Los Angeles Jewellery Outlet Takes a Bold Approach to Business

Anyone with a bit of a fanatical taste for the twinkle and shine of jewelry is likely to be melted on the spot by the prospect of shopping in Los Angeles' historic jewelry district. Lined with rustic buildings that stretch toward the sky, Hill Street and nearby avenues beckon to jewelry lovers with promises of sparkling treasures and elegant designs awaiting wrists, fingers, necks, and ears, tucked away inside the labyrinthine stores and mini-malls on the ground floor. These days, however, the swooning customers have been trickling into the jewellery district in smaller and smaller numbers, with most local business owners pointing to the global economic downturn as a source of declining activity.
The mood throughout the shops and behind the display counters may be turning slightly sour as profits drop and owners struggle to reach their customer base to make ends meet. But at least one business in the district is taking advantage of the lull to set itself apart from competitors and prepare for customers to come, both in the short term and in anticipation of more prosperous times to come. Mitaa Wilshire Investments, which owns the Hill Street property Jewelry Design Center (now the Mitaa Design Center), has decided to leave fretting to its neighbors and take on the challenge of reinventing its image during the tumult of the recession.
The main weapon in Mitaa's arsenal? Renovation. Though it seems a huge and costly undertaking in any period, not to mention one in which financial resources are strained, the jewellery outfit is planning a major overhaul of the look and feel of their interior. Hoping to draw and delight a more diverse clientele, the company is set to get started this week on a substantial renovation effort with a price tag of about four million dollars.
The plans include an "opening-up" of shopping space, interspersing stores' and departments' display cases with kiosks and marble facades. The new interior will serve no less than sixty-two tenant jewelers, located on two tile-finished floors. Sketches of the completed space call to mind a fun yet refined jewellery "palace" whose furnishings and finishes are almost as captivating as the myriad diamond earrings, bib necklaces, cocktail rings, and gemstone bracelets dangling from mannequins and on velvet boxes.
And if this doesn't seem enough, Mitaa has revealed that it plans a further development for the building in early 2010, when the business --as well as the consumer climate-- is back on track. The third floor of the space will be converted to a food court and serve as a convenient and classy spot for grabbing a snack or snagging a meal in between shopping sprees. A jewellery mall that anticipates long days spent perusing shelves and cases punctuated with delicious bites and fresh coffee to keep the bargain senses alert? We couldn't be more delighted by this apparent match made in heaven.
There's no definitive word yet on whether certain themes or kinds of jewelry will take precedence in the revitalized mall, but you can bet we're rooting for an ample representation of costume jewelry pieces. With colors, shapes, and textures that can pop against nearly any background and grab the attention of style-conscious shoppers, costume jewellery is rich in the re-inventive and creative spirit that Mitaa seems to have taken to heart.