Astrid & Miyu delivers on a promise of its second New York City location as a playground for jewelry lovers, offering a comfortable piercing experience in a store with warm loft-like interior design.
The London-based jeweler held a soft opening in August of its store on Bleecker Street in the West Village. A grand-opening celebration will happen in September, but founder Connie Nam says customers already have made the brand feel at home.
Nam says Astrid & Miyu had had a significant year of store and business growth, and it plans further openings worldwide in 2023 and 2024. The company aims to expand rapidly, bringing its buzzy Instagram energy into the brick-and-mortar world.
“Community and experience are a huge part of what makes Astrid & Miyu unique,” Nam says. “Opening more physical stores will enable us to deeper our relationship with our customers and wider community.”
Astrid & Miyu’s first U.S. store opened in New York’s Nolita neighborhood. Since Nam founded the brand in 2012 from her Notting Hill flat, the company has expanded to 18 stores across the United Kingdom. Since Nam considers the United States a second home, opening retail locations in America made sense, she says.
Nam describes Astrid & Miyu as a contemporary jewelry brand with a specialty in piercings and permanent jewelry. It features exclusive charms for each location; the new store, for example, has NYC-themed charms that customers can add to their welded bracelets or anklets.
Astrid & Miyu regularly refreshes the customer experience by bringing in new jewelry collections at its stores every six weeks. So when someone comes in for a new piercing or permanent jewelry, they also can shop the additional designs in earrings, bracelets, and necklaces, curating their own unique stacks, Nam says.
At the Bleecker Street boutique, large metal poppy flowers bend artistically at the classic NYC glass-and-metal storefront. The inside is awash in a peachy-pink hue along with light wood and neutral tones on jewelry display stands. There are pops of greenery, with plants on the shelves and wood floor.
The main area where jewelry is displayed includes lots of metal-lined mirrors and a fun checkerboard pattern on some of the recessed shelving. Jewelry is displayed outside of cases, letting customers touch pieces as they shop.
The welding area has special seating where people can get permanent jewelry put on while their friends are shopping (or watching). A large neon sign announces the entrance to the piercing studio, which takes customers down a hallway featuring plush benches and mirrors.
“Being able to finally serve and connect with our dedicated followers and customers here is so exciting. Our New York City expansion will truly set us up to be a global brand,” Nam says.
Top: London-based jewelry brand Astrid & Miyu has added a location in Manhattan’s West Village. (Photos courtesy of Astrid & Miyu)
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