OWNER: : John Thomas Mead; Opened featured location: 2021; AREA: 2,900 square feet; Buildout cost: $240,000; ARCHITECT AND DESIGN FIRMS: : McKee Wallworks, Improv Group, Paramount Custom Cabinets; TOP BRANDS: John Thomas Jewelers Custom, A. Jaffe, Gabriel & Co.,Allison-Kaufman, King Baby; EMPLOYEES: 5; ONLINE PRESENCE: 425 5-Star
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Janelle and John Thomas Mead

JOHN THOMAS MEAD was working late as a bartender one night in Niagara Falls, NY, when he was recruited to fill in for a sales shift at a jewelry store early the next morning.

“I had a friend working part time at a jewelry store. He and his manager came to the bar, and they said, ‘What are you doing tomorrow?’” Mead said he knew nothing about jewelry, but he reluctantly agreed to help out after they said he could answer the phone.

“I rolled into the jewelry store feeling like a wet dishrag,” Mead says. “But by the end of the day, I discovered I really liked it. People were happy. A couple came in and got engaged, and they walked out just beaming with happiness.

“I started working on weekends and ended up being full time. I thought I’d do this until I figured out what I wanted to do, and that was 30 years ago!”

His newfound jewelry career eventually led him to Albuquerque to open a 14,000-square-foot store on a highly visible intersection with a partner.

When the partnership fell apart in 2012, Mead remained in Albuquerque but had to start over, downsizing to 1,500 square feet in a very different kind of location: the third floor of an office building with no exterior signage. Almost accidentally, he created a new business model based on the only inventory he had access to: alloy samples and borrowed fashion jewelry.

It quickly grew into a thriving custom shop. “Most people, by the time they find you on the third floor of an office building, are willing to wait for the piece to be made,” Mead says. The engagement ring department is still 100% alloy with about half of bridal custom-made in house. “This allows us to carry an inventory level of less than 10% of annual sales, versus the typical 50 to 100% level that most independent jewelry stores carry.” The closing rate hovers just over 90%.

“For 10 years, whenever we’ve tried to bring in live bridal, it never sells,” Thomas says. “We’re not good at selling live bridal, but we’re really good at selling off of alloy or selling custom.”

All staff members are qualified and empowered to quote a custom job, no matter how complicated, right on the spot. Clients don’t need to wait two or three days for the shop to work up an estimate.

Mead attributes the next step in the store’s growth largely to a visit from jewelry consultant Shane Decker, who encouraged him both to get off the sales floor and to renovate the space. Decker said that nobody else in Albuquerque was going after the luxury market and that situation presented an opportunity. “He said we could do so much more with this.”

Mead concentrated on changing the experience. Despite the success of the innovative inventory model, the store still had a traditional look with typical glass showcases. While the experience of entering the office building was unique, once customers walked into the store itself, it felt like any other jewelry store.

“People had to point through the glass and say, ‘Can I see that one?’”

“We decided to make it unlike any other jewelry store, to make the experience of walking in the door as unusual as walking into our building.”

Now, counter-height rows of glass showcases are gone. Where there is some glass, everything is at eye level for clients — there’s no more bending over to look down at jewelry.

The renovation created double-level pull-out drawers, so customers can shop on their own. “Everything is on the same side of the customer,” Mead says. “Once we get a case open, we encourage customers to reach in and pull out what they want to see.

They’ll grab it and it feels weird to them at first, then they start to like it.

Clients can choose from over 3,000 bridal rings at their own pace.”

They also added a double-sided, pull-out cabinet for self-purchasing clients, loaded with the latest trends in diamond fashion jewelry.

“Clients love being able to play around with stackables, necklaces, earrings, etc., without having to ask to see every single item,” he says. He’s done the same with a wall-mounted chain cabinet with pegs spanning 6 feet vertically so shoppers can easily see all of the chain styles and colors, and simply grab the length they want. That makes the entire store client-facing.

“We’ve designed the store in a way that there are different little spots to experience different types of jewelry in different ways.”

Clients can also see the jewelers working through a window in the wall between the showroom and the design shop, with a Sisma fiber laser engraver/cutter set up under the window. They can engage at the Design Center and watch while they help custom create their dream piece and try on the wax from the rapid prototype 3D printer.

