The owners of Paris Jewellers have had their eyes on one specific location at the Kingsway Mall in their hometown of Edmonton for 15 years.
And now the retail chain is opening its latest store at that ideal location.
“This location in Kingsway is absolutely a dream come true for us,” said Chau Lui, Co-owner and Director of Operations, Paris Jewellers, who owns the retailer with sister Trang. “We signed this lease prior to the current COVID-19 pandemic. The past six months have been without a doubt the most challenging for our business careers, but also at the same time we have experienced the most growth, learning and felt the most amount of support from our team members and customers.
“It’s a smaller location for us but we’re really happy with the location. It’s right on a corner spot, right by the main entrance. To be honest, this is a location in Kingsway that has been on our dream list for over 15 years. So we’re so thrilled to be in it. I believe it’s around a little over 700 square feet. For us going in it will be our new concept look just like West Edmonton Mall and we’re going to have a really great feeling in it and a very curated assortment of products.”
Lui said of course every business owner has fears and concerns during this time because of the uncertainty and living through an experience that no one has experienced before.
“My sister and I regrouped and we just want to focus on the things that we can control and we’ve always believed that our faith is always bigger than our fear and we are going to choose to have faith. And we believe opening a store in Edmonton is vibrant, it’s resilient and there’s a spirit of community here. So we’re very excited for it. We just truly believe that this is a market where it will be great for us to have representation and serve our customers.”
The store’s grand opening is set for November 14. The first 10 purchases per day from November 14-20 will receive a free jewelry gift. Paris Jewellers has also launched its Holiday Collection, which is a curated gift guide for the upcoming Holiday Season. A portion of proceeds from each item purchased from the collection to December 31 will be donated to Make A Wish Canada. It has also partnered with Make A Wish on its baby jewellery line, Precious Forever, which is an ongoing collection, where five per cent of all profits are donated.
A few years ago, Paris Jewellers was operating in Kingsway Mall for over five years but decided to close down that location. They waited to see if their dream location would become available which it eventually did.
30-Year-Old Paris Jewellers Operates 22 Stores Across Canada
Paris Jewellers, which has been in operation for more than 30 years, has 22 stores in four provinces and more than 200 employees.
“Edmonton’s our hometown. It’s in this province that we started our business. So for us this location (at Kingsway) is really prime. We’re very excited about it. We’ve had a lot of customers ask us over the years, and we have to listen to our customers, that they would love to see us in Kingsway. A lot of our decision-making is driven of course by what our customers want.
“The energy of this location is just so vibrant and that’s why we’ve always been drawn to it.”
Lui said one of the hardest things the retailer has ever done was temporarily closing its stores a few months ago due to the pandemic.
“That’s something we never planned for. So during that time of course business was hard for everybody because they were closed. Our company took that time to really refocus and be intentional and go through all of the things we did and all of the things that we needed to do to ensure that when we did reopen it would be a safe environment for our employees,” she said.
“Overall, business for us we find it positive but because we’re in so many cities and so many provinces it really varies on what area of the country that we’re in.”
Lui said the company is absolutely open to expanding but it will be smart and strategic with all of its decision-making in opening new doors.
“We’re really excited about Kingsway and we don’t have any more plans for the rest of the year. When it comes to next year, we may have something coming out on the pipeline. If it’s the right location, the right mall, the right market, absolutely we would do it. We are still on the table when it comes to expanding our company.”
The company also has a very charitable focus.
“When we were first starting out, we opened our very first store, we weren’t a big company, we were a tiny company. And our community, they took a chance on us and they gave us the opportunity to have a business and then continue to grow our business. For us it is truly so important that we give back to the communities that have supported us over the years,” added Lui.
