About Retail: When moving spaces equals success

Just a few months after opening the doors of a new space in Dallas, retailer Ylang 23 is seeing increased foot traffic. Click through to learn about their new-store strategy and to see eight shots from the space.

Brecken Branstrator brecken.branstrator@nationaljeweler.com

The exterior of the new Ylang 23 store in Dallas during the opening partyDallas--Just a few months in, the owners of Ylang 23 already are feeling very upbeat about their new store location.

In February, the Dallas retailer opened the doors of its new space, fêting the store’s soft launch with a party attended by clients, designers and friends.

Since then, the store has been very well received, said owner Joanne Teichman, and foot traffic has increased dramatically.

The retailer was well established at its previous location at the Galleria Dallas indoor mall, where it had been since 1985. But when the lease expired earlier this year, they decided it was the right time to move to the outdoor shopping center The Plaza at Preston Center, bringing them closer to the store’s top shoppers and spenders.

“Our clients are here. These are really some of the top ZIP codes in Dallas and these are our top spenders with the power to buy what they want,” she said, adding that a lot of the products that were ordered online through Ylang 23’s website were shipped to that area.

With the move and expansion, they seized the opportunity to innovate and add new features in the store. The new location is almost double in size, giving them room to explore a new design aesthetic and new features.

The retailer added two seating areas--one near the entrance at the front, and one in the middle--where shoppers can sit down to have drinks and are encouraged to spend more time in the store.

The store carries designer fine jewelry, and is organized so as to display the pieces by designer. But the Teichmans created a “ring bar” in the back corner of the new store, a circular bar surrounded by stools where they display all of the rings that the store offers in one display case, separate from the rest of the designer collections.

“Our customers love it because a lot of people already know what they want,” Teichman said. “It also invites them to sit down and have a conversation with us about what they’re looking for.”

The store’s location within the Plaza at Preston Center, which Teichman refers to as a “lifestyle center,” also has helped boost foot traffic.

The center has clothing stores, home goods stores, and restaurants, including a Sprinkles cupcake shop and one of the

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country’s few “cupcake ATMs”-- an ATM-style machine that dispenses single, freshly baked cupcakes or cookies from Sprinkles 24 hours a day--and that has drawn a lot of attention.

In terms of what’s been selling at the store this spring, she said in addition to rings being a hot item, due in part to the new “ring bar,” color and earrings studs also have been doing well at Ylang23.

Brecken Branstratoris the senior editor, gemstones at National Jeweler, covering sourcing, pricing and other developments in the colored stone sector.