Blue Nile brick and mortar

Blue Nile got its start selling custom diamond rings online, working from a supply of 130 wedding bands and 75 settings. Then, last year, the company broke onto the physical scene with in-store displays at Nordstrom’s Seattle flagship store and a store at Long Island’s Roosevelt Field Mall in New York.

bluenileToday, the Seattle company opened its first permanent brick-and-mortar space in Long Island. The store will operate in a similar fashion as the previous displays — customers can get a feel for the Blue Nile quality, but still buy the ring online through the company’s “Build Your Own Ring” feature.

The low-pressure sales environment also carries over from the online experience. Blue Nile says its store employees aren’t paid on commission, so you won’t be hounded to buy immediately. Instead, they will guide customers through ring building on in-store iPads and show off some of the settings and bands available to customers.

Blue Nile said that 91 percent of its visitors to Nordstrom’s Roosevelt Field display were visiting specifically for Blue Nile, rather than being random Nordstrom customers.

Blue Nile is no longer operating its test display case at Nordstrom.

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