On Wednesday, Swarovski opened its new flagship on Fifth Avenue in New York City—at 14,000 square feet, the brand’s largest store ever.
“Fifth Avenue is a perfect spot for us as a brand,” says Kolja Kiofsky, Swarovski’s general manager for North America. “The store is on two floors, and the storefront gets a lot of light, which is important for our product.”
Entering the store, located at 54th Street, is “like stepping into a jewelry box,” Kiofsky says—with cushiony velvet on the walls and bright colors throughout.
The second floor holds a giant crystal as well as an assortment of New York City–themed products—including a crystal-studded Yankees cap and a shiny “Big Apple”—that are only be available at that store.
“It’s a store that you can spend a lot of time in,” Kiofsky says. “It also offers our entire product portfolio going beyond jewelry, into watches and accessories.”
Kiofsky says that the store—Swarovski’s 190th in the United States—shows the company’s continued commitment to brick-and-mortar retail. “We have definitely seen customers coming back to our stores all across the globe, especially in North America. We’ve seen traffic consistently pick up this year. The customer really would like to interact with us on a on a personal level.”
The new store also features a wide mix of lab-grown diamonds—which Kiofsky doesn’t believe detract from sales of Swarovski’s signature crystals. He notes that some customers opt for designs that combine crystals and lab-created diamonds.
“We launched created diamonds in a small pilot test 18 months ago,” he says. “Since then we’ve expanded the line into all our North American stores. We’ve done a lot of research, and customers tell us that Swarovski is a really incredible brand in the created diamond space because we have almost 130 years of working with man-made minerals.
“The customer clearly distinguishes between what the crystal can offer and what created diamond does,: says Kiofsky. “We see it as an opportunity to work more with younger consumers, who have not entered the Swarovski world. But we haven’t seen too much cannibalization; it’s more of an add-on.”
On Monday, Swarovski held a gala at the new store, complete with crystal-studded taxicabs.
Photo courtesy of Swarovski
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