With Blingbox, Coop wanted to launch an attack on Claire’s (here at Bahnhofsstrasse in Zurich)Image: az/stefan honorable
Just a few months ago, Coop launched an attack on Claire’s and Lovisa with its new brand Blingbox. But its stores have already had to close.
Stefan Ehrbar / ch media
In spring 2024, Coop launched a low-cost jewelry concept under the name Blingbox. The retailer sold “entry-level” products in three stores: at Bahnhofstrasse in Zurich, in a shopping center in Volketswil in the canton of Zurich and in another in Oftringen in Aargau.
Blingobox was aimed at “young or remaining young customers”, as a spokesperson explained. If the concept had appealed, other stores would have been considered in Switzerland, but it did not work. Indeed, Coop is now deleting the channel.
The retailer confirms the information of CH Media (of which Watson is a part) about this. The store on Bahnhofstrasse already closed on December 24 and the stores in Volketswil and Oftringen will be closed by mid-January. Spokesperson Caspar Frey specifies that all employees have received an offer of re-employment within the Coop group.
The stores were designed from the start as a pilot project. Unfortunately, the defined indicators were not achieved. Despite “numerous and valuable experiences”, contracts had to be terminated.
Coop as licensee
The Blingbox concept comes from South Korea, where the chain of the same name operates several stores. Coop has acquired a license in Switzerland. The assortment includes earrings, necklaces and hair clips or bags. The merchandise comes from Asia. At the launch, Coop spoke of a “fashionable and ever-growing market”.
In Switzerland, the sector is dominated by the American chain Claire’s, which is represented by 35 stores – among others right next to the Blingbox store on Bahnhofstrasse in Zurich. The British chain Accessorize and the Australian chain Lovisa have also established themselves with several stores. Added to this is strong competition from online suppliers, such as the Chinese Temu.
With the disappearance of Blingbox, Coop is selling off one of the best retail locations at the top of Bahnhofstrasse in Zurich. Up to 100,000 people a day pass this street. The rental contract expired at the end of December and was not extended by Coop, as Caspar Frey explains.
Before the Blingbox experiment, Coop had rented the space for a subsidiary of Body Shop, which closed at the beginning of 2024. The retailer remains represented on Zurich’s Bahnhofstrasse by subsidiaries of its jeweler Christ, by the Coop Vitality pharmacy chain, by the perfume supplier Import Parfumerie, by the department store Coop City as well as the sushi restaurant Yoojis.
Translated from German by Anne Castella
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