Cassandra Grey Pivots Amid Store Closure

Cassandra Grey has closed the doors of her Violet Grey shop due to the pandemic and turned it into a temporary work space.

The luxury boutique, an intimate and highly curated shopping experience with a decor that’s reminiscent of an old-world boudoir, has been on trendy Melrose Place in West Hollywood, Calif., since 2014. But with COVID-19 disrupting the retail business and shoppers turning to e-commerce, Grey has had to pivot. While building content is nothing new for Grey, whose site has been producing a blog titled “Violet Files,” she’s now focused on its growth as she embraces today’s new virtual reality.

As the world has gone fully digital, so has Grey, who now offers #VioletAtYourService, a personal shopping resource for customers to use via text. She’s also producing content through celebrity profiles in editorial shoots as part of a series titled “Screen Tests.” Violet Grey’s latest subject is actress Emma Roberts, who was pregnant at the time. The piece, featuring an interview with fellow actress Jamie Lee Curtis, is shot by photographer Naj Jamaï.

As a way to tie-in products alongside the stories, Grey has kicked off “Shop Their Bag,” which lists a celebrity’s beauty items of choice on a shoppable page on violetgrey.com. She has also introduced a short-form video series on the site called “Behind the Counter,” which is “similar to the likes of QVC and HSN,” according to the company.