The San Saru jeweller, born on the internet in 2015, will open a store in Madrid after arriving in the physical world with the first opening in Barcelona, ??in July. The plan is to settle in the capital before the end of the year to start the Christmas campaign. The expansion is part of a larger rollout that aims to have around 12-15 stores by the end of 2024. The aim is to be multi-channel, reduce reliance on online and also add wholesale and presence in marketplaces such as Amazon and Zalando.
DNA is digital. San Saru emerged in Mataró after a trip by the founding couple, Borja Pundik and Carolina Álvarez, to India. They returned loaded with jewels and were giving them away to family and friends. They saw they liked it, had some left over and launched a community on Instagram. It was well received and created an opportunity: Pundik began to study jewelry and import products from Asia. Then they launched their own design, with more and more local manufacturing: by the end of the year, 90% will be manufactured in Spain, half in Mataró through third parties. It used to depend on Italy or Asia, and bringing production close by “allows for high manufacturing control and to bring out a new collection after 3-4 weeks”, explains Pundik. The co-founder defines the range as boho chic, with the use of silver, gold and natural stone.
With years focused on the network, the success of pandemic e-commerce “was like a constant Christmas”. In 2020 alone, sales doubled, to nine million euros. With growth, channels will diversify “to have a more solid structure, not to live only from online sales”. Opening in Barcelona meant investing around 170,000 euros. The forecast was that it would contribute 400,000 euros to the turnover (3%-4%), but if the good pace of the start-up keeps up, it can go to a million. Pundik points out that 60% of the store’s customers did not know them before. Future stores will require less expenditure (100,000-120,000 euros), since factors such as design are not repeated. Among the plans is studying to reach shopping centers. In addition, wholesale also reaches unexpected places, such as Cyprus. And although the audience is usually a woman aged 25-35, it is the last to launch capsules for men.
The goal is to surpass the ten million billed for the first time in 2023, after the eight million in 2022. The average ticket is around 50 euros – “We don’t have a high selling price”, he says – and Spain accounts for 60% of sales . In the rest, Italy, France and Germany stand out. After an adjustment last year to oversize due to the pandemic push, today it employs around 50 people.