How mall landlords helped shape Rowan’s new upscale piercing studios

If you ever had your ears pierced as a kid, we imagine the experience wasn’t the most pleasant, let alone private.

Rowan, the ear-piercing and jewelry company, wants to change that as it debuts a new, more upscale studio format at The Gardens Mall in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, in December.

This will be followed by a location at the Somerset Collection in Troy, Michigan, in January. The concept features private piercing rooms, upgraded materials and lighting, and, at the Florida location, a new assortment of higher-end diamond jewelry.

The new format comes as Rowan continues to expand its brick-and-mortar locations quickly. In fact, Founder and CEO Louisa Schneider told Retail Brew the 7-year-old retailer expects to end 2026 with 135 locations across the country.

While Rowan differentiates itself by treating piercing as a medical procedure and using licensed nurses trained in its proprietary piercing program, the new concept was also shaped by the retailer’s landlords.

Schneider said Rowan had long wanted to enter properties owned by The Forbes Company, including The Gardens Mall and Somerset Collection, but the landlord didn’t want the piercing visible from the mall.

Although traditionally, mall piercing players such as Claire’s have positioned piercing chairs near their storefront windows, where the service can draw in curious onlookers, Rowan tends to place its chairs farther back, Schneider said, given that customers may be anxious or simply want privacy.

At The Gardens Mall, Rowan is going a step further. “For the first time in Rowan’s 130 doors, we will be having piercing only be behind what will be essentially a jewelry store and a place to sit and talk and meet a nurse, learn about what you want to do in terms of your piercing, select your jewelry, have them look at your ear anatomy and assess it, and then you’ll go into a private room,” Schneider said.

Of course, the elevated experience won’t come cheap. The executive estimated the new store will cost between 10% and 25% more to build than Rowan’s traditional locations, although she expects it to perform at least as well, if not better. The number of piercing chairs—and hence the piercing capacity—will remain the same.

The service fee won’t increase either. Instead, Rowan is betting on higher-priced jewelry to help boost sales. While its current products top out at around $500, piercings using pieces from the new diamond range could exceed $1,000.

“We know that customer is there and actually really wants this product, and so we’re eager to be able to provide it,” Schneider said.

If the Palm Beach concept performs well, she added, Rowan could bring elements of it to 10–20 existing studios with similar customer demographics.

The experiment also comes as piercing becomes an increasingly elevated and competitive retail category. Rowan, Claire’s, and players such as Studs have increasingly emphasized styling, experience, and safety around a service once treated as an add-on to jewelry and accessories.

Schneider believes consumers have also become more knowledgeable about piercing techniques and jewelry, while multiple piercings have become more socially accepted.

“There’s a trend towards needle piercing being the preference,” she said. “And a rising tide does lift all ships.”