Tumi puts a metal plate with a unique 20-digit registration number in each of its bags to aid travelers with lost luggage or mix-ups at the airport. 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.
For a long time, industry thinking was that travelers wanted their suitcases to be practical -- black hides dirt and goes with nearly everything. Luggage was lumped into the home section in most department stores with the idea that, like a washing machine or other home appliance, it would be purchased as an investment, to be replaced only after it wore out.
But things have changed. "There is a whole generation of people that think: 'This is not the only car I'm going to own. This is not the only house I'm going to own. This is not the only suitcase I'm going to own,"' said Randy MacKenzie, co-owner of Edwards Luggage, a chain of stores in the San Francisco Bay area. "One suitcase would be like having one pair of shoes for every occasion. It just doesn't work," she said.
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