Headlines

Blue Nile to Expand Brick-and-Mortar Presence with Another Store

Published

7 years ago

July 24, 2017

INSTORE Staff

This will be its 6th physical location.

SEATTLE — Online jeweler Blue Nile plans to open its sixth “webroom” in the Mall at Rockingham Park in Salem, NH.

The location, which will open in fall, “will create a retail experience that brings the best parts of online shopping to life in a physical space,” according to a press release.

Webrooms are low-overhead installations that create a hybrid online/offline shopping experience and allow shoppers to try on engagement rings, view more than 400 pieces of jewelry from every angle, and get advice from non-commissioned consultants. Shoppers can access an online catalog of 150,000 independently-graded diamonds from in-store tablets.

All transactions continue to happen online via in-store tablets, or customers can order at a later time on their own smartphone, PC or tablet, or through Blue Nile’s website.

Blue Nile’s other physical stores are in Portland, OR; Long Island, NY; White Plains, NY; Fairfax County, VA; and Bellevue, WA.

“The Webroom experience will offer people in the Boston metro area a new way to shop for the symbols of life’s celebrations, including diamonds, engagement rings and fine jewelry,” said Blue Nile CEO Jason Goldberger.

Seattle-based Blue Nile was acquired in a $500 million deal earlier this year by an investor group made up of funds managed by Bain Capital Private Equity and Bow Street LLC.

Looking for a Seamless Sale? Call Wilkerson

After almost 60 years in business, Breakiron Jewelers in Erie, Pennsylvania, was closing its doors. And the store’s owner, Linda Breakiron, was ready for it. She had run the store as its sole owner since the beginning of the millennium and was looking forward to a change. Of course, she called Wilkerson. Breakiron talked to other jewelers who had used Wilkerson and was satisfied with their response. “They always had positive feedback,” she recalls. With the sales, marketing and even additional inventory that Wilkerson provided, Breakiron insists she could never have accomplished her going-out-of-business sale without Wilkerson’s help. She’s now ready for the journey ahead, but looking back, she’d be sure to recommend Wilkerson. “They just made the whole process very seamless.”