Mead recently moved the entire custom design and manufacturing process in house, so they can create a ring from start to finish in less than a week. Four years ago, they did 58 custom jobs; this year, they completed over 400. And they’re only open five days a week.

Preferred Jewelry status means customers receive a free lifetime nationwide warranty.

Since Mead moved to the office building, he’s expanded twice and grown sales from $330,000 to just under $3 million. “I attribute a lot of it to the remodel. And I can’t downplay the effect Shane Decker had. I don’t think we would’ve done the remodel if we had not worked with Shane first.”

Mead personally works by appointment only now, having taken Decker’s advice to get off the sales floor, but his staff meets with walk-ins. “That way, if a young man wants to take a peek, he can. If you need an appointment, a guy may be hesitant to come in.”

Mead shifted his radio budget partially into Google Ads, which increased his custom business. It’s the only 5-star Google rated full-service jewelry store in the state, he says. “When you drive by and can’t see our store, it’s important to have a few different avenues where you might catch people.”

The growth continues. Mead purchased his largest independently owned competitor, which his wife, Janelle, manages. The couple also purchased the mall-based Fast Fix franchise. Now clients get a 10% coupon to Fast Fix across the street and Mead has been able to stop all watch repair and battery replacements in the store. “They do most watch repairs, even complicated ones, while the customer waits,” Mead says.

Five Cool Things About John Thomas Jewelers

1. FOR THE KIDS. The Kids Cave includes toys, movies and a cave wall embedded with gemstones. “When it’s time to gather your kids and they don’t want to leave, we’ve built a vault filled with toys as a bribe gift to get them to leave,” Mead says.

2. POWERFUL PROMOS. Mead has given away a trip to Las Vegas, airfare included, for purchases of $2,000 or more, and a box of chocolates and a dozen red roses with any purchase of $99 or more. A snow promo makes all purchases free during November and December if it snows 1 inch or more on New Year’s Day. Mead also gave away a 4-carat cushion cut Antwerp diamond worth $50,000 as a promo to entice people to see the new showroom.

3. ALLURE OF ANTWERP. Mead travels to Antwerp each year to select diamonds for clients, each of whom receives a personalized video documenting the process of choosing their diamond and a box of diamond-shaped Belgium chocolates. “When I look at my database in the U.S., there might be 20 or 30 diamonds that fit the criterion. When you go to Antwerp, you can see 200 of them all at once.” Pre-orders of $5,000 come with free diamond studs.

4. THE MESSAGE. Some of their most popular 40-foot billboards have been: “50% of Marriages End in Marriage,” ”Let’s Stick It To Divorce Lawyers,” “A Toast to the Oldyweds” and “From the Mall doesn’t have the same ring to it.”

5. GETTING TO KNOW YOU. John and Janelle host Facebook Live sales every few months, averaging between 1,000 and as many as 10,000 views each time. They sold a rare pair of chameleon diamonds during one Facebook sale and a 4-carat pair of diamond studs during another. “We have been told countless times that clients feel like they already know us when they come in because of our videos. We were told by another couple that they feel like they are on a double date with us as my wife and I sit there with an adult refreshment, bantering back and forth and engaging with everyone watching and commenting.”

PHOTO GALLERY (9 IMAGES)

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OWNER: Michael Fleck; ONLINE PRESENCE: 1,089 Google reviews (average 4.9); 7,800 Facebook followers; OPENED FEATURED LOCATION: 2008; RENOVATED: 2021; BUILDOUT COST: $950,000; FOUNDED: 1989; Opened featured location: 2021; AREA: 6,026 square feet; Buildout cost: $80,000; ARCHITECT AND DESIGN FIRMS: Leslie McGwire, interior design; Artco, case design; MJ Drafting & Design, architect; Joe Prieto, general contractor; TOP BRANDS: Gabriel & Co., Le Vian, Simon G., Roberto Coin, Charles Krypell, Lagos, Oscar Heyman ; EMPLOYEES: 9

Michael Fleck

SECOND-GENERATION JEWELER Michael Fleck caught the jewelry bug early in life, although he had to travel internationally to fully succumb.

“When I was about 16 or 17, I went with my dad to Antwerp, Belgium, instead of going to my own prom, and I was hooked from that point forward,” says Fleck. “It was my first time out of the country, and I absolutely fell in love with the industry.”

