Jewelry retailer Sokolov has opened its first store in downtown Shanghai, the Chinese capital. In the first half of July, the company intends to launch two more stores as part of a pilot project, TASS reports.
"A retail jewelry store under the Sokolov Moscow brand has opened in Grand Getaway, a large shopping and entertainment center in downtown Shanghai. This is the first of three stores that Sokolov plans to open as part of a pilot project to enter the Chinese jewelry retail market," the retailer was quoted as saying by the news agency.
Two more stores in Global Harbor and Cloud 9, two other shopping centers in Shanghai, will open in the first half of July.
Store areas range from 70 to 150 square meters, they are decorated in a design concept developed specifically for the Chinese market. The range of jewellery items includes more than 1300 models. Sokolov noted that it became the first Russian jewelry company to enter the Chinese traditional offline retail market.
According to Sokolov's managing partner Artem Sokolov, the three stores are being opened as part of a pilot project aimed at testing the business model.
"Investments in the pilot will amount to $10 million in the next two years. We expect to see an average check in gold in the region of $500-600, slightly below the local market leader Chow Tai Fook," Sokolov said, as quoted by the company.
“We believe that turnover of $100,000 per month in our stores during the first year of their operation is going to be the deciding factor of the success of the pilot project,” he noted.
“At the first stage, it is important to bring the concept and business model to acceptable levels in terms of efficiency. Later on, the number of stores can be increased up to 30-50 over two to three years."
