1ST PLACE
big cool division
DE BOULLE DIAMOND & JEWELRY A SECOND LOCATION MAKES A SPLASH IN THE FOURTH LARGEST CITY
QUICK FACTS LOCATION: Houston, TX URL: deboulle.com OWNERS: Denis and Karen Boulle FOUNDED: 1983 OPENED FEATURED LOCA- TION: 2015 STORE DESIGN: Gensler AREA: 1,800 square feet COST OF BUILDOUT: $2 million EMPLOYEES: Six BRANDS: De Boulle Collec- tion, Patek Philippe, David Webb ONLINE PRESENCE: 12,971 Likes on Facebook; 4.5 Stars on Yelp
DENISANDKARENBOULLE’S firstpriorityhasalways been tomake clients feel comfortably at home. At the same time theywant tomake sure everything theydoisassociatedwithexquisitequality,fromthefine jewelryandwatchestheyselltothequalityofmaterials used in the design of their stores. IncreatingasecondhomefordeBoulle,theirDallas- basedbusiness, whichwasnamedaCool Store in2007, theBoulleshadtheopportunitytorolloutthewelcome mat for Houston, the fourth largest city in the U.S. WhilethedeBoulleDiamond&JewelryPatekPhilippe ShowroomintroducesHoustontothedeBoulleCollection of jewelry, designed or selected by Karen, the location alsohousesthefirstofficialPatekPhilippeshowroomin theworld.Thatcallingcardhasgainedthemimmediate entrée intoHouston’s elite shopping and social scene.
“Patek Philippe is our biggest drawing card,” Denis says.“OurbrandisnotbigenoughtoopenintoHouston by itself and succeed.We found very select brands that can’t be found elsewhere that we can use to differenti- ateourselves.Thatisthekey—offeringpiecesthatthey can’t get anywhere else.” The boutique is also the only DavidWebb dealer inHouston. They chose as their location the new River Oaks District, where their heavy-hitting neighbors include Cartier, Chopard,HarryWinston, JohnHardyandVan Cleef &Arpels. They wanted the store to be welcoming but also el- egant and bespoke enough to outshine competitors on the global luxury-brand level. “Wewerecomingupagainst all the big boys in the industry, STORY BY EILEEN McCLELLAND
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