This opinion piece in Retail News sort of suggests the jury still out on whether Emma and Roe is going to be a success.
Michael Hill’s Emma & Roe – a charmed life?
Posted on July 17, 2015 by RetailNews in Opinion, Retail Blog – Opinion // 0 Comments
“Fail fast” is an axiom of modern business life, so what are we supposed to make of Michael Hill International’s ‘test’ of its Emma & Roe chain of quality charm stores that began mid-to-late 2012?
It appears the physical presence of the brand is not growing as fast as the jeweller had expected and the hoped for test ‘result’ has not eventuated. So the Emma & Roe test run continues.
In its trading update for the year to the end of June out today, Michael Hill reported it was “continuing to refine and test the Emma & Roe retail model and consequently this trading update does not include financial information for the Emma & Roe stores.”
During the 12 months, two more Emma & Roe stores opened, taking the chain’s tally to eight versus a target of 10. Another store opened in Brisbane suburb of Mount Gravatt yesterday.
The Emma & Roe (from Emma, Sir Michael’s daughter, and Roe, Lady Christine Hill’s maiden name) story began back in 2012 with the trial of five south east Queensland outlets under the trading name ‘Captured Moments’. All Emma & Roe remain in Queensland.
The stores carried unique jewellery collections consisting of bracelets and charms along with matching jewellery. ‘Captured Moments’ was viewed as complementary to the Michael Hill brand which focused on diamonds, bridal and fine jewellery.
Michael Hill declared the trial a success and in April last year when it opened the first Emma & Roe store.
In its 2014 annual report the company said it would continue to test the business and its multi-channel strategy would help build faster brand recognition across Australasia and open the way to spearhead the brand name into North America through the Michael Hill stores.
Among Michael Hill’s priorities for the 2014-15 financial year was to open four Emma & Roe stores across Australasia and prove up the model for further expansion. – Mike Booker
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