“We started our retail journey alone, but we wish we had found Leap sooner. With Leap, we were able to scale faster and with better results.” — Tejas Shah, CEO of Grown Brilliance
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Grown Brilliance is a luxury brand offering ethically conscious diamond jewelry, including engagement rings, earrings, and necklaces. Founded in 2021, Grown Brilliance has emerged as a pioneer in the lab-grown diamond market, emphasizing high quality, affordable pricing, and artistic design.
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In 2020, 92% of U.S. customers purchased their gift jewelry in physical retail stores. So, when Grown Brilliance launched its ecommerce store a year later, Grown Brilliance’s CEO, Tejas Shah, instantly started planning a retail expansion.
Within two years, Grown Brilliance opened three U.S. locations. Getting these locations up and running was a significant milestone on the brand’s path to connecting with customers in person. However, as Tejas discovered, it also posed some notable challenges:
Despite these challenges, Tejas was still confident that Grown Brilliance had a lot of room to grow in the offline space. But he was also convinced they needed a retail partner to help manage their brick-and-mortar expansion, especially with “engagement season” fast approaching. That’s when he found Leap.
“Becoming an omnichannel brand was extremely important for us, but we needed a partner who had the experience, time, and resources to build our offline channel.”
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Leap helped Tejas at every stage of the location selection process.
Tejas says the entire process put him at ease. With Leap’s data-driven location selection, he could finally validate that his upfront investments would deliver strong returns. And knowing Leap’s long-term profitability aligns with his brand’s retail success assured him they were equally invested in his stores’ performance.
“Leap provides an abundance of retail data and strong landlord relationships you wouldn’t be able to get on your own. These resources ensure your stores will deliver strong returns on your investment, and you can even get flexible short-term lease agreements for some locations within Leap’s network. You wouldn’t find an opportunity like this elsewhere.”
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Once Grown Brilliance secured its desired locations, Leap’s in-house design and construction specialists began creating bespoke storefronts. Having built three stores himself, Tejas knew these projects rarely went according to plan. However, he soon realized that with Leap as his partner, budget overages were out of the question — and store launches happened faster.
That’s because Leap simplifies the complex construction and design processes into smaller, actionable steps. Thanks to the existing scale and resources of Leap’s store clusters in key retail markets, each of these stages is completed with maximum efficiency and fail-safes to avoid delays later on. For instance, during the ideation stage, the design team worked with the construction team to ensure reliable sourcing and on-time delivery of materials using Leap’s connections to local providers.
And, because Leap clearly communicated the progress of every step, Tejas had ample time to ensure the store designs aligned with the impeccable standard set by Grown Brilliance’s internal team.
What’s more, Leap tailored each store’s design to its location while staying true to Grown Brilliance’s elegant branding. Each Leap-designed storefront uses the brand’s signature golden letters, exquisite window displays, and dazzling diamond-like chandeliers. However, the Chicago store reflects the city’s sleek, urban aesthetic, while the LA location mimics Southern California’s warmth in soft cream tones.
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“Things often fell through the cracks while we were building out our first stores. With Leap, launching four more was a fast, seamless experience — thanks to their expertise, ample retail resources, and industry best practices.”
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From building brand-specific training programs for store teams to scheduling payroll and managing day-to-day operations, Leap takes care of every store detail to set up Grown Brilliance for lasting success. But what especially impressed Tejas is how Leap builds lasting customer relationships.
Since many Grown Brilliance customers buy high-end items, such as custom engagement rings and anniversary bands, Leap’s teams provide a world-class shopping experience to foster loyalty. Every Leap associate uses customers’ purchase history and preferences to tailor the shopping journey and suggest complementary products. By enhancing the brand’s luxury appeal, this premium clienteling approach has driven 25% of total sales and a Net Promoter Score of 9.9.
Leap’s retail infrastructure also makes it easy to boost store purchases through different store performance programs, merchandising strategies, local events, partnerships, and other activations. For instance, Leap’s team covered every element for a pop-up featuring Heyday, a personalized skincare company. They hired additional staff, secured gift bags with skincare items and jewelry cleaning kits, and promoted the event.
Managing these activities, Leap collects valuable data on traffic, purchase trends, and customer behavior. This information is directly available to Tejas in his Leap App account, helping him further optimize store performance with minimal lift.
“Leap has taken daily retail management off our plate so we can focus on what we do best. And in the meantime, they keep us updated about any operational changes so we can have the final say.”
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As the Leap Platform brought new, high-performing stores to life, Tejas wanted to extend its benefits to his initial brand-operated locations. So, he transitioned the operations of the three stores he opened in-house to Leap.
With this transition, he maintains control over the leases but relies on Leap for more efficient day-to-day management and a seamless, data-driven shopping journey. Having a single expert partner for all locations also makes it easy to create an impactful, cohesive retail strategy that powers the brand’s overall omnichannel presence.
Better yet, Tejas used Leap’s data to discover locations for five more stores. Leveraging Leap’s landlord relationships, he confidently secured the leases and added the locations to his Leap-optimized portfolio.
What’s more, every time Grown Brilliance opens a new location, Leap invites thousands of local shoppers to check out the jewelry in person, driving more traffic to the store and introducing new customers to the brand. Whenever a customer subscribes to emails at a Leap-powered store, their information is added to Leap’s Universal Customer File. Leap then shares news about stores that have recently launched to its growing network of 500,000+ shoppers.
Tejas also uses this data to inform store-level adjustments, such as adding new merchandise or changing a store’s layout. Meanwhile, the brand’s in-house marketing team can effectively target customers and draw more shoppers to the physical locations.
The powerful combination of store insights and customer outreach has accelerated Grown Brilliance's growth — paving the way for the next stage of its retail expansion.
“With Leap, we have peace of mind that 12 of our locations are not only running smoothly without day-to-day supervision but are also positioned for long-term growth. And thanks to Leap’s data-driven retail expansion and rich customer record, we’ve been able to expand our reach and build a strong omnichannel brand.”
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With Leap, Grown Brilliance launched multiple captivating storefronts within three months of signing each agreement — 60% faster than the retail locations Tejas opened in-house. This speedy execution allowed the brand to connect with in-person customers sooner — ahead of the engagement proposal season.
In less than a year, Grown Brilliance has grown its total fleet to 13 high-performing retail locations crisscrossing the U.S. from California to D.C. and Texas to Chicago.
Thanks to Leap’s retail expertise, robust infrastructure, and rich market data, Grown Brilliance effortlessly delights shoppers online and in-store — with remarkable results:
“After scaling our retail footprint with Leap, we’ve doubled our customer growth.”
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