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Blue Nile Enlists Design Firm for New Showrooms
NewGround will use each location as a “laboratory” to test out new ideas.
This photo shows the Blue Nile location in Oakbrook Center in Oakbrook, Illinois, which opened on Nov. 10 and was the first completed prototype of the jeweler’s new store.
Chesterfield, Mo.—Blue Nile has partnered with St. Louis, Missouri-based NewGround to create the prototypes of its new showrooms, and the firm is experimenting with them.
Blue Nile announced plans in October to open 50 new locations in the top 50 metro-area markets in the U.S. over the next three years, adding to its five existing locations, aiming to blend the online and in-store shopping experience seamlessly.
NewGround’s Retail Team will create, manage and design the program to open these new stores at a rate of at least two a month.
They opened three mall stores this fall at Park Meadows outside of Denver, Colorado; Fashion Island in Newport Beach, California; and Oakbrook Center outside of Chicago.
The other locations will open in high-end malls, open air malls and urban, street-side locations.
For the first round of stores, the firm updated Blue Nile’s existing store prototype to add warmth and texture to the space, it said, while also maintaining the brand recognition.
But, rather than creating a look that gets rolled out across every showroom, each location will be used as a “laboratory,” NewGround said, in which it will test out new ideas, such as paint colors, artwork and furniture to welcome both casual browsers and purchasing customers.
NewGround said it will continue to evolve the design as the brand evolves.
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