NEW YORK — After 10 years and more than 330 retail locations, Charming Charlie is setting up shop in New York City. “Our customers often describe us as their best-kept secret, but now I think it’s time for us to really announce that we’re here,” said founder Charlie Chanaratsopon.
Though its nearly $500 million in sales to date suggests that the secret is not so well-kept, the brand is in expansion mode, beginning with a Manhattan flagship. Due to open in April, the store will be located at 445 Fifth Avenue, just a block away from the New York Public Library. “It has a lot of foot traffic and tourists, so it’s a great showcase for us,” Chanaratsopon said of the space. “A flagship needs to have high impact for the brand to wow the customer.”
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The 16,000-square-foot store will include three levels and feature a two-story, 30-foot-tall glass facade illuminated with LED lights with the brand’s signature hot-pink hue highlighted throughout the space. The store will carry the brand’s full range of products, which includes fashion jewelry, handbags, small leather goods, scarves, watches, sunglasses and select footwear and apparel. The flagship space will also house the brand’s press relations office and showroom. Chanaratsopon declined to provide specific store revenues, but noted that of the 330 stores in North America, only one loses money, with the Northeast consistently coming in as the most-popular region for sales.
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Internally, the Charming Charlie team continues to grow at a pace that rivals its retail expansion. The company currently has two offices: a headquarters in Houston and a secondary outpost in Los Angeles. Including sales associates, Charming Charlie employs nearly 7,000 across the U.S. Chanaratsopon recently expanded the company’s leadership team, including Jody Austin as chief merchandising officer. Austin previously served as executive vice president of merchandising at both Victoria’s Secret and Liz Claiborne. Other key hires include Toni Robinson as senior vice president of planning and allocation, Britton Russell as chief supply chain officer, Kristen Dykstra as chief marketing officer and Tom Fitzgerald as chief financial officer and chief administrative officer.
With a new team intact, Charming Charlie is set to expand globally, having previously focused on domestic sales. In late October, the brand opened two doors within Canada’s Ontario province — its first ones outside of the U.S. Two additional stores are set to open within British Columbia in the coming months. The brand has also signed its first international licensing agreement to open stores outside of North America via a partnership with Apparel Group UAE. As a result, the brand will begin opening stores in the Middle East as early as 2015. “The brand is very affordable, and what that means is we can go to many different areas,” said Chanaratsopon. “We’re investing heavily into building a brand that’s much bigger as a business.”
Prices for Charming Charlie’s fashion jewelry generally sit under the $20 mark. “We’re giving something to customers that is new and exciting,” he added, noting that department store accessories floors, such as those at Macy’s, are the brand’s main competition.
And as for that long-rumored initial public offering, as the brand rounds into its second decade, it has become less of an “if” and more of a “when.”
“People do ask us about this all the time and we keep our heads down,” said Chanaratsopon. “If we can build a phenomenal brand and a great team around it, an IPO is in the horizon. I’m not going to say next year, or the following year, but that is something that we look at.”