Online jewelry retailer Blue Nile plans to open between 50 and 100 brick-and-mortar “webrooms” over the next five years, the Puget Sound Business Journal reports.
At present, the company has only five showrooms. They’re located in Bellevue, WA; Boston; New York; Portland, OR; and Washington, DC.
This expansion could mean doubling the retailer’s employee base to about 1,000 people.
In a webroom, customers view the products and then place their orders using a tablet.
Blue Nile CEO Sean Kell, who took reins in August, told the Business Journal that customers like the showrooms.
“A lot of people love to see, feel and touch the product,” Kell said.
Blue Nile officially become a private company in February 2018. It had previously traded on the Nasdaq. The Seattle-based company was acquired by an investor group in a $500 million deal. The investor group is made up of funds managed by Bain Capital Private Equity and Bow Street LLC.
Read more at the Puget Sound Business Journal