Bevilles jewellers moves back into CBD

The move will be temporary, however; the retailer is opening a pop-up retail space on the corner of Swanston Street and Little Collins Street (a former Zamel’s jewellery store) that will operate from mid-November 2013 to the beginning of March 2014. 

It will be the first time that Bevilles has traded in a pop-up store, and while traditionally jewellery stores have not necessarily been seen as ideal for this type of short-term leasing arrangement – due to potential threats such as a lack of security – Bevilles CEO Michelle Beville attested that it was the right business decision. 

“With the current retail environment and the expensive leases that are in place, especially within the jewellery sector, it’s natural to consider an adaptive store footprint model,” Beville told Jeweller. 

“There are considerable benefits to having short-term leasing arrangements if you can get the model right and choose the right sites,” she said, adding, “We think it will also create some buzz and excitement for the brand to be in short-term locations during key seasonal periods and drive a sense of urgency for our customers.”

As reported previously by Jeweller, Bevilles closed its Bourke Street Mall store in 2011 after being outbid on a new lease deal by Austrian-based company Swarovski. Bevilles had traded at the site for 10 years. 

Commenting on returning to the CBD, Beville said she was pleased to be back.

“We had a very good customer base at our old CBD location and our first-ever store in 1934 was originally in the Melbourne CBD.”

 

Another motivation for opening the store was to ensure that the retailer received maximum exposure during the Christmas trading period.

“If it is successful, we may consider other pop-up store opportunities moving forward,” she explained.

 

The 100 square-metre store will stock Bevilles’ current range of diamonds, silver and gold jewellery and watches, but no giftware.  

The news follows the recent announcement that the retail chain had undergone a major “re-invention”, which will include the roll out of new-look stores across Australia, phasing out of its giftware offering and updated branding material. 

Bevilles was founded in 1934 and currently operates 28 retail stores in Australia. Earlier this year the jewellery chain had forecast that it would reduce the number of its retail sites from 29 to 23. Beville however, confirmed there would be no further closures in the foreseeable future. The addition of the pop-up store will take the number of retail sites back to 29.

Thursday 25 October, 4:30pm

Jeweller has been informed that Bevilles will no longer be opening a pop-up store on the corner of Swanston Street and Little Collins Street in Melbourne.

Bevilles CEO Michelle Beville said: “Due to circumstances out of our control, the site holder has decided to take a different direction with the building over the period we were looking to trade so we won’t be opening in the Melbourne CBD. However, we are continuing to look for pop-up opportunities as we believe the concept can work.”