Endless Jewelry, another Danish-designed jewellery range, was officially launched in Australia last week with high expectations. Founder and CEO Jesper Nielsen, along with the brand’s Australian-based distribution managers, introduced the range at the Leading Edge Jewellers conference on 7 February at the Gold Coast.
A series of invite-only roadshow events were subsequently held in five capital cities across the country, demonstrating that the newcomer was serious about Australasian expansion.
Nielsen told Jeweller he had established the business – which specialises in colourful leather wrap bracelets and charms – in 2013 on the basis that it would become a global brand.
While acknowledging there might be similar jewellery offerings on the market, he said none had been able to transition from “selling a product” to “selling a brand”.
Nielsen might have been on his first visit to Australia but he is no newcomer to the local jewellery market. Having helped to establish the ‘Pandora phenomenon’ as a member of the international management team, he has an intimate knowledge of the Australian and New Zealand jewellery markets.
Nielsen explained he was largely responsible for building Pandora’s presence in a number of European countries, before resigning as CEO Central Western Europe in 2011.
Although a non-compete clause prohibited him from trading in the jewellery industry until 1 June 2013, Nielsen did not sit idle during that time. He explained he was hard at work planning a new range; quickly adding the aim of which was not to start a jewellery industry revolution but to create an accessible and affordable product.
New brand, old formula
Commenting on the inspiration for the jewellery collection – currently comprising 15 bracelets and 432 charms – Nielsen said: “My charm inspiration comes mainly from Pandora and Story [by Kranz and Ziegler], and the bracelet inspiration comes from Ole Lynggaard.”
It’s a concept that has been seemingly successful, with the CEO explaining the company had already achieved US$30 million (AU$38.5 m) in global sales during its first full year of trading and, by the end of 2014, was stocked in 3,500 stores across 16 markets. Nielsen attributed much of the brand’s early success to experience drawn from working at Pandora.
“The ‘toolbox’ that we present jewellery stores as a new brand is something that they [retailers] have never seen before,” he said.
“From fixtures, displays, catalogues, look books, gift packages, VIP events – we know what we’re doing and what a retailer ultimately needs to make this brand successful in store. We do everything that a global brand would do; we put everything on the line.
“My whole team has formally worked with Pandora so even though we have only been operating for 18 months, we actually have a very old, experienced knowledge base when it comes to providing retail solutions.”
Nielsen added that he understood the importance of investing in marketing and public relations – the recent appointment of pop star Jennifer Lopez as the brand’s ambassador is evidence of this. In addition to being the ‘face’ of the company, Lopez has also developed a specially designed collection for the brand – which will be available in Australia.
According to Nielsen, there are a number of clear targets in place for Endless in Australia. One of these involves the establishment of a locally based distribution office that will be managed by Peter Jakobsen and Anders Glaesel – both of whom most recently held positions with the company’s UK distributor.
Nielsen also confirmed Endless would work with all three Australian buying groups and planned to have 300 stockists nationally by the end of 2015. The first product delivery is expected in time for Mother’s Day.
At the time of publication, Endless was finalising the appointment of a New Zealand distributor.
The Endless Jewelry collection
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