ion, including the appointment of former Camilla CEO Jane McNally as executive chairperson in April. McNally joined the brand after seven years at the helm of Camilla, where she successfully delivered a major international expansion plan. She is also currently vice president of the Australian Retailers Association and brings a plethora of retail board experience to bolster By Charlotte’s ambitious growth plan. Another recent addition to the By Charlotte team is Elle Turner, who officially joined as commercial general manager in July, after consulting for the business. She has an abundant resume as director of strategy and brand for IMG, Burberry, Grace Loves Lace, Camilla and Havaianas. Here, we speak McNally and By Charlotte founder and CEO Charlotte Blakeney about growing the brand in Australia and overseas and creating a unique customer experience. Inside Retail: What inspired the decision to expand By Charlotte interstate at this point in the brand’s journey? Charlotte Blakeney: We have enjoyed a national presence for some time now online and through our fabulous wholesale partners. It’s a tough market currently, but we’ve been fortunate enough to see over 20 per cent like-for-like growth with huge organic demand for our brand across Australia. This momentum gave us the confidence to be bolder with our ambitions. Expanding our physical presence feels like the next natural step forward, as we build deeper connections with our customers. IR: How does the Robina store fit into the broader expansion strategy? CB: Opening in Robina is an exciting milestone for us, it will be our first interstate store. It’s the perfect location to help us establish a strong presence in Southeast Queensland, where there is already so much local economic growth. Robina Town Centre’s strong local community connection aligns perfectly with our community brand values and we know it’s where the locals prefer to shop. That’s important because we are not a one-time purchase, our customers come to us for repeat purchases — birthdays, graduations and those special self-indulgent moments and milestones throughout the year, so Robina, as a local centre, made the most sense. IR: Jane, with your experience in leading international expansions, what are the key strategic priorities for By Charlotte as it expands across NSW, Queensland, and Victoria? Jane McNally: By Charlotte already has a strong national online and wholesale business – but adding the ‘third dimension’ of a physical store is important to amplify the brand and build a deeper, more meaningful engagement with our community. IR: Can you elaborate on the factors that led to the choice of Robina Town Centre as the next location for By Charlotte’s expansion? How do you see this location contributing to the brand’s growth? JM: Science and numbers, that were validated when Charlotte visited. She spotted several By Charlotte lotus necklace wearers. In choosing Robina as our first Queensland store we considered many factors: Geographical location of our biggest existing online customer clusters, and social followers Internal demographic research Ensuring that we are accessible for new advocates to find us – Robina has over 13 million visitors – and rank highly revenue-wise Supportive centre management and marketers The right positioning inside the centre The shopper demographic at Robina Town Centre aligned perfectly with our customer base and was chosen due to its status as a premier retail destination in Queensland, attracting both local shoppers and tourists. IR: International expansion…what does this look like for By Charlotte? JM: Internationally, there is clear space for the brand. We are not just jewellery, we are a brand with a powerful message and community. By Charlotte is organically growing internationally online, through nurturing our wholesale relationships. International expansion is not our focus within the next 18 months, our priority is to refine infrastructure and grow Australia first, but it is on the roadmap. IR: Given your success with expanding the Camilla brand globally, what parallels in strategy could manifest? JM: By Charlotte is a brand that resonates at a deep emotional level, it’s not just about selling things. The business operates with heart – as does Camilla – which will be vital to translate internationally, as it’s introduced to new audiences. Importantly, it’s key the business’s infrastructure is ready – legal and human resources compliance, local taxes, transferable systems and POS. In addition to building market awareness focus on public relations, wholesale and online selling before store investment. Research, research, research. Every state is almost a different country, there’s no substitute for visiting and doing the legwork. IR: How does the implementation of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system and other technological advancements play into your overall strategy for scaling the brand? JM: Our ERP integrates all aspects of our business into a single platform. We have real-time visibility for better decision-making, which allows us to be agile and respond to market changes as we scale. Ensuring we can continue to deliver high-quality, personalised experiences to our customers. IR: How does By Charlotte plan to continue creating unique brand experiences for customers as it expands into new markets? CB: ​Our focus will be on bringing the immersive elements our customers love — community-focused activations and personalised services, into these new spaces. We want every new location to feel unique and tailored to its audience, ensuring that the By Charlotte experience remains special. One of the reasons our Paddington boutique has been so successful is because we have created a community spirit and hub. Maintaining this is one of the challenges of going into a shopping centre. Using local builders and manufacturers, we have invested a lot of time in developing a new store environment where people will feel just as at home as they do in the Paddington boutique. The design inspiration has been taken from nature — the colour palette, finishes and lighting will be inviting and have an organic and warm feeling. An onsite studio will offer piercing, curation/styling and relaxing touch therapy. A lot of piercing studios offer quite a sterile and cold experience — we are creating a space for people to relax and feel good. A pink mantra phone you can pick up and the universe will answer with an inspiring mantra just for you. [At By Charlotte,] we interview people for culture over experience and we were delighted that the girls who applied to work in the Robina store were already advocates of the brand and wearers of By Charlotte. Visits from our existing store teams are planned to the Robina boutique to ensure continuity with the shopping experience that we are known and loved for.