Studs: Reinvigorating the Accessories Category

The accessory category hasn’t had an easy ride over the past few years, due to a number of reasons: challenges at department stores, concentration of brands, and waning consumer demand have all contributed to lackluster performances. However, there has also been a lot of innovation in the category with emerging brands creating unique and curated experiences for consumers at a smaller scale. The future of accessories retail is about personalization and many new retail entrants have embraced this notion successfully.

Jewelry has been a category full of disruption. Between new direct to consumer entrants and the growth and popularity of lab-grown diamonds, the industry continues to evolve along with changing consumer tastes. Another element of change across the jewelry market is the sustained popularity of body piercing, particularly multiple ear piercings. The retailer revolutionizing the space? Studs. Studs serves as a piercing studio for ages 13+ as well as a jewelry retailer all in the same space. Does that sound like other retailers out there? Technically, yes, but Studs is all about providing similar services and an elevated and more relevant experience to a more mature audience than first time ear piercers. Studs combines the elements of an accessories retailer with the piercing services typically reserved for tattoo parlors into a shopping experience that fits the needs of today’s shoppers. The retailer has 27 locations, mostly across major metropolitan areas, and continues to expand.

This concept, overall, has been successful from a foot traffic perspective. According to Placer’s foot traffic estimates, traffic to jewelry stores across the U.S. is down 2% year-over-year in 2024, while visits to a subset of Studs locations is up 7%. Beyond that, Studs average dwell time is almost 49 minutes, about 17 minutes longer than the jewelry category average. This signals that many visitors to Studs are partaking in the piercing services, not simply just browsing for jewelry.

Studs has done a great job at attracting often elusive, younger consumers. According to PersonaLive visitor segmentation, Studs' trade area over-indexes with Educated Urbanites and Young Professionals compared to jewelry stores, and even with Sunset Boomers.

Finally, looking at Placer’s frequent co-tenants report, it’s clear that Studs locations appeal to the above consumers through their placement with like-minded and similarly appealing brands. Retailers with high incidents of co-tenancy include Gorjana, Sephora, Warby Parker, Lululemon and Shake Shack. These retailers appeal to the ideal Studs' consumer, and finding the right mix of stores surrounding a potential location has clearly aided Studs in its expansion over time.

Studs combines retail and service elements seamlessly, and its traffic growth is proof that the concept is resonating with consumers, especially for those in cities that want convenience and experience. At a time when physical retail, particularly in general merchandise, needs to prove its reason to exist, Studs is a great example of making retail work for its shoppers.