Dive Brief:
- Jewelry brand Brilliant Earth is expanding its store footprint with two new showrooms in the Boston area, which will bring the company’s total to about 40 locations nationwide.
- The showrooms are located in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, and Boston’s Seaport neighborhood in the new shopping destination called “The Superette,” according to a news release. The Chestnut Hill store is already open, while the Seaport store is slated to open in November. The company has also renovated its existing Newbury Street location in the city.
- Both of the new showrooms include try-on bars, as well as product visualization, design-your-own ring functionality, and virtual try-on and ring-stacking tools.
Dive Insight:
Brilliant Earth is continuing to build out its brick-and-mortar footprint through the opening of two new stores.
"The Boston area has been a cornerstone of our retail expansion since we launched our first showroom beyond California on Newbury Street in 2016," Beth Gerstein, co-founder and CEO, said in a statement. "The new Chestnut Hill and Seaport Brilliant Earth showrooms are milestones on our path of strategic expansion, bringing our personalized shopping experience directly to our customers."
The brand in August said it was on track to open three showrooms in the second half of 2024. In addition to the Boston-area stores, the brand is planning to open its first street-level location in New York City.
Earlier this month, Brilliant Earth also said it was expanding its international shopping capabilities by offering customers in 150 countries the ability to purchase its jewelry using their own local currency. It also is offering free shipping and free returns to all new markets.
As the brand expands its online presence and brick-and-mortar locations, the company has also made changes to its C-suite, elevating two executives to new positions in August. Pamela Catlett was promoted to chief brand officer, while Sharon Dziesietnik was named chief operations officer.
In its most recent quarter, the DTC jewelry brand reported second-quarter net sales fell 4% year over year to $105.4 million. The company’s net income during the period grew 11.3% year over year to $1.4 million, but operating income fell 16.8% from last year to $1.1 million.
