Why Rocksbox is dropping jewelry rental and opening boutiques under Signet
Jewelry brand Rocksbox is aiming to grow its brick-and-mortar presence this year as part of a plan to help parent company Signet Jewelers take more share of the fashion jewelry market.
Rocksbox opened its first store in San Francisco after a pop-up experiment in November. Since then, it opened up a store in Walnut Creek, California in late May, and another in New York City in early June. More openings are in the works for Los Angeles, Miami and the New York metro, with a focus on malls and lifestyle centers with high traffic. Inside the new stores, shoppers are encouraged to pick up and try on jewelry— unlike the locked glass cases of its older sister brands. And there’s a central table for shoppers to collect styles on a tray and try things on in front of mirrors.
“It’s meant to feel like you’ve walked into a friend’s apartment and have access to this exciting, broad collection,” said Rocksbox president Allison Vigil.
Brick and mortar is the latest bet in an ongoing transformation of a brand founded as an online jewelry rental service on the heels of the success of clothing rental operation Rent the Runway. Founded by Meaghan Rose in 2012, it allowed members to rent three pieces of jewelry each month for $21, with the option to purchase pieces after trying them out. The company raised a seed round of $1.5 million in 2014, followed by $8.7 million in 2016.
Signet bought the service in 2021 for an undisclosed amount with the intention of helping its other brands — like Zales — get into rental. But pilot tests never took off. “We tried a number of angles at that over the years,” Vigil said. “Signet’s core business is engagement and bridal, and a lot of that is more of a male customer or more of a gifting scenario, and the rental model just wasn’t as relevant to that audience as we hoped it would be. So, it wasn’t really the growth engine that we’d hoped out of the gate.”
Then, about a year ago, Rocksbox got out of the rental business altogether, switching to a focus on sales of products from its own label, as well as those from third-party brands and pre-owned pieces from other Signet brands. Signet’s earnings haven’t broken out how much the brand earns today. But Vigil said success with an initial pop-up experiment in San Francisco helped the brand decide that physical retail was the right next step.
Vigil said that growing Rocksbox is part of Signet’s overall move to go beyond bridal and to capture more of the fashion jewelry market. Signet holds about 28% share of the $10 billion bridal market, but just about a 6% share of the $50 billion fashion jewelry market, per an investor presentation from earlier this month. Growing Rocksbox is one way to reach younger, trendier shoppers looking for quality jewelry with its boutique setup, mid-tier brands and broad assortment.
“We are uniquely positioned to speak to a female self-purchasing customer,” Vigil said. “The 25-45 age range is kind of our sweet spot, and it’s very different than the other legacy brands.”
One of its biggest value propositions is having multiple brands in store, versus a single look or style, Vigil said. Top sellers include Ana Luisa, Luv AJ, Kendra Scott and Kate Spade, while Rocksbox has its own on-trend designs like tarot card necklaces, initial jewelry and lab-created diamond pendants, which sell for around $100. Vigil said it’s also playing around with more higher-quality pieces like 24-karat vermeil.
“We absolutely see our multi-brand assortment as a key differentiator and something that should be a protective moat over time,” Vigil said. “We’re not reliant on one aesthetic. Our designers help us tell a fashion story, and we’re constantly evaluating whether each has a role.”
The focus on a diverse, fashionable assortment is part of parent company Signet’s larger goal to gain share beyond bridal. Its biggest brands are Kay, Zales and Jared, which are best known for engagement rings and wedding bands. But it’s in the process of pulling underperforming stores out of malls, while also expanding semi-fine, mid-tier and accessible luxury collections to the brands’ portfolios. Marketing campaigns are leaning on self-gifting.
CEO J.K. Symancyk said on the company’s earnings call for the first quarter of 2026 that expanding into fashion “is important to the long-term and sustainable growth of the company,” which reported $6.7 billion in annual sales in fiscal year 2025.
“Fashion’s total addressable market is multiple times larger than bridal, and it’s an area where we can create and capture demand through assortment strategy and brand equity,” Symancyk said on the call.
Symancyk hasn’t mentioned Rocksbox by name on any recent earnings calls. But Vigil said Rocksbox is able to tap the parent company’s retail expertise. It’s using the internal real estate team, analytics team and landlord relationships to help scout out the next locations.
“One great benefit of being part of the Signet organization is that we can take the bet of opening stores in this moment with the financial strength of the company behind us,” Vigil said.
Brett Rounsaville, a consultant for brands and startups who is also part of the Hustle Fund venture firm, said that the current macro environment can be challenging for brands that don’t sell necessary purchases. While bridal jewelry is more of a “need-to-have,” fashion jewelry falls in the “nice-to-have” category — meaning brands like Rocksbox have to ace the store experience to win customers.
“You have to set expectations properly and always over-deliver,” he said. “If you’re going to lean into impulse purchases, you’ve got to delight in one or two ways. It could be price. But usually, it’s about novelty and serendipity.”
He said brands can also expect a halo effect of online sales if they excel at offering an in-store experience. The 2023 ICSC report on omnichannel retail, The Halo Effect III, showed an average sales increase of 6.9% in the weeks following a store opening from the surrounding trade area.
“Sometimes just having a physical presence gets you in people’s faces — on their drive to work, on their walk home,” he said. “You want digital and physical. Even if your info is just on a billboard, it’s still worthwhile to be out there.”
Looking forward, Vigil from Rocksbox said the company will aim to drive foot traffic with in-store events like color analysis and designer styling sessions. It also plans to offer services like permanent jewelry to help draw customers in store. But Vigil said the company is still planning to push its online presence and anticipates a halo effect from what the physical retail stores provide.
“Each channel should have a reason for being and offer something differentiated and unique that contributes to the overall perception of the brand,” she said.