In Antwerp, he was surrounded by other jewelers on an IJO buying trip, and diamond dealers were delighted to take a kid under their wings. He learned about the personality of the jewelry industry. Ever since, his enthusiasm has been contagious.

Occasions Fine Jewelry was founded by Michael’s dad, Mike Fleck, who began his business with a thrift store rolltop desk, a card table and two secondhand cases in the back of a pharmacy owned by his uncle.

“While it wasn’t much, my father’s hard work and passion for the people he served shone throughout Midland,” Michael says. Occasions quickly outgrew the pharmacy and its next four locations, too.

Michael purchased Occasions from his father in 2014, allowing Mike and his stepmom Cathy to retire. “Since then, I’ve spent my days growing Occasions with the same care and compassion that my father set forth because I believe in raising perceptions of what a jewelry store ought to be,” Fleck says.

Occasions invites customers to view the magic that happens in the full-service shop through a wall of windows.

You wouldn’t be able to tell from the looks of it, Fleck says, but his current location used to be a rundown Denny’s. They purchased the building in 2008, and with the help of interior designer

Leslie McGwire, Fleck renovated it in 2021.

Fleck wanted Occasions to be a celebration of everything that’s best about Midland.

“I wanted this luxury feel that encompasses this desert prairie landscape, and Leslie started talking about different colors of taupe and putting in small pockets of greenery. All of these things started adding up and it was an instant of puzzle pieces clicking together. She understood what I was wanting to do.”

During construction, they built a miniature store within the store and moved it around to different exterior doors as they built around it.

While the finished showroom is calm and inviting, there are bursts of purple and orange, Occasions signature colors inspired by West Texas sunsets. The chandeliers capture the essence of the stars that fill the wide-open night sky.

The green living wall suggested by McGwire turned out to be a masterpiece of a vertical garden created and maintained by a local landscaper. “I spent a ton of money doing that, and people came in and said, ‘Wow, that almost looks real.’ I take it as a compliment that we made something so nice it looks fake. It livens the room up. I was surprised at what a statement it ended up making.”

As for the overall showroom, Fleck says he is ecstatic that it turned out exactly as he had envisioned it. “It was like someone got into my brain,” he says.

The Path to Success

Before joining the family business and after studying international trade and economics in college, Fleck worked for B.C. Clark in Oklahoma City. “They taught me a whole lot about elevated customer service and how to manage people gently,” he says. “I don’t think I ever heard a raised voice.

“They put me on that path to having a real excellent culture. That became one of my main missions. We had a good culture, but I wanted to define it and make it a driver of our company. In a lot of ways, our culture could not be further apart (from B.C. Clark), but the drivers are the same.”

One of those drivers is a cross-training program, beginning with a five-week mini-university for new Occasions employees. “It gives my team perspective on what their teammates have to achieve,” he says. “You are not going to be under-trained at Occasions. You will have a full understanding of excellent customer service, salesmanship and product knowledge.”

The importance of education was also instilled in Fleck by his father. During one of his first IJO shows, he attended a session led by jewelry sales trainer Kate Peterson. “That was kind of my first consultation with a jewelry expert, and my dad would tell me afterward that these people have been through it all and they know how to make these things run. My dad was in a constant state of learning. Learning to listen to our industry experts and be in a learning mode has helped the store along more than anything else.”

Team members at Occasions have diverse interests, speak multiple languages and are among the coolest people in Midland, TX, says owner Michael Fleck.

The Culture

When Fleck took over Occasions from his father, he wanted to keep the same personality he’d brought to the store. “Here, we like to have fun because we believe that happy employees create happy customers,” he says. “And, above all else, we believe in family over business, good wages and low turnover.”

Fleck encourages an enjoyable, relaxed environment by inviting employees to express themselves and contribute ideas. “My staff are hands-down the coolest people in Midland, Texas. There isn’t an age, nationality or demographic that isn’t represented here. That helps a lot in the store, having different voices and ideas.”

Employees are not asked to cover tattoos or wear matching outfits. “We have a dress code, but it’s an extremely lenient one,” Fleck says. “We ask that you just be clean, be neat and be yourself.”
Fleck ensures families come first by always staffing one extra person in each department to have coverage. “So, if you’ve got a child’s soccer game or doctor’s appointment to make, you have the flexibility to live life. And if you stick around for 10 years, I’ll send you to Hawaii to show you how grateful we are to have you.”

