Australia’s largest jewelry retailer, Angus & Coote will be hoping for the Midas touch when it expands its Goldmark stores to the U.S. this year, the Australian newspaper, The Daily Telegraph reported.

Angus & Coote yesterday formed a 50/50 joint venture with US fashion retailer Too Brands, to open four Goldmark stores before Christmas.

Too Brands, a New York Stock Exchange-listed company with nearly 500 stores, markets a range of fashion merchandise for girls aged between seven and 19 years. Goldmark’s range is aimed at 15 to 29-year-olds.

It’s an age group which is yet to be filled by an American jeweler, A&C chief executive Graham Oakes told the newspaper. “No one does the whole package and that’s why we think it’s an identified gap in the market.”

Three Goldmark stores will open in New Jersey, at the Deptford, Rockaway, and Freehold shopping malls, while a fourth Goldmark will be established in Columbus, Ohio.

Oakes reportedly described the U.S. venture as a “toe in the water.”

If the stores are a success, the venture might open a further four stores next year, the newspaper reported.

Too Brands would “bring a lot of American know how to us,” he reportedly said.

While the Australian jewelry market remained the company’s core growth engine, expansion into the U.S. was described by Oakes as “a low risk entry” into the U.S. jewelry market.

A&C will open a further 15 stores in Australia in this financial year, adding to its stable of 243.

JCK