WA’s luxury heritage brand, Linneys, has added its Midas touch to one of Perth’s most iconic locations. Creative director Justin Linney talks us through the stylish store opening.
Q: What prompted Linneys to open a new location in King Street?
King St is the most iconic and prestigious street in WA so it is a perfect fit for the Linneys brand. With many tourists from interstate and overseas shopping on King St we felt it was important for Linneys to be there to showcase fine jewellery made from WA precious materials, handcrafted by highly trained award winning jewellers that they cannot find anywhere else. We transform these raw precious materials including Kalgoorlie gold, Argyle pink diamonds and Australian South Sea pearls into distinctive designs that are available exclusively in WA.
There is also a good synergy between the actual building and the Linneys brand. We are driven to focus on the authenticity and heritage of our brand so being able to showcase our jewellery in an amazing heritage- listed building seemed like the perfect fit!
Q: Are you expecting King St to attract a different market to Subi and Burswood?
King Street will naturally attract more of a tourist market because of its location in the CBD. In addition to servicing the tourist market, having a showroom on King St also provides our existing clients who work in the city with the convenience of now being able to shop with us in the city. Providing this additional showroom allows them to easily visit us for complimentary cleaning, jewellery servicing or finding the perfect gift.
Our Subiaco showroom is a destination store and will always be our headquarters after it has been in the same location for 35 years and also because it houses our studio workshop and design team.
Interestingly, our Crown Perth showroom is popular with regional WA visitors and interstate tourists rather than overseas tourists as we had expected. After 45 years, the Linneys name has become well known in WA and our regional clients like supporting us because we are a WA company making high quality products.
Q: 45 years is an enormous achievement. Can you give us the history of Linneys in a nutshell?
Linneys was Established in 1972 by my father, Alan Linney. Alan is a goldsmith with a passion for creating unique designs. This movement away from commercial jewellery design and into the space of fine jewellery and jewellery art was fuelled by the use of Broome pearls, as each pearl required a custom made setting. The pearls were complemented by sparkling Argyle diamonds and set using Kalgoorlie gold, forging the brand as uniquely West Australian. Linneys was the first to promote and sell Australian South Sea pearls, prior to this they were being grown in places like Broome and then shipped overseas and often sold to the Australian market as Japanese pearls.
45 years on, the family owned and operated business is still growing with the help of the second generation of the business becoming more heavily involved.
Q: Linneys is a genuine WA success story, why do you think the business has been so successful?
The product and the service. This has always been a focus and will remain a focus moving forward. Although we have always done marketing campaigns to promote the Linneys brand, the best form of promotion is still our wonderful customers that proudly wear their Linneys jewellery. When others see the jewellery being worn and treasured over many years and the happiness that brings to the wearer, there is no better advertisement for the business. If people see a piece of jewellery they like, the first question is ‘where’s that from’, and if the answer is ‘Linneys’, then that word of mouth is very powerful. That’s why it all comes down to ensuring the quality of the jewellery and the service to the customer as the most important elements of the business.
Visit: 61 King St, Perth
Click: www.linneys.com.au
Call: (08) 9287 5287