Brilliant Earth may be a “digital first” e-tailer, but it is also growing awfully fond of brick-and-mortar.
The company just opened its 30th showroom—in Nashville—which means it has doubled its physical footprint in a little over a year.
In March 2022, after its second quarter as a public company, Brilliant Earth said it intended to double its number of showrooms. At the time, it had only 15 locations.
Now that it’s achieved that goal, it apparently will keep going. In a conference call in March for release of Brilliant Earth’s fourth-quarter results, CEO Beth Gerstein said it plans to open at least 10 showrooms in 2023.
So far this year, the company has added five. Last week, it opened a showroom in Pasadena’s One Colorado shopping district, marking its fourth location in Southern California. It opened stores in Tampa, Fla., and Williamsburg, Brooklyn, in March, and Charlotte, N.C., in February.
Gerstein said Brilliant Earth was even considering having showrooms in malls.
“In some geographical locations, the mall-based showroom makes a lot of sense,” she said, according to a transcript of the earnings call from Seeking Alpha. “That’s really how customers are shopping.”
Brilliant Earth is also looking to evolve the showroom concept and offer services like personalization and customization, she said.
Gerstein added that the showrooms “continue to generate strong results [and] increased metro bookings.”
Brilliant Earth’s showroom strategy is part of a larger trend of digitally native companies opening brick-and-mortar stores. Analysts say that having physical locations offers e-tailers a chance to connect directly with their consumers and provides an efficient way to increase exposure for a brand.
Another jewelry e-tailer, Blue Nile—which once said its customers were “too smart” to shop in jewelry stores—now has 26 showrooms. It was purchased by Signet Jewelers last August.
Photo: The new Brilliant Earth showroom in Nashville (Photo courtesy of Brilliant Earth)
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