Viral female-founded jewelry brand Wanderlust + Co is expanding Stateside. The playful and accessibly priced label has chosen New York City and Philadelphia for its first U.S. brick and mortar locations—on Bleecker Street and the King of Prussia Mall respectively. While Malayia based Wanderlust + Co has its roots as a digital-first brand, it has already established five locations across Asia in Malaysia and Singapore and is stocked with some 400 retailers worldwide. The U.S. region, however, accounts for 40% of global website traffic and conversions together with a 20-25% repeat purchase rate among U.S. shoppers. According to CEO and founder Jenn Low, these permanent spaces were also a response to insights gathered from a series of high-performing U.S. pop-ups together with intimate media dinners and one-on-one meetings. They demonstrated significantly increased conversion when people could physically engage with the product. The offering of these stores tap into broader spectrum market trends such as city specific products and personalisation services which are key when it comes to drawing customers in-store and and building a local community. While appealing in particular to a Gen-Z consumer, personalisation and storytelling amplify the emotional resonance of jewelry. The New York and Philadelphia stores both offer on-site piercing alongside personalisation services such as welding, engraving and a jewelry adjacent ‘patch bar’ where customers can personalise canvas key-chains, choosing from a series of iron-on designs—”allowing customers to bring their stories to life, making each piece uniquely theirs.”