Jewellery Diva armed for expansion
SYDNEY: The founder of retail giant Diva Accessories could soon be its biggest competitor. Colette Hayman, who started the jewellery chain in 2002, has just completed the first stage of a competitive retail rollout strategy.
Hayman officially launched her own Colette Accessories chain in April, with the opening of a store in Sydney’s Macquarie Centre. There are now 12 sites in operation throughout Australia.
These include locations in Wollongong, Warringah Mall, East Gardens, Miranda, Castle Towers and Parramatta in New South Wales, as well as Melbourne Central, High Point and Chadstone in Victoria.
Hayman confirmed another 18 stores were scheduled to open before the end of October. A total of 100 to 120 sites are expected to be operational across Australia and New Zealand within the next three years.
“We believe we have identified a gap in the market similar to when we developed Diva, which at the time had no branded fashion accessory stores,” Hayman said. “[Currently] there is no branded handbag chain servicing the volume, 15 to 30-year-old market and it is our goal is to be the fashion leader across a full range of products.”
Hayman said there was a “50/50” split in the number of handbag and jewellery products sold through Colette stores. A majority of fashion accessories are under $20 while bags are under $100. A small selection of cosmetics are also available.
“The offering will improve and expand as we expand the chain, allowing us to reach minimums for a number of categories that are currently out of reach. We have been hugely encouraged by the sell-through on our handbags and will look to expand this side of the offering.”
There are no plans to extend the business into wholesale, Hayman added.
“It’s always been our desire to control the environment and customer experience in which we sell. Potentially store-in-store formats in department stores can work but this is not part of our current plan.”
Hayman has worked in collaboration with In2Designs creative Steve Mitsis for Colette’s nationwide store design, which features slick black, chrome, white and bronze finishes.
“The inspiration for our stores came from the most unexpected source,” she said. “While on an extended holiday in Italy early last year we visited the new black D&G store in Milan ... although, the original design went through a number of versions as we felt a totally black store in Australia would be quite daunting.”
Colette Accessories is 100 per cent owned and operated by Hayman and her husband Mark. The two entrepreneurs sold Diva Accessories to BB Retail Capital in 2007. As previously reported in Ragtrader, Diva kicked off its own aggressive 4000 international store rollout program earlier this year.
Assia Benmedjdoub