exciting growth

The first My Jewellery store opened in Den Bosch in 2015. “In wonderful little premises that we fitted out with the help of family, friends and acquaintances. From the alarm system to furniture assembly: we did it all ourselves.” Although the stores that followed were prepared in much the same way, My Jewellery eventually set out to find a more professional party that could respond faster and cope with more stores as well. “The successful remote management of a formula’s retail strategy requires a strong, standardised basis and a professional shop fitter. Although each store has its own identity, they all share the same smart, well-thought-out basis. When we found ourselves fitting out more stores, which were often bigger than the ones we’d opened before, we knew the time had come to find an experienced shop fitter partner. One with architectural knowledge and the ability to take every aspect of a project off our hands as well. Every step in the shop fitting process is closely coordinated and we don’t have to worry about a thing.”

We switched to a custom-made approach when My Jewellery found suitable premises in Utrecht in 2015 and started to work with Maarten Huls from MR. STIR architect + planner. As an architect, his remit is to translate what he calls ‘a strong online concept into a physical store’. It was his idea to create an island in every store – however big or small – to showcase jewellery (the company’s core business) on. “This ensures that these products stand out wherever you are in a store. The great thing about an island is that you can walk all the way around it, like you would if you were browsing in a little store or on a website. Translating a certain feel into shop fittings is a continuous quest for us; we’re always trying to refine this. No two premises are ever the same and every store presents us with different challenges. Although standardisation and recognisability are important to us, our main aim is for each store to have its own unique feel.”

Every space is different and the challenge is to make sure that each new store has its own unique concept. Because that’s what customers notice and that’s the surprise we want to give them. Bulsink looks at options from a structural point of view, while I think about how to make concept ideas work in a new space. Even though we’ve opted for our stores to be recognisable, they should never be boring. Our job is to turn ideas into amazing store interiors.” Sharon agrees that surprising customers is the number one challenge in today’s retail landscape. “Innovation and creativity are the basis for My Jewellery’s success, not only in the products we sell but also in the approach we take to our stores.”

For Bulsink, My Jewellery is an interesting client. “As a general contractor, we have to make sure the concept works in each unique space and on budget too”, says Christel van Weelden, Retail Account Manager at Bulsink. “With a recognisable design, shop fittings and light lines. The search for qualitative, affordable and surprising solutions for this client really is a joint effort: we create a fitting team made up of preferred parties we know we can rely on and work well with. The advantage we have is our in-depth knowledge of the client – in this case, My Jewellery.”