Pandora has been named the 2012 Visa Australian Retailer of the Year by the Australian Retailers Association.
Announcing the win in Sydney on Thursday, ARA executive director Russell Zimmerman said Pandora was a “clear winner” for the prestigious award “despite strong competition” from other entrants.
“Pandora is a well-established retailer and has used product innovation, concept stores and a watertight marketing strategy to expand its brand offering and stand-out from competitors,” he said.
Launched from a garage by Karin Adcock eight years ago, Pandora now distributes its jewellery to more than 600 stores in Australia and New Zealand.
David Allen, president of Pandora Australia and New Zealand, said he was honoured and extremely humbled to accept the prestigious award “on behalf of the team and our partners”.
“Recent times have presented a number of challenges for the business as the brand reached a level of maturity in the market place,” he said.
“This year has been our most challenging but also possibly one of our most rewarding as we had to make a number of significant decisions in relation to our distribution to secure the future of the brand in the market place for us and our partners.
“There is a saying that echoes through the halls at Pandora on a day-to-day basis and that is ‘If we do not have a relationship with our customer, we cannot have a
relationship with our consumer’.
“I am inspired as I continually see this statement underpinning the decisions and actions of the team day after day.”