Dubai: Go heavy on the bling — that’s the way 22-carat gold jewellery has traditionally been sold in the UAE. Store walls and window displays stacked with assorted designs and collections in the brightest of lights to shock and awe shoppers into buying.
There is little or no room for understatement — that was the prevailing sentiment among retailers.
Now, Anil Dhanak, managing director of Kanz Jewels, has set about rewriting tradition.
Recently, the retailer opened a store in Dubai’s Meena Bazaar locality, with an emphasis on creating a more refined space, both internal and on the facade.
“The way gold jewellery is getting sold is as if it’s a commodity,” said Dhanak. “You had shoppers walking about trying to get bargains on what are essentially precious items. And retailers had little time to offer personalised customer service, as long as they were able to sell at the lowest price.
“The trade was relying exclusively on promotions and offers to get shoppers in. I want to change that marketplace mentality — even if it’s only at a single store.”
That means creating a store environment more in tune with what one sees in diamond jewellery retail.
There are pop-up mirrors at the Kanz store, a very eye-catching chandelier, state-of-the-art displays (that means not even a single old-school lock and key will be found anywhere within the main shop area) and a high degree of personalised service. It takes up two floors, totalling 325 square metres.
“But this store will still sell 22-carat gold jewellery and not diamonds or any sort of coloured stones,” said Dhanak. “I have no plans to add diamond jewellery — you need a lot of market knowledge to venture into that.
“Very simply put, I have created a Starbucks cafe-style ambience to sell Indian masala chai [tea], even if it means a 20-30 per cent higher cost of operations. Though gold jewellery retailing is commoditised, it doesn’t mean all retailers have to follow the same pattern.”
Dhanak is even willing to lose customers if they perceive the new store to carry higher margin merchandise.
“I am not aiming for the mass market crowd — there are enough shops within Meena Bazaar to cater to that demand,” he said. “Being in this particular location means the majority of shoppers will be domestic unlike the Gold Souq where there is a higher mix of tourist buying.
“But, even in Meena Bazaar, there will be a certain buyer who will want to shop and be served in an ambience different from the crowd. That’s the shopper we are after ... and there are enough of them out there.”
There are no plans to do a makeover on the seven stores Kanz operates in the Gold Souq. “They will continue to have their “jewellery walls” and operate the old school way,” said Dhanak, who is also on the board of directors of the Dubai Gold & Jewellery Group. “I took my time to do up the Meena Bazaar store in just the way I wanted — that took the better part of a year to complete. I was prepared to run up higher costs since it meant more time before the shop opened.
“At the end of the day, I wanted to make some change in the gold retailing business. I had to make that point.”