They’ve also crafted Occasions into its own character to allow their fun, unique personalities to shine through. The store is portrayed as funny, irreverent and charming with a heart of gold.

Fleck and his sister, Denise, company COO, convey this character through unique, quirky marketing campaigns.

The Experience

A savvy staff and a cool new building go a long way to providing the luxury experience Fleck wants for his clients.

They intentionally don’t have much technology in the showroom, not even a TV, to encourage more person-to-person connections. “After all, jewelry is personal and your shopping experience should be, too,” he says.

The showroom is designed to feel like an escape with its signature scent, rock ‘n’ roll playlist, fresh coffee and locally sourced wines. “We want to make sure your taste, sense of smell, touch, temperature, everything is exactly where we want it to be at all times,” he says.

Children are given a teddy bear wearing an Occasions T-shirt. “There’s something slightly magical about that,” Fleck says. “It’s one of those little touchpoints that makes us a little more special.”

Five Cool Things About Occasions Fine Jewelry

1. REALLY GREAT PARTIES. West Texas, known for a boom-and-bust cycle, can present financial challenges, but Fleck has found that throwing parties can break that cycle. “It lifts the mood when customers are trepidatious about spending money. Anniversaries and birthdays still happen, and we’re good at taking care of our clients,

2. ENGAGING THE SENSES. Occasions experimented with a video spot designed to showcase the way the store appeals to all of the senses. They created an ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response) commercial in which they used whispering, intense sound design and methodical shots to create a serene effect. “It was one of our most viewed spots,” Fleck says. “And it captured just how quirky, fun and unique Occasions really is. Some people loved it; some hated it. We give the creative teams a lot of free range to experiment and we believe in new ideas.”

3. STAFF INPUT. The staff was involved throughout the remodeling process in 2021. As a result, they incorporated a one-button intercom system that connects each department, a pass-through drawer between the shop and POS area, music outside, extra niceties in the restrooms, umbrellas by the door and a signature showroom scent.

4. HIRING. Occasions associates look for people in the community who have potential as future staffers and collaborate to “steal” them. “We look for people who make that great first impression, who have a genuine warmth to them, who are not getting paid as well as they should be. And we look for an inner drive and resilence as well. Those things altogether usually make for a really good employee.”

5. THE RALLY. Occasions partnered with Harley Davidson to host a huge motorcycle rally in town. They made custom patches that they gave away to everyone in the rally, hosted a tattoo contest and donated $5,000 to organizations that provide housing and therapy to veterans. “It was one of the coolest ways we’ve reached out to our community and opened our doors to a niche demographic,” Fleck says.

PHOTO GALLERY (7 IMAGES)

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OWNER: Dan and Lynn Hernandez; URL: powelljewelry.net; FOUNDED: 1932; LAST RENOVATED: 2021; INTERIOR DESIGN: Leslie McGwire & Associates, Clarkitecture, Snodgrass and Sons Construction, JMJ Inc. (showcase manufacturers); TOP BRANDS: Ashi Diamonds, Gabriel & Co., Allison-Kaufman Company, Shah Luxury, Roman & Jules; EMPLOYEES (FULL- AND PART-TIME): 6; ONLINE PRESENCE: 3.8 Stars on Yelp; 4.9 on Google Reviews; 4,300 Facebook followers

JUST BECAUSE POWELL Jewelry is approaching its centennial celebration doesn’t mean it’s set in its ways. In fact, the 91-year-old store in Wichita, KS, demonstrates that the opposite is true. Based on the store’s modern classic interior and super-current shop practices, clients keep returning for both its community heritage and contemporary business practices.

“We get a lot of referrals from customers and focus on satisfying clients,” says Dan Hernandez, who bought the store from the son of the founder in 1997.
Powell’s longevity and name recognition go a long way for multiple generations of extended families. Hernandez recently sold engagement rings to three brothers, with two more planning on buying their rings there, too. “People come in and tell us their parents and grandparents had pieces made at Powell,” confirms Sally Winterman, manager.

