Retailers meet Pandora founder

Posted March 30, 2010 |

Sixty members of the Nationwide Jewellers buying group visited Pandora’s Bangkok factories for a first-hand view of the leading brand.

An open invitation was extended to all members of Nationwide visiting the Bangkok Jewellery Fair and the Nationwide group was the largest to ever visit the factories.

The visit required military-like precision by Pandora staff to co-ordinate the movements of the eight groups between manufacturing buildings.

Pandora marketing manager Jeff Burnes said that is was the second retailer trip of its kind, since Showcase Jewellers’ visit in 2009.

According to Burnes, individual retailer visits happen occasionally as well. “We have retailers who go up (to Thailand) from time to time … if we hear they are going to Bangkok we invite them to visit the factory,” Burnes said.

Visitors to the factory experienced first-hand Pandora’s corporate responsibility program and devotion to craftsmanship, as they were led through the various production stages

After a tour of the product development department, visitors were given the opportunity to sit down at a work-station in each area, and undertake several production tasks including building a wax tree, filling a wax mould and making a Murano glass bead.

Burnes explained why learning more about the Pandora factories benefits retailers: “It gives [retailers] an advantage when they have customers coming into the store to look at Pandora – they can talk about the manufacturing process with confidence, they can talk about the fact that all the stones are hand set, and in a lot of cases they can say they’ve met the founder. It gives them a more rounded view of the brand – it’s not just about beautiful design, it’s all about the culture”.

The trips also benefits Pandora in giving the brand a showcase for its craftsmanship and corporate responsibility program.

“The primary benefit of a visit like this is for us to showcase the quality of our products and also the fact that they are made of genuine material,” Burnes said adding, “a lot of retailers know Pandora as the brand but they don’t know the work that goes into bringing the product to market.

“Another thing we want to show our retailers is how we differ from other competitive brands in that Pandora has its own factory and we can make sure our own workers are looked after. In Thailand there are very high compliance regulations in terms of employment regulations,” Burnes explained.

Nationwide members were impressed by the massive size of the Pandora operation – there are currently three factories in operation employing over 2700 people, and a fourth factory is due to open later this year. The factories produce 1.5 million pieces of jewellery each week.

Nationwide Jewellers managing director Colin Pocklington said “Most members knew that Pandora was a big operation, having previously visited their Australian headquarters in Warriewood … however, I don’t think they realised just how big until they visited the factory in Bangkok.”

He added that members ”came away with an extremely positive impression of Pandora’s quality and their commitment to product development and sustainability”.

All of the groups reunited after the tour for lunch at Bua Srinakarin, an authentic Thai restaurant, together with Pandora founder Per Enevoldsen, senior factory personnel and Pandora Australia managing director, Karin Adcock.

Burnes was unable to comment on retailer trips planned for the future.

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