As Chicago’s first jeweler and Illinois’s first business with more than 185 years of history, CD Peacock has a certain reputation to uphold. After all, its archives include handwritten letters by former President Abraham Lincoln, whose wife was a client. However, rather than settling in the past, CD Peacock has made bold steps to reinvent the retail experience with a new store: the CD Peacock Mansion, which covers 20,000 square feet at Oakbrook Center, around 30 minutes from downtown Chicago.
This two-story luxury destination formally opened in April, incorporating Tudor and Omega boutiques, shop-in-shops for Rolex and Chanel, and an extensive array of fine diamond jewelry and premium watches. Interspersed with these are private and semi-private seating areas, a cocktail bar, on-site workshops, a piercing studio and more. It is certainly a far cry from the company’s previous store at the Oakbrook Center, which was diminutive by comparison at 6,000 square feet.
“In all the things I’ve done, successes or failures, I’ve always committed in a big way,” says vice chairman Steven Holtzman, whose family has owned CD Peacock since 1993. “The opportunity was there to go big, and we decided that we wanted to do something that hadn’t been done before from an experiential and size perspective. There are plenty of big stores in the country, but nothing at this level.”
‘A place they want to come and stay’
Holtzman and his team spent nearly three years designing, planning and building the CD Peacock Mansion, with some twists and turns along the way. Although they had to set aside their initial ideas for an on-site restaurant in favor of a licensed prep kitchen, the emphasis on hospitality, entertainment and socializing remained throughout the project. The goal wasn’t just to inspire shoppers, but to hold their attention in imaginative ways.
“There are so many little things to discover,” Holtzman says. “In each of the private rooms, there’s an element of surprise, such as a button that can be pressed to reveal something hidden. The goal is to keep it very experiential and take customers on a journey through a place where they want to come and stay.”
One way the store achieves that is its striking circular bar, complete with a gemstone-themed cocktail menu. There’s also a horological library, among other perks. Around every corner is a series of private rooms independently decorated to suit different audiences, such as the Bridesmaid Room, the Proposal Room and the Peacock Room. The last is decorated in “Chicago maroon” to match the University of Chicago’s colors and allude to the company’s long history in the city.
The bridal area on the first floor of the CD Peacock flagship evokes the sensation of stepping into the clouds, with pastel-pink and cream tones making for a bright, airy feel. Kristin Milne — the retailer’s business manager for bridal, buys and appraisals — credits the new space and its extensive natural light with an uptick in sales, especially of yellow gold, oval- and marquise-shaped diamonds, and elongated radiant-cut stones.
Local pride
To coincide with the opening in April, CD Peacock leaned into its Chicago heritage with a selection of in-house bridal lines paying tribute to the city. To date, there are three collections: Gold Coast, Lincoln Park, and River North — all inspired by the local architecture in their namesake neighborhoods.
“Some of the details in these rings are prominent focal points of Chicago,” Milne explains. “People might have gotten engaged there or had their wedding photos taken there.”
These new collections have touched the hearts of long-standing customers, too, many of whom see CD Peacock as part of the fabric of Chicago itself. “People come in and say, ‘My grandmother shopped here,’” relates Milne. “The older generations love to bring the younger generations to show them, ‘This is where I got my engagement ring from.’ We will even see older pieces of signed CD Peacock jewelry that we made, perhaps 100 years ago.”
There are subtle nods to the theme of making history throughout the CD Peacock Mansion, including photos, letters, and archival pieces in display cabinets. It’s this blend of ultra-contemporary and old-school family values that makes the colossal space feel intimate and welcoming.
“People in Chicago are very loyal, and they’re very geographically protective,” Holtzman says. “I think over the next year or two, as word gets out and we bring in more people to the store, it’s only going to get stronger.”
Thanks to this citywide — as well as statewide — support, the jeweler isn’t afraid to put its business into context beside iconic houses. As Holtzman notes, “1837 is the year that Tiffany & Co. was founded, the year that Hermes was founded, and the year that CD Peacock was founded.”
Main image: Inside and outside the CD Peacock Mansion. (CD Peacock)
