Jubilee Enterprise plans stores for two diamond brands

Chief executive officer Unyarat Pornprakit said Jubilee Enterprise was currently managing two brands, Jubilee Diamond and Forevermark. 
“Jubilee Diamond is a diamond-jewellery brand that the company owns, which is currently the No 1 diamond-jewellery brand in Thailand, with the largest number of outlets, more than 120 branches across the country,” she said. 
“Meanwhile, Forevermark is a diamond brand owned by De Beers Group for which Jubilee Enterprise is Thailand’s exclusive authorised retailer. 
“The business plans for the two brands are different in direction and each will contribute to the company in a different way.
“Forevermark has so far been in Thailand for less than a year but is the No 1 diamond brand in the world. Forevermark has a unique diamond selection process and works exclusively with top-class diamond cutters, which results in all Forevermark diamonds being stunningly beautiful. The difference is so obvious we can experience it with the naked eye. 
“‘Beautiful’ is one of the promises of the Forevermark brand, where other promises are ‘rare’ and ‘responsibly sourced’. Therefore the plan for Forevermark involves brand education and outlet expansion. 
“We currently only have three doors [outlets] for Forevermark but all of them perform quite well. We plan to have at least three and as many as five more doors [outlets] by the end of 2017. We see potential in more locations within Bangkok as well as other major cities,” Unyarat said.
She said that for now the company only had Forevermark exclusive rights for Thailand, including e-commerce. Thus no plans to take Forevermark outside the country are on the drawing board yet. 
The focus of the outlet expansion for Forevermark will be physical stores in Thailand.
For Jubilee Diamond, the company is looking into the obvious potential within Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam but no solid plans have been drafted yet. 
As Thailand’s retail developers have started their own overseas expansion, the company’s choice of investment platforms has also increased. Its expansion strategy will likely involve business partners, but not for financial reasons. 
“One of the key trigger points will be when our e-commerce platform is launched. Even without the platform, there are some demands from nearby countries through digital channels. Therefore, physical expansion may not be our first overseas initiative,” Unyarat said.
She said the budget for next year’s expansion would mainly go into diamond inventory, which can always be liquidated. Normally, the investment per branch expansion is around Bt7 million and Bt10 million. So the total cost for the new outlets would be between Bt80 million and Bt100 million next year. Other costs are significantly less critical, thus make the company’s expansion plan a safe move.
“Jubilee Diamond’s business plan does not have brand expansion as a key strategy, since the brand is already the largest in the market. 
The key business driver for Jubilee Diamond is market differentiation, which comes from product innovation, a unique brand experience, and supply sourcing strategy. 
“Best-quality diamonds have always been the brand’s key strength, but a few years ago, Jubilee Diamond began slowly introducing a unique brand experience and product innovation,” she said.
Unyarat said the company’s outlet-expansion strategy would be tied closely with partners that are major retail developers. 
“For the Jubilee Diamond brand, you can expect to find our stores in all major shopping complexes and department stores. So by next year, there should be at least over 125 Jubilee Diamond stores throughout Thailand,” she said.