Inside Studs’s retail boom

Sponsored by

For those revenue goals: Guesswork, inconsistency, wasted time…All these blockers today’s revenue leaders face can be solved with help from Outreach. Their AI revenue workflow platform brings prospect engagement, customer engagement, and revenue intelligence under one roof. See for yourself.

For ear-piercing studio Studs, an experiential retail setting was the only natural way to offer (and sell) its services.

Launched by chief executive officer Anna Harman and co-founder Lisa Bubbers, Studs opened its first two stores in 2019, but it quickly closed shop due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

After shifting its focus to e-commerce in 2020 and 2021, Studs began a rapid store expansion in 2022, nearly quadrupling its retail fleet in just four years. Since 2022, Studs has opened roughly eight to 10 stores a year, including stores in new cities, relocating storefronts, and expanding within high-volume locations.

Retail now makes up 85% of the brand’s revenue structure, and Harman stated the rapid retail expansion has increased revenue by 2,000% since 2020. Studs declined to share revenue details for this story.

“Strategically, we look for places where we have preexisting customers, so either we have e-commerce customers or we have fans, meaning we have social [media] followers, etc.” Harman said. “There still are major metros in the US where Studs doesn’t exist that we probably should exist by virtue of their population alone. We are combining those two strategies when we think about new markets.”

Designing for the customer

Studs is on track to operate out of 40 stores by the end of 2025. It will open new stores this year in Virginia’s Tysons Corner Center and the Houston Galleria, as well as standalone stores in Roseville, Sacramento, and an additional Los Angeles outpost. Earlier this year, Studs opened its second store in Dallas and its first in Tampa, Florida.

Studs is also introducing a new design for its new stores. Stepping away from its signature yellow, the company debuted a new white-and-chrome colorway, intended to provide a more mature look and reflect Studs’s growing customer base.

The revamp demonstrates how Studs has kept up with its customer base’s changing preferences to continue growing. While the look is different, the Instagrammable moments and fun experiences that first put Studs on the map are still there.

“At Studs, we are constantly innovating, dreaming, tweaking, and looking at new ways to do things,” said Tom Walsh, senior vice president of retail store development. “The original concept and idea that Anna and Lisa created did us well for a long time. As we think through and watch consumer behavior, we listen to feedback from customers, from our store teams, from our partners, real estate brokers, landlords, and developers. We really listen to those because they’re helping us drive the market where we want to take it.”

When opening a new store, Studs has teamed up with local businesses to engage the community and further the store’s experiential feel. It has partnered primarily with food and beverage brands like Shake Shack, Glace, and Noa.

Local partnerships

These partnerships play into Studs’s revenue strategy as the company often also offers in-store exclusives at new retail locations. For example, for its partnership with ice cream company Van Leeuwen earlier this year, Studs created cherry and ice cream cone earring charms. Studs is also gearing up to release a collection of New York City-themed accessories exclusive to its six stores in the city.

“When we look at studios…80% of what we do is standardized and we can continue to roll [out] stores, and that 20% becomes the opportunity to localize,” Walsh said. “Regardless of where it is, there may be an opportunity to connect on a deeper level from an event standpoint or a collaboration. Depending on the spaces we get and the market it’s in, we may end up investing differently and catering the design of the look and feel to what the market is, the consumer, and what message we want to send to the market.”

Last year, the brand hit 1 million customers, and Harman anticipates sustained growth as it continues to deploy this retail approach.

“When you think about the brand’s presentation, the brand is the stores,” Harman said. “Most people experience Studs via an experience in a physical environment of the store. People have been incredibly responsive to the design, first and foremost, and then secondly, we focus intensely on hospitality. Having a great experience in the stores means that you will tell your friends. It means that you will return.”