Pearl supplier opens first retail store

2.3 k views | Posted July 08, 2014 | By Stephanie Chan • Staff Journalist

Australian Pacific Pearls is the latest supplier to initiate a vertical market strategy by opening its first retail outlet – an Allure South Sea Pearls store.

Bill Reed (left) and Lindsay Youd (right)

The move is part of a major brand-building strategy and has resulted in the “closure” of one of Linneys' high-profile jewellery stores.

The new Allure showroom and studio workshop, which started trading earlier this month, is located in Broome, Western Australia – a town often described as “the provincial home of pearl farming in Australia”.

Allure was launched in 2010 and falls under the umbrella of the loose pearl wholesale operator, Australian Pacific Pearls. Both businesses were founded by William (Bill) Reed and Lindsay Youd, who first met in 1987.

The new store has taken over the space previously occupied by Linneys; Reed and Youd have owned the retail building for 27 years. The connection with the Linneys store came about because Reed was one of the founding partners of Linneys, and Youd has been a director and shareholder in the company since 1992.

Both business partners continue to be shareholders in one of the two remaining Linneys outlets, which remain unchanged under the direction of Alan Linney and David Fardon.

Allure managing director Youd explained, “The decision to rebrand [from Linneys] as Allure South Sea Pearls after 27 years is an evolutionary process for [me and Bill]. We expanded into retail to demonstrate our confidence in Allure and to grow the brand.”

Commenting on the choice of location for the brand’s first showroom, Reed – who holds the position of company director and shareholder at Allure – said, “Broome, as the historical centre of South Sea pearl farming, seemed the natural choice for our flagship store to be based.”

Raising the brand profile
Allure’s white, gold and black South Sea pearl jewellery is currently available in 25 retail stockists along the east coast of Australia as well as in Vanuatu.

Youd said that the brand’s existing stockists had shown a “wonderfully positive response…regarding our commitment to raising the profile of the Allure brand”.

“We feel the alignment between our retail and wholesale business will provide us with leverage throughout the marketplace with our marketing and advertising initiatives,” he added.

While there are currently no plans to expand Allure’s brand-only retail presence, Youd said a strong focus would be placed on “delivering marketing excellence to our stockists”.

“We will be strategically expanding our stockist network over the coming months with a focus on Victoria, Queensland and regional New South Wales…and are looking to expand into the New Zealand market in the near future,” he said.

As part of the strategy to raise the brand’s profile, WA model Caris Tiivel has been appointed as the face of the Allure 2014 campaign, which Youd described as being “just the beginning in the redefining of the Allure brand”.

“We are very excited with the new direction we have taken with the Allure brand,” Youd added. “We can now move forward and showcase our collections in line with our brand vision.”

Allure joins a growing list of other jewellery suppliers that have established bricks-and-mortar stores to enhance their brand presence via a vertical market strategy, including Georgini, Thomas Sabo and Pandora, as well as international watch brands such as Swatch, Tag Heuer and others.