This devotion to the brand extends to staffers. One bench jeweler has worked at Powell for three decades, while Winterman has been with the store for 15 years. Two newer employees — at three and four years of tenure — are racking up their periods of service thanks to pleasant store practices like hourly pay and bonuses. Nobody sells on commission. “Everyone wants to help each other,” says Hernandez. “Nobody is pushing products.”

Mattie Mathias, Melissa Waterbury, store owners Lynn and Dan Hernandez, store manager Sally Winterman, DeAnn Groner and Lindsey Dean, from left, have forged a collaborative and cohesive team.

With this sort of warm and supportive environment, it’s not surprising to learn that customers appreciate the love. Old-fashioned empathy from the Powell staff ensures that customers never feel like just a sale. In fact, when one elderly client hadn’t been seen in a while, Hernandez called to check on her and learned she was having dialysis.

“She wasn’t doing well, but she had a positive attitude about recovery,” he says. “And when she felt better, she came in to see us. We don’t only call customers to solicit sales.”

Something else the store is known for is its modern classic interior. While other stores in town have stuck with traditional heavy wood looks, Powell’s 2021 renovation went light, airy, and modern. The refreshed store aimed for timeless elegance with marble floors, white and brushed gold showcases — some oval — and drop-down lighting and clear glass floating chandeliers. There’s also floor-to-ceiling custom wall coverings surrounding a rainwater glass wall with the Powell logo in the center.

“People tell us that it looks like something you’d see in Las Vegas,” Hernandez says.

Jewelry offerings are equally memorable, including lots of diamond fashion items. A custom department allows shoppers to commission CAD designs and those carved from wax, in addition to vendor-modified designs. “One gentleman wanted a heavy anchor ring, so we used one of our vendors to make it,” Hernandez says.

Powell’s marketing efforts are also modern — moves for which Hernandez praises Winterman. She took on the yeoman’s task of modernizing the store with social media, online sales, and lots of input into the redesign.

Her fresh ideas keep mounting. They include displaying an in-store slideshow of clients and their engagement rings, photographing nearly every engagement ring sold for social media, and installing a permanent jewelry bar dubbed Forever Gold Permanent Jewelry, which has its own Instagram handle at @forevergold_ict, separate from Powell’s main account at @powelljewelrywichita. “We do so much with permanent jewelry that we wanted that feed to look special and appeal to a younger demographic,” she explains.

Permanent jewelry sales to bridal parties, friend groups, mothers and daughters, and individual appointments and walk-ins translate into bigger sales. “I sold a $10,000 engagement ring upgrade to one shopper,” Winterman says. “While she was getting her permanent jewelry, she said how she always wanted a bigger ring, so I said, ‘Let’s look at some!’”

Partnerships with local influencers have also been fruitful. Winterman enlisted two locals with big social media followings to promote various efforts, a tactic that resulted in major media exposure and myriad sales. Other partnerships ensure that local photographers, florists and wedding planners have jewelry for shoots, which gives Winterman plenty of photos for social media and her in-store slideshow. A 70-inch screen near the design center and engagement rings plays a loop of happy clients and their jewelry, proposals and weddings. More promotional efforts include working with a winery next door to supply the store with bottles for events, as well as coaster-coupons for clients to bring in for discounts. On Saturday mornings, customers can have mimosa-fueled engagement ring shopping appointments and leave with champagne glasses imprinted with the store name.

Throughout the year, Powell conducts postcard mailings with discounts for birthdays, anniversaries and the periodic sale, and gives gift cards to clients who drop by to peruse big-ticket items like diamond rings. “People tell us that they just couldn’t shop anywhere else after we gave them a gift card,” Hernandez says.

Charitable efforts, too, are part of the Powell playbook. The store donates merchandise for raffles to help Make a Wish and St. Jude’s charities. For one event, the store donated 250 bracelets: 249 were costume, and one was gold with diamonds. Everyone who purchased a raffle ticket got one; the owner of the precious version was revealed at the end of the evening.

Finally, no one leaves Powell empty-handed, even if they didn’t make a purchase. Guests get a custom cookie with a seasonal design or Powell Jewelry logo and an oversize diamond solitaire keyring with Powell’s texting number and Instagram handle as keepsakes for visiting. In a month’s time, the store gives out upwards of 20 keychains and six dozen cookies.

