Paris: In the presence of the Belgian Ambassador in France, H.E. Vincent Mertens de Wilmars and Peter Macken, CEO HRD Antwerp, HRD Antwerp’s first flagship store was inaugurated on 23 June 2016 in Paris. An exclusive partnership between HRD Antwerp, Europe’s leading authority in diamond certification and selected retailers.
The “flagship” designation is liberally applied to stores in prestigious locations, stores with unique features. Strategically placed in worldwide locations, these stores are being positioned as the highest and best that the brand has to offer, and are being used as testing grounds for innovation and experimentation.
The concept of a flagship store fits perfectly in HRD Antwerp’s brand strategy. HRD Antwerp has chosen Paris, because of the prestige, credibility and visibility associated with the city.
“We aim at developing HRD Antwerp branded flagship stores in major fashion and luxury shopping destinations throughout Europe, Middle East and China, but we wanted Paris to be first in the world. Why Paris? HRD Antwerp and our partners share the same values. We aim for perfection, delivering the highest quality in all our products and services. Loyal to our reputation for excellence, accuracy and integrity and because of our extensive know-how we have in common with our selected partners in Paris. We are also convinced that nothing creates an instantly powerful brand presence in a city, state or country like a flashy unveiling of a flagship store. This flagship and shop-in- shop strategy is the first step in new partnerships with retailers that share HRD Antwerp’s high quality standards thus creating a proactive vehicle for high profile expansion”. Dixit Peter Macken, CEO of HRD Antwerp.
The president and owner of Galeries du Diamant, stated: “We aim to promote Antwerp diamonds, and that is why we have opened a diamond and jewellery shop in Paris to sell exclusively HRD Antwerp certified diamonds. We are very proud to be the first retailer with an HRD Antwerp flagship store in the world today.”
Since consumers are increasingly using digital channels to gain product information prior to making their final purchase in a physical retail environment. Physical customer touchpoints are a great way to generate additional sales and improve brand visibility while providing consumers with a more enticing, trustworthy and sensory brand experience.
Partnership with selected retailers:
HRD Antwerp decided to develop HRD Antwerp branded Flagship Stores and Shop-in-Shop units to inform customers in a “pleasant” way. HRD Antwerp offers attractively designed in-store tools to inspire confidence in both the diamonds that customers are considering buying and in the retailer who sells diamonds. The flagship concept comes with an attractive movie, specially developed to appeal to all the consumers but mostly to the millennial generation (Y). At the same time it explains in an original way HRD Antwerp’s 5Cs.
