Jennifer Fisher Opens in SoHo With Ambitious Growth Plans
Jennifer Fisher is opening in New York’s SoHo — her way of telling the world that her brand is entering its next era.
The jewelry designer, who founded her label in 2005, said that “it’s time to step on the gas and do this.” In her mind, she had been taking a relaxed approach all these years in order to focus on raising her children, who are now teenagers. So onwards it is — with the plan to open nine more stores in the near future.
More from WWD
To start, Fisher’s new 1,650-square-foot store at 400 West Broadway is a “full-circle moment.” The designer founded her brand in the bedroom of her SoHo apartment after her first child was just born.
Fisher had operated a store out of her Flatiron neighborhood offices for years, but realized upon opening a Beverly Hills location in April that, “in a ground floor space, once the customer comes in and touches and feels the jewelry — they are more comfortable purchasing online and telling their friends. That’s the best tool of taking on the overhead of a ground floor retail space.”
Strategically speaking, Fisher sees these physical spaces as a gateway to online purchases. “We are building out these small jewel boxes for that exact reason — for customers to come touch and feel the jewelry and buy online,” Fisher said. She said that the thoughtfulness of her designs, like the tactile weight of gold chains or lightness of her larger hoops, is what keeps shoppers coming back.
EugeneGologursky
Due to the cost of materials, her business is currently 60 percent hedged on fine jewelry sales with the remaining 40 percent in brass. Despite a sharp increase in gold costs, Fisher is seeing little price resistance. “I think people want to invest in gold,” she said. “We are seeing people buy larger chains because they have more value over time. We upsell on the gold chain and tell them to add charms later — they are hard to keep in stock.”
Fisher’s business is now on track for growth informed by 17 years’ worth of data that her company has accumulated by selling direct through its website since its founding. This is what’s fueling her intense planning around future retail spaces.
“We have already modeled out the U.S. with locations in Miami, Houston or Dallas, Chicago, another space in New York, another space in California — probably in Orange County — and a space in Toronto,” said Fisher.
Beyond just stores, she is also planning a new corporate office that has a content studio to film her popular cooking series and log jewelry imagery. Fisher said that her staff grew during the pandemic, and so the Flatiron studio was no longer feasible for long-term use.
As if there wasn’t enough on her plate already, Fisher is also readying a men’s launch and next week will launch a lifestyle collection with Kassatex that includes bedding and bath towels. The collection came to life after Fisher’s successful multi-drop partnership with CB2.
Amid all this, Fisher said she is pressing on without investors but is in discussions about the possibility.
“I own the company 100 percent. We are talking to people and having conversations but I’d like to see if we can do it on our own. I don’t say ‘no’ to a meeting,” she said.
Sign up for WWD's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.