Attire Accessories - Feb/Mar 2018 (Issue 68)

ATTIRE 105 RETAILER INTERVIEW to greater customer satisfaction and sales increases. From the outside, our store front benefits from a traditional Victorian façade with pillars, panelling and decorative busts that now have distinctive on-brand orange- painted bows. How important was it to the company to give the brand an overhaul? The brand overhaul wasn’t just important to us, it was necessary. We understood the risks of standing still and stagnating as a business. Now, we are better-equipped to compete in the jewellery and giftware sector. We also have a stronger brand identity, more striking imagery and POS. It is important to note that our rebranding exercise has only changed us on the outside. Our values and the way we treat our customers in store hasn’t changed. We pride ourselves on giving our customers the best possible service. For example, our local store customers are asked to join our exclusive ‘Treat Me Club’ that entitles them to offers, treats, birthday vouchers, priority access to events and fun giveaways on social media.The idea is that they feel spoilt and valued, which they all are. What is your customer base? As part of our rebrand, we did lots of market research into who our customers actually are. We all think we know our customers, but in reality we tend to presume. During our research we established that our core customers are from ‘Middle Britain’ and can be described as successful suburbanites. Although they dabble in social media, they don’t drive conversation on platforms, which is why we wanted to reach out to a younger audience as well.The rebrand pointed us in this direction. Over the past 12 months we have introduced new collections and become more active online and on social media. I believe this will allow our brand to grow. When was your website launched and how well does this support your bricks and mortar store? Our retail website was launched in July 2011. It is fantastic for enhancing our brand awareness and supporting our growth strategy. We are proud that there are no access or purchase-barriers to our brand – our customers can buy from us at our store, online or via our retail partners. Today, Henryka can be purchased from anywhere in the world at the click of a button. How important is the back story to the company? Our history and heritage is extremely important to us. We say and truly believe that our jewellery has ‘heart and soul’, which is why our strapline is ‘Henryka With Love’. Every piece of jewellery we create stems from the origins of who we are and what we believe. You can see this in the fact that our jewellery is aesthetically niche – we have never tried to follow others or play to seasonal trends. We are proud of the individualism that is at the heart of our brand. How do you view the jewellery retail market at present, and what advice would you give other retailers? Retailers are looking for something completely different as they want to stand out with their product offering. Using our experience as an own-brand retailer and a wholesaler, I would say my best advice is don’t entirely follow trends.This can be very costly due to high competition and result in short-lived success as trends change so rapidly. Standing out from the crowd is an important part of brand development and ensuring customers remember your name. I would also recommend understanding your customers and getting to know how they tick.This focus on buyer personas has really worked for us, and shown us areas of strength and weakness that we can build on. How important are the projects you participate in to the business? Henryka has always dedicated time to charitable collaborations, and I would like to do more of this in the future. We introduced designs endorsed and promoted by Herefordshire Wildlife Trust and the British Bee Keepers Association. Henryka also supports local charities and we have commissioned exclusive pieces for the Little Princess Trust and The Courtyard Theatre in Hereford. More recently, we have partnered with The Royal British Legion and now donate 10 percent of every sale from our Poppy Collection to the charity. We also joined forces with local Herefordshire charity, the ELY Memorial Fund, to help raise funds to support bereaved families. What are your future plans for the jewellery business? Our aim is to reach a minimum of 100 trade accounts. We would also like to encourage our customers and retail partners to see our Hereford boutique as the centre of the Henryka universe – almost like a hub for everything that defines us as a brand. We intend to focus on bringing in new collections that stand out from the competition, including more sterling silver collections. Just before Christmas we added new pieces to our best-selling Stag Collection and we couldn’t be happier with the response. We think 2018 looks very bright for Henryka. A A Contact Henryka T: +44 (0)1432 266 538 W: henryka.com