail is set to remain a key growth driver across Southeast Asia. “The region has long served as the launchpad for many of Coach’s most meaningful hospitality innovations, from Jakarta to Singapore and now Malaysia,” O’Shea said. With 23 Coach Coffee Shops globally, 19 of which are in Asia, the brand continues to see strong appetite for concepts that express its brand world through all five senses.

As consumers increasingly seek experiences over transactions, Coach’s expanding coffee shop footprint suggests that hospitality may play an even bigger role in how fashion brands build relevance, loyalty, and emotional resonance across the region. Not to mention, Coach recently relaunched its immersive retail concept, Coach Airways, at Freeport A'Famosa in Malacca, Malaysia—cementing that the brand has its sights set firmly on bringing more experiential retail to the region.

Housed inside a repurposed Boeing 747, the refreshed outlet boasts an upgraded cockpit, revamped windows, brand-new flooring, and eye-catching interior touches, bringing together luxury fashion and aviation nostalgia in a truly unique shopping experience.

Coach Airways first debuted in 2023 as the world’s first Coach retail concept store. Originally acquired and assembled as part of an ambitious project beginning in 2021, the transformed jet now offers a one-of-a-kind shopping experience, complete with a retail cabin, immersive gallery, and café earning accolades such as the Malaysia Book of Records title for the "First retail concept store in an airplane" and MATFA’s "Unique retail experience" of 2023. 

Related articles: 
Coach Airways takes off again with bold new look in Malaysia 
Coach brings luxury into The Sims 4 for free in latest collab 
How luxury pop-ups are redefining exclusivity