Voice on the High Street – Azendi

When was Azendi founded? Azendi was founded as a small gift and jewellery shop in Headingley, West Yorkshire in 1989. There are now three stand-alone high street stores in Yorkshire, our e-commerce website, and the brand is sold in independent jewellers across the country. What style of jewellery does Azendi create? Azendi is a sterling silver jewellery brand, creating contemporary classics with a focus on design and quality. Our designs use only precious metals, beautifully cut stones and genuine freshwater pearls. All of our original collections are designed in-house and offer affordable luxury to our customers. What makes you stand out from your competitors in the local area? Our customers like that we are a British brand and we are known for our choice of designs and price points. We are not a ‘concept’ or a fashion brand but instead sell genuinely precious and beautiful jewellery that women enjoy wearing. We have broad appeal, with collections and prices that work for both self-purchasers, and the gifting market. You have standalone stores in Yorkshire, are you looking to expand on these at all? We don’t have plans to expand on our own stand-alone stores, but our wholesale arm is expanding this year. We are supplying the brand, with branded furniture, to some wonderful independent jewellers across the country and we are attending this year’s Jewellery & Watch at the NEC. What advice would you give to someone looking to open their own jewellery retail shop? You have to get the product right first. You could have a stunning shop-fit and wonderful customer service but if you don’t have jewellery that customers genuinely want to buy then you have nothing. Think about who you want to sell to and what will work for that market. What are your future plans for the company? Our stand-alone stores continue to perform well and grow their customer base. Wholesale is our big project for the next couple of years; our current stockists have reported excellent results over Christmas, so we are excited to push the brand out into new locations and grow the business.