Pandora concept stores to debut in NZ

4.0 k views | Posted February 22, 2011 | By Sonia Nair

Pandora is to establish its first clutch of concept stores in New Zealand, six years after entering the Kiwi jewellery market.

Pandora head of marketing and communications Jeff Burnes said the exact locations were yet to be finalised but would most likely be in the cities of Wellington, Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin and Invercargill.

The revelation comes just weeks after Pandora announced that it would close 100 stockist accounts in Australia and New Zealand – approximately half of which will be jewellery stores and the others gift and/or accessories stores.

However, Burnes said, “It’s always been our intention to open concept stores for several years now. It is not in any way related to the closure of the accounts in New Zealand.”

He said the concept stores would cement Pandora’s retail concept and drive brand awareness.

“We want the concept store to act like a beacon for the brand and to be a destination where our consumers can come in and experience the total Pandora environment and see Pandora product merchandised in the most optimum manner,” Burnes said.

He explained that using concept stores to propagate Pandora’s ideal brand environment would help generate a flow-through effect to multi-brand stores that stock Pandora.

“In Australia, the concept stores have driven a lot of traffic to our existing Pandora stockists because they are in prime locations,” Burnes said.

“Domestic tourists visit these locations and leave with a better understanding of Pandora. They then look for existing Pandora stockists in their hometown,” he added.

Burnes emphasised the importance of the ideal brand environment.

“The recent closure of the Pandora accounts was related to stores who were not willing to partner with us in our branded environment,” he said.

“For the benefit of the brand and our retail partners, it is important we work with the right stockists,” he added.

Since Pandora’s staff approached the stockists that were slated for closure, Burnes revealed that some had demonstrated “a real commitment and want to work with Pandora’s brand concept”. The brand may continue to work with these stores, according to Burnes.

Only a “minor percentage” of the 100 accounts originally scheduled for closure are based in New Zealand, Burnes said – although he would not reveal the exact number.

More reading:
Pandora to close accounts
Pandora reveals criteria for account closures