Karats Jewelers Plans Expansion Into 30,000-Square-Foot Store
The Kansas retailer is aiming for a fall 2023 opening.
The retailer is set to move into a new store that will grow it from its current 5,500 square feet to 30,000 square feet.
Owner Akshay Anand opened the business in 2005, drawing on his family’s experience—he is the sixth generation to be in jewelry.
The store has weathered a major recession and a pandemic since it opened its doors. Now, Anand is ready to grow the business even more.
Located at 12260 Blue Valley Parkway in Kansas City, just five miles from the current Karats Jewelers location, the new store will be designed to provide a better customer experience, Anand told National Jeweler.
Karats’ core business is bridal jewelry, and Anand wants the new Karats to “create an engagement ring experience for the next generation.” Looking beyond millennials, he envisions the new store as a space that matches how the younger generations shop, building trust to sustain the retailer in the future.
“We’re not just looking for the sale but how to capture the market because as they grow, our business will grow.”
Here’s one example of how Karats plans to capture the market: the retailer will hire a full-time sushi chef from Japan and offer a sushi bar to its customers.
It will also partner with local businesses for events.
Anand added that the new store will offer “environments” for various product categories throughout, like mini shop-in-shops. As a person passionate about the environment and the ecosystem, he also plans on incorporating plenty of trees and flowers into the new store’s design.
Though Karats already carries more than 20 watch brands, the expansion will also bring a greater focus to the watch division, partnering with new brands to offer watches at all price points.
They will also revamp their website and build an app for the store to create a full “hands-on” experience.
The land on which the future store will sit has already been purchased, and the city has approved the plans.
Anand said he anticipates breaking ground in July, with the goal of opening the new Karats Jewelers in fall 2023.
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