“We tell clients they need to leave with a ring, even if it’s a little keyring,” jokes Winterman. “By the time they get to the car, they’ve followed us on social media. Anything we can send home with people is another reminder of what sets our store apart.”

Five Cool Things About Powell Jewelry

1. SOCIAL SUCCESS. Powell Jewelry puts its customers in the social media limelight. Staff photographs nearly every bridal ring it sells to put on social media, along with the couple’s proposal or engagement photos and wedding shots if they choose to share them.

2. OLD SCHOOL CLIENTELING. Tried-and-true clienteling techniques make customers feel special. For example, when clients make a wish list, Powell mails a thank-you note with a gift card to a local coffee shop, and for purchases sends a thank-you note with a gift card to either a coffee shop or a restaurant.

3. CUSTOM CREATIONS. Powell has a custom design center where customers can create their own one-of-a-kind piece of jewelry, view CAD designs, and even see the wax mold of their item before it is made. The Powell team offers a story of the item as it’s being made, including photos of the design and casting process.

4. LOTS OF HUSTLE. Powell partners with local influencers for promotion, loaning jewelry to photographers, florists, and wedding planners for photography, teaming up with a local winery for in-store events and giving away gift cards to engagement ring buyers for a local picnic company that specializes in engagements.

5. SELECT DIAMONDS. Loose diamonds are all hand selected, many in Antwerp, Belgium, and purchased on regular buying trips with The Independent Jewelers Organization.

PHOTO GALLERY (10 IMAGES)

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The post Kansas Jewelry Store Stays Current with Renovation and Innovation appeared first on INSTOREMAG.COM.

OWNERS: Clyde, Jane, Trey and Marci Bailey; URL: baileybox.com; FOUNDED: 1948; OPENED FEATURED LOCATION: 2022; AREA: 5,000 square feet; ARCHITECT AND DESIGN: 310 Architects; Artco; TOP BRANDS: David Yurman, Elizabeth Locke, Gurhan, Ippolita, Lagos, Marco Bicego, Mikimoto, Phillips House; NORQAIN watches and pre-owned Rolex watches; EMPLOYEES: 150 full-time and 79 part-time; ONLINE PRESENCE: 30,000 Instagram followers; 4.8 Stars on Google

BAILEY’S JEWELRY’S NEWEST location in Cary, NC, is simply beautiful, from the marble look and oversize chandeliers to the smooth neutral tones.

But underlying the elegant aesthetics are practical considerations, as well, that allow staff members to provide the best possible customer service.

For example, every sales associate is welcome to work at their own desk, equipped with a computer, when they are between clients. A store concierge and greeter makes that possible. And a couple of sales associates are on the floor at all times, too.

AMERICA’S COOLEST STORES 2023 SPONSORS

“It’s a unique system that our sales team loves,” says CEO Trey Bailey, “because if they’re not in front of a client, they have a space to work on follow up and clienteling. They have a place to sit and think. You want to have time to contact people for proactive communication.”

Other company-wide innovations are invisible but no less important.

Customers hate it, Bailey says, when they have to wait to have a problem resolved. “Sometimes the customer’s not right, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t bend over backwards to make it easy for them. I learned early in my career that customer service is everything. You can have the best product and the best selection in the world, but if people don’t enjoy their shopping experience, then they won’t come back.”

Bailey’s Effortless Experience initiative empowers front-line employees to make significant decisions quickly. This not only makes a more seamless experience for the client but shows employees that they are trusted and valued.

“The rule is they can’t get in trouble,” Bailey says. “If they have the best of intentions, we support them 100%. If they gave something away for free and maybe they could’ve done it another way, we’ll use it as a teachable moment. People who come on board with us who’ve worked other places can’t believe it. It’s a system where we trust our team members.”

Managers also have great influence. Their suggestions are taken seriously and often company-wide changes are made or new ideas initiated as a result.

Bailey’s employees are also empowered in their personal and financial lives.

Bailey is passionate about personal finance instruction and makes it readily available to staff members through an online program called Smart Dollar, which 70% of employees have used. “When I was growing up, people didn’t teach personal finance, and it’s so important,” he says. “We’ve had team members who have cried and said it changed their entire lives.”

