Alex and Ani Moving HQ to Providence, Opening New Stores on the West Coast
Wednesday, January 09, 2019
The ever-developing Alex and Ani is moving its corporate headquarters to downtown Providence and leaving its seven-year location at Chapel View in Cranston. The company -- one of Rhode Island’s most successful jewelry businesses -- has gone under a transformation over the past few years and continues to move towards more of an online and "own store" retail strategy.
Much of the headquarters staff will move to 159 Weybosset Street in downtown Providence, a four-story building owned by a sister real estate company.
Mark Geragos, legal counsel to Alex and Ani, told GoLocal in a phone interview that the company will also be locating functions in another Providence space, and some back-end staffing will be located in East Greenwich.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST“The company is opening more stores — three new locations on the West Coast in the next 45 days and more to come,” said Geragos, who is also one of the top celebrity attorneys in Los Angeles.
Geragos also told GoLocal that Alex and Ani will also be adding stores in mid-town Manhattan, Los Angeles and in Providence.
Big Year in 2018
In June 2018, Alex and Ani announced that the company had hit a milestone that few companies could ever dream of achieving — it has surpassed the donation mark of $50 million to more than 50 non-profit partners through its Charity by Design program.
The program was created in 2011 to “spread the Alex and Ani ideal of sharing positive energy worldwide, igniting passion for the wellbeing of our planet, our communities, and our individual paths. Since 2011, Alex and Ani has donated $52.6M to organizations large and small.”
Founder and CEO Carolyn Rafaelian told GoLocal that hitting the milestone was like achieving a dream.
In July, Forbes announced its “America's Richest Self-Made Women” list for 2018 and Rhode Island’s Rafaelian came in at #21 on the list.
The list included Oprah Winfrey at #6, Sheryl Sandberg of Facebook at #12, Sara Blakely of Spanx tied with Rafaelian at #21, and Kylie Jenner at #27.
“Despite this crazy state, it’s possible for a Rhode Island woman to reach this self-made list. For that I am proud,” said Rafaelian, of the recognition. “I am thrilled with my new team in place and we will continue to attract all the right people and continue to streamline the business and its efficiency. After all, we are the jewelry capital of the world!”
Rafaelian told GoLocal in 2018 that she and rapper and movie star Ice Cube are joining together to bid on 22 regional sports networks including the Yes Network.
In June, the Department of Justice announced that it will require The Walt Disney Company to divest 22 Regional Sports Networks (“RSNs”) as a condition of its $71.3 billion acquisition of certain assets from Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc.
Rafaelian told GoLocal, “Collaborating with Cube on Big3 was exhilarating and we both share a beautiful vision of where the world is headed and we want to be part of that evolution.”
The bidding on that collection of media assets got more complex as both Amazon, the Yankees organization, and Sinclair Broadcasting (the parent company of WJAR-10) have all also entered the crowded field of suitors -- some of the groups are solely focused on buying the YES Network, the media company that owns the broadcast rights to the New York Yankees.
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