Desties

Put me in the camp that likes A&K trying to clean up their name after T&H sullied it up.

And since ER began offering those "once in a lifetime" getaways, it makes perfect sense for A&K to go with its name since they are the leaders there, and will probably be doing a lot of cross-selling of the club to previous A&K travelers.

LTTravel

From multiple postings on the internet, it doesn't sound like T & H sullied up the A & K name but A & K sullied up the DC name:

Just one example:

Private Retreats by Abercrombie & Kent Honored By American Academy of Hospitality Sciences; World's Premiere Destination Club Awarded Star Diamond Award. | Travel, Hospitality & Tourism > Destinations & Attractions from AllBusiness.com

Now A & K says that they had nothing to do with Private Retreats and they just licensed their name? Sounds like a cop out to me.

NeilGoBlue

I wouldn't consider those 'equity' options... you might get all your money back, but you are at least second in line behind the mortages on the properties. As an AK member, you have the protection of the members owning the club free and clear with no debt.

There is a difference in participating in the appreciation of a club and having true equity protection to protect against the club failing.

Kagehitokiri

LTTravel, that article has a quote from a T&H employee, not an A&K employee. doesnt say anything about A&K itself. when did A&K say anything about doing MORE than just licensing their name? i dont recall ever seeing an endorsement, which IIRC is what andrew harper did with parallel, but perhaps my memory is failing me.

NeilGoBlue, thats why i put "equity" in quotes, and then add "options" afterwards.

LTTravel

What does "Private Retreats by Abercrombie and Kent "mean to you?
I think the use of that phrase was never denied by Abercrombie and Kent. I think it implies that the club: Private Retreats by (run by? owned by?) Abercrombie and Kent has strong implications. Just my opinion. If they had no problem with that statement, do you have to read into everything else with their name on it?

Neil go Blue and Tarheel please don't take offense to my following comment.

When I heard that there was going to be big news with a big merger and major company involved, with an Equity model I was very interested. But now that I know it is A & K, I (if I didn't have another membership(s)) would be more interested in Lusso or Quintess or ER at this point, and I think that using the A & K name for a residence club will hurt them, despite their reputation for exotic vacations. I don't think that Ford will ever put the name Edsel on a vehicle again, even if it were built by Ferrari.

Kagehitokiri

i can only speak for myself, but i respect your opinion, and cant imagine youre alone.

and i DO agree i dont understand why they used their name either time. they could easily have had the 1 A&K employee (and any others involved in mgmt) simply "leave" (horizontal move) A&K for the other (subsidiary etc) company. but i rarely understand marketing MBAs etc. (clearly no offense to any marketing MBAs here, as that would not be your ONLY accomplishment.)

also, perhaps the fact that i probably wouldnt join A&K is part of why i dont see any serious problem.

although actually, more importantly - id hope itd be hard to screw up a debt free club.

NeilGoBlue

LL,

I hear ya...it's not a big deal to me.. the club is definitely aware of possible stigma using their name... in fact when the deal closed, they didn't even know what the name would be.. the used the name 'luxcastle'.. knowing that wouldn't be the permanent name..

I'm sure overtime they will build back whatever credibility they lost..

DC4MS

I too was surprised at the A&K name being attached to this new merger as I like the two current names: Crescendo and Bellehavens.

I personally would have simply chosen something like "Crescendo, by A&K"

It will be interesting to see if A&K can overcome the wounds of the T&H bankruptcy that are still fresh for MANY people or if the public really does have a short memory.

I also wonder how A&K is going to distance themselves from the current lawsuit that may linger for years and may reappear in the press from time to time.

LTTravel

Maybe I'll change my name to LL Travel J, since LL Cool J lives in my town.

NeilGoBlue

Sorry!

That's what I get for typing faster than I can think...(either i can type really fast, or ....)

vineyarder

Bummer - All this time I thought YOU were LL Cool J...

__________________
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Living in a vacuum sucks!

Kagehitokiri

should we move this thread to the new A&K forum as well?

DC4MS

Good idea...done!

TarheelTraveler

The A&K reputation definitely took a hit with the T&H debacle, but I'm not sure that it will hurt long term, particularly since the model is completely the opposite of T&H and most of the growth will come from people who have never even heard of destination clubs at this point in time, much less know all of the history.

Also, seems like I heard about a study that said A&K was the sixth most well known luxury brand in the world. Even though I always liked the CR branding, I doubt even ER would place anywhere near that high.