Bailey’s also offers Talk Space, on-demand counseling, which includes regular video calls and the ability to text a personal counselor via an app at any time. “A lot of research shows that that helps people because they don’t have to call for an appointment if they’re having a problem that day,” Bailey says. “I know for a fact it saved some people from serious heartache.”

There’s even an app for marriage counseling.

“We want to add value to team members’ lives,” Bailey says. “We want to insist they find their best selves at Bailey’s. Whether it’s a long career or a short stop, I want people to feel that we helped them in some way, to be able to look back from down the road and say ‘I’m glad I worked there.’ You become what you feed your mind. From a business and corporation standpoint, your company becomes what you feed its mind.”

Bailey’s celebrates founders Clyde Sr. and Ann Bailey, who established the business in 1948. Ann was widowed at age 36, becoming the first woman to own and operate a business in Nash County.

The Family

Trey’s father, Clyde Jr., likes to call the store a ladies’ tackle shop. “Our stores are designed with women in mind, and, a long time ago, it was the opposite for a lot of stores,” Trey says. “My parents have always designed it with a feminine touch.”

The family business has always had strong women in leadership.

Bailey’s foundation was built by Clyde Sr. and “Mama” Ann Bailey, who together opened Bailey’s in 1948. Clyde Sr. was a craftsman and watchmaker, and Ann was a full-time working mother. Bailey’s began as a watch repair shop but also sold records and bicycles.

Tragically, Clyde Sr. died when he was only 46 and Ann was just 36.

Ann chose to “keep on keepin’ on,” a personal motto that propelled her to become the first female business owner/operator in Nash County. And while the men in town bet on when she would go out of business, Ann says, “They didn’t know this girl!” With unflagging determination and the help of her family, she built a jewelry empire from scratch.

The love story continues with Clyde Jr. and Jane, high school sweethearts who married at 18 and moved to Los Angeles, where Clyde pursued an education in gemology. Upon returning to Rocky Mount, Clyde Jr. grew Bailey’s into one of the largest luxury jewelry stores in the country.

Clyde Jr.’s son, Trey, followed in his father’s footsteps when he enrolled at the Gemological Institute of America. While there, he met his soon-to-be wife, Marci, a fellow gemology student and jewelry designer. Clyde Jr. says, “Trey left to go learn about gems, and he came home with one.”

Bailey’s is now in its third generation of family ownership. Trey and Marci Bailey, along with Clyde and Jane, continue the tradition of making Bailey’s Fine Jewelry North Carolina’s premier destination jewelry store.

The open layout of the wood-tone showcases establishes a fresh look that suits the neutral palette and establishes a modern template for future Bailey’s stores.

The Look

The Cary store design was a team effort, with Marci and COO Blair Jones coming up with the concept and collaborating with 310 Architecture + Design as well as Artco.

Marci was inspired by the classical beauty of photographs of a residential interior in Dubai. “That’s where all the marble look came from, the grayish and cream tones,” says Trey. “We used the new location as a template for what our future stores may look like, to change our style a bit and modernize.”

The marble look sets the expectation for opulence, an expectation soon met with glass display cases on hand-crafted wooden bases and oversize gold chandeliers. Traditional wood tone showcases contrast with the lighter tones in the rest of the store.

There’s also a lot of natural light, more than they’ve had in any previous store by far. The ceilings are as tall as they could be without causing side effects like echoes and ineffective lighting. The natural light combined with the tall ceilings give it a very open look.

The store features a private space with its own entrance to allow for a discreet shopping experience, as well as intimate parties and VIP client showings. With the push of a button, the glass door frosts for added privacy.

When it came to the store’s layout, Bailey says, Artco prevented them from making what he descibes as a big mistake. When they brought the original floor plan to Artco, they were told, “We can’t let you do this.”

“I like feedback,” Trey says. “I said, ‘OK, guys, what are your thoughts?’” While the original layout had multiple loops in it, Artco suggested a new, simpler floor plan with three larger, highlighted sections for David Yurman, for bridal and for designer jewelry, leaving the middle open for a more boutique style that fits the modern style of the rest of the store.

“They were right,” Trey says. “They did a much fresher showcase layout than we had done. It’s classier and more modern and flows better.”

