Works like a Charm: Ben Moss to reopen

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This article was published 12/01/2017 (3207 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Ben Moss Jewellers stores are coming back thanks to Charm Diamond Centres.

Two former Winnipeg Ben Moss stores reopened on Thursday in Polo Park and Kildonan Place shopping malls, and 14 other locations will open across the country after Halifax-based Charm acquired the brand rights to the former Winnipeg-based jewelry retailer.

Charm chief executive officer Troy Calder said, “We really love the brand. We think we can breathe new life into it.”

The entire 66-store chain of Ben Moss stores closed in August when its owners filed for creditor protection. Charm acquired the leases and store fixtures to 16 Ben Moss stores as well as the rights to use the Ben Moss name. He said it is not out of the question that other stores will be opened in the future under the Ben Moss flag.

Calder said about 100 former Ben Moss employees have been rehired. As well, he said that Charm will honour Ben Moss’s former lifetime diamond guarantees.

“We honestly do value the Ben Moss brand. It is a great Canadian story,” he said.

“We understand it has had a rough go with the liquidator. People are probably disappointed in losing their jewelry store and losing their guarantees at the same time.”

The Trepel family sold Ben Moss in 2013 to the JSN Group, a private wholesale business that had a manufacturing and distribution operation in Toronto and interests and operations in the U.K. The stores started experiencing operational difficulties and declining sales after that.

It went into creditor protection in May and all 66 stores closed suddenly in August.

Charm, founded in 1972, is the largest independently owned jewelry company in the country, operating as Charm Diamond Centres and Crescent Gold and Diamonds.

With the addition of the 16 Ben Moss locations, it will have a total of 88 stores across the country. Charm already has a store in the St. Vital Centre and another location in Brandon.

Calder said they plan to grow to at least 100 locations.

“Right now we’ll get this expansion done. We want to make sure we are proud that the stores are working well before we expand further,” he said.

The big news for many old Ben Moss customers is that Charm will continue to offer the Ben Moss’s lifetime warranties — with proof of purchase — for free.

Former Ben Moss customers will also be able to buy extended warranties that cover sizing and other services, at a discounted rate.

Calder believes there are lots of “happy similarities” between the two chains.

“Ben Moss supported Canadian diamonds and we have the largest selections of Canadian diamonds in our stores,” he said. “There are a lot of similarities that Ben Moss customers will come to appreciate. We think there will be a lot of continuity there.”

In addition to the Winnipeg stores, Ben Moss locations will also reopen in Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca