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Magazines Archives - 2010 Nov
divas international expansion hits a new milestone with launch in China
Story 5 - News
 UK-BASED fashion accessories retailer diva has ventured into China, launching its first two stores in Shanghai in September this year, followed by three more outlets in Beijing last month.
The Beijing stores are located at EC Mall, Haidian District; City Mall, a newly developed luxury mall in the Chaoyang District; and on Wangfujing St, Beijings premier shopping street.
divas arrival in China represents a new milestone in the retailers expansion in Asia, a region in which it already has a very sizeable footprint, noted the company.
Said Brett Blundy, chairman of diva: China is a strategic and exciting market due to its large population of young women who have great fashion awareness and keep up-to-date on the latest international trends.
Similar to the success of other international fashion brands such as Zara and H&M in this market, we believe China offers substantial growth potential for diva.
The retailer has 10 stores in the pipeline for the remainder of this year and with plans to open more than 100 stores across China over the next 12 to 18 months.
In addition to China, diva has successfully launched into another key retail market this year the US, with 30 stores being rolled out within the first six months of operations.
Set up in the UK in 2001, diva began as a jewellery concession within Miss Selfridges, offering the latest ontrend fashion accessories at affordable prices. Within two years, it had launched stand-alone outlets, with stores opened in Australia, New Zealand and Russia.
Today, diva stores can be found in more than 10 countries worldwide, including Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Russia and Poland. All together, diva sells more than 50 million pieces per annum and has over 450 stand-alone stores worldwide.
Each store is between 35sqm and 50sqm, located in high-traffic areas in key fashion precincts. The small store formats and consistent store design allow for fast roll-outs.
The key to its appeal across these different markets has been its ability to offer trendy accessories at reasonable prices.
diva offers a distinctive shopping experience for its customers with stores that are easy to navigate and product ranges introduced each week to keep the customers returning frequently to see whats new.
The retailers design team, headquartered in the UK, develops a complete range of 65-70 pieces that include a mix of neckwear, earrings, rings, wristwear and hair accessories, which are delivered to stores each week.
Blundy explained: By offering a range that is inspired by a recent market trend, our customers can quickly mix and match pieces to their latest apparel purchases.
For example, a customer might have purchased a new season summer dress and will find a complete range of necklaces, wristwear, earrings, rings and hair accessories to match. In fact, we find customers will often buy multiple pieces from the same collection, say a necklace and matching ring.
divas stores with their eye-catching pink and white shop fronts and clean and uncluttered interiors, are fun, fashionable and pink, providing customers with an upscale boutique experience. ra
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