“The reactions have been great,” Trey says. “It’s fun to be in there when people walk in for the first time. Half the time, they have an audible reaction. They’re very vocal about how the store looks. We spent years planning, designing and building it, so it’s fun and rewarding to hear customers come in and say it’s the nicest, prettiest store they’ve ever been in.”

Five Cool Things About Bailey’s Fine Jewelry

1. ONLINE SALES. Online sales have quadrupled since the launch of a more user-friendly website. Most everything selling is fashion jewelry between $500 and $1,500. “It helped with SEO as well,” Trey says. “When COVID hit, people started shopping online more. We were building a website, and when COVID hit, we were just launching the site.”

2. $1 MILLION GINGERBREAD HOUSE. Marci on her own created a bejeweled gingerbread house, which made the local news. Then she was contacted by a gingerbread artist from North Carolina, who suggested they collaborate on something over the top. It became a $1 million gingerbread house, generated more local publicity and was entered into a New York Art Collective contest, which it won. Two Christmases ago, it was displayed on Times Square, and the Baileys planned a family trip to see it.

3. THE BOX. “The Bailey Box,” Bailey’s signature black and white wrapped box tied with a red ribbon, has become synonymous with the brand and even a bit iconic. The saying “Every Woman Wants a Bailey Box Under the Tree” has become well-known throughout North Carolina.

4. THE BLING. Bailey’s Fine Jewelry is known for its marketing initiative, Finders Keepers, in which small Bailey Boxes with a single piece of jewelry are hidden throughout the communities in which Bailey’s has stores. When someone finds the box, it’s his or hers — “Finders Keepers!” To celebrate the opening of Bailey’s Cary location, 100 Bailey Boxes were hidden throughout Cary at landmarks and community areas. One grand prize Bailey Box included a voucher to be redeemed for a pair of diamond and 18K yellow gold David Yurman stud earrings, valued at $1,975.

5. WATCH THIS! Bailey’s recently became one of only a few stores in the country that has an in-house diamond cutter on-site. “He loves telling people about what he’s doing, and certain customers eat that stuff up. There was a surgeon back there recently picking his brain,” Trey says.

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Kesslers
Grand Rapids, MI

An airy storefront with three walls of windows attracted the Kesslers Diamonds’ team to the space for their newest, and eighth, store, which now has a lounge, bar and booth seating. Founder Richard Kessler taught his team to treat the business as if it were their own, advice they took to heart, because when Kessler retired in 2019, the business became 100% employee-owned.

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Shaftel Diamonds
Houston, TX

Keith Shaftel launched his business supplying loose
diamonds to wholesalers and local jewelers, later adding a retail showroom. With son, Danny, and daughter, Gaby on board, the family recently reinvented their store. Designer Jesse Balaity’s concept was based on Houston being a big city that doesn’t take itself too seriously, prioritizing fun and engaging over formal and controlled.

L. Priori Jewelry
Washington, D.C.

GIA graduate gemologist Lauren Priori left Philadelphia’s Jeweler’s Row in 2016 to start the kind of jewelry company she’d always wanted to work for. With an appointment-only business focused on custom engagement rings, the company has grown tenfold over six years. In 2021, Priori opened her third location in Georgetown.

Springer’s Jewelers
Portsmouth, NH

Owners Lily Beaulieu Mullen, who designed Springer’s newest store, and her sister, Zoe Beaulieu, represent the millennial fourth generation of family-owned Springers Jewelers, founded in 1870. Their Portsmouth store is at the gateway of the historic downtown on the ground floor of 100 Market, a high-end building that’s home to New England’s premier private club.

Occasions Fine Jewelry
Midland, TX

In 2021, collaborating with interior designer Leslie McGwire, second-generation owner Michael Fleck remodeled his store with a motif and palette he describes as desert luxury. “We wanted Occasions to be a luxurious celebration of everything that’s best about Midland, Texas, and its prairie landscape,” Fleck says.

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William Travis Jewelry
Chapel Hill, NC

Wiliam Travis Kukovich, a fifth-generation metalsmith, designed his shop with Feng Shui principles in mind to harmonize the guest experience. Everything moves in a circular pattern, avoiding any entrapment of energy. As for marketing, video is essential, he says, because it captures the natural movement of the wearer and the play of light and form as the jewelry is worn.

Powell Jewelