With their latest store in Houston reaching upwards of 20,000 square feet, it's clear that Zadok Jewelers are moving up in the industry. In an interview with WATCHPRO, Jonathan Zadok talks about the new store as well as the employees.
"The new store will be almost double the size of our current store, and even so we are still agonizing over whether we have enough room and where everything is going to go. We are big believers in the brick and mortar side of the luxury business. We think buying beautiful watches or jewelry is an event, a treat," said Zadok regarding the new 20,000 square foot store that's opening in Houston. "Clicking to buy and having a watch turn up at your house is not the same. You need to try it on, you need advice on how to size it, you need to be shown how things work, and you need choices before deciding what to buy. There will always be a place for luxury retail with expert associates who can describe the differences and benefits between models and brands."
"Houston is a wonderful city, a great place to live. We have two major segments of the economy," said Zadok when asked about the Houston Market. "We have oil and gas, which has been a bit bumpy over the past five years, and we have the medical industry. We have the largest medical center in the world in Houston, which has grown dramatically over recent years. Historically, Houston has been a bit of a boom or bust city because of the oil industry, but it has diversified and now we have the likes of Hewlett Packard moving its headquarters here from Silicon Valley, which will bring several thousand high tech jobs here. It is important that the city continues to diversify more. Austin is ahead of us with Apple and Tesla building huge facilities there. Oracle is also moving to Texas. Tons of businesses, whether they are from California or New York, are being attracted to Texas because it is a very business-friendly state. They do not have to pay state income tax here and their employees can have a much better life here with less money. Companies are looking to get out from over-regulated and over-taxed state authorities."
When Zadok was asked about the size of the Zadok Jewelers team, he said, "There are seven of us working here out of a team of 45 now. We will probably have to add at least another five people when we move. One of the things we are really excited about in the new store is the addition of a state of the art watch repair facility and we are also upgrading our jewelry manufacturing facility. Our watchmaker has been certified by Richemont to service watches from most of the group’s brands except Lange and Vacheron. That is an exciting facility for the new store. It is about being able to provide a full 360 degree service to our clients and to turn around their work more quickly."
Information originally sourced from WATCHPRO.
