Vrai & Oro, the jewelry designer owned by lab-grown diamond producer Diamond Foundry, is closing its Los Angeles retail store after only six months.
The store (pictured in mockup) debuted in early August at The Row DTLA, a Los Angeles retail complex. When it opened, founder Vanessa Stofenmacher said, “We view this store as an experiment and our plan is to test out this initial location before expanding into additional stores.”
But now it doesn’t seem like any expansion will be happening.
In a blog post, the company called the decision to close the store a tough one.
“The fact is that retail is a true challenge—one that we would never enter into lightly, and we have to give props to those thriving in that environment,” read the post. “The root of our retail experience was always to have real-life moments with our online audiences, creating a more holistic view of the V&O ethos. In reality, we accomplished that and more, learning so much from our customers in the process.”
It added: “Keeping this news on the down-low is not our style; you helped build our business so you deserve an explanation. Closing our store was not what we envisioned, but it will allow us to stay true to ourselves and our values.”
Lab-grown diamond producer Diamond Foundry bought the company in November 2016.
(Image courtesy of Vrai & Oro)
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