New Zealand jewellery business Michael Hill is mapping out a major Australian and North American expansion for its second brand, Emma & Roe, as the 37-year old business seeks shareholder approval to list on the Australian Stock Exchange. 
Chief executive Mike Parsell is confident an Australian sharemarket listing will attract new investors to the retail business, which he said was one of a select group of retailers to successfully expand into North America.
About 60 per cent of the Michael Hill and its newer Emma & Roe brand stores are in Australia, and two years ago the New Zealand-listed business switched to reporting its financials in Australian dollars.
Mr Parsell said about 64 per cent of earnings before interest and tax were generated by its Australian stores in 2015 and this was expected to increase following the rollout of 15 Emma & Roe stores in Queensland.
The jeweller has plans to expand its Emma & Roe store network to 150 outlets in Australia as it takes on fellow contemporary high-street jewellery and charm brands such as PANDORA and the recently launched Alex & Ani label.
Former PANDORA Australia president Karin Adcock launched the US Alex & Ani label just before Christmas, provoking PANDORA to warn its retailers they could not stock PANDORA as well as Alex & Ani.
Emma & Roe will operate in this fiercely competitive fashion jewellery sector, which research house IBISWorld estimates is worth about  $4 billion annually and expanding at a rate of about 2 per cent a year.
The brand has a lower average price point than the flagship Michel Hill stores, which focus on traditional diamond, gold and precious-stone designs, but Michael Hill said the stores in Queensland showed customers made more-frequent purchases at Emma & Roe.
Mr Parsell said the Emma & Roe range spoke to customers who wanted to express themselves through jewellery and it was divided into customer segments, such as "inspirational fashionistas and sentimentalists".
Like Pandora and the recently launched Alex & Ani, Emma & Roe has a strong focus on charms and Michael Hill has already introduced a select product range in its US and Canadian stores, which as a region contribute about 20 per cent of the group's business. Strong sales of the Emma & Roe product will probably lead to stand-alone boutiques in the future.
Michael Hill's proposed Australian sharemarket listing is on a one-for-one basis with the stock issued through its New Zealand listing, but Mr Parsell said he was confident investors and institutions would take more notice once it was listed on the ASX. 
"The company has a lot of growth potential, it's been a good story, the company has generated a lot of shareholder wealth," he said.
"We are one of the few Australasian businesses that has established a profitable operation in North America and we have a second brand, which is proving up to be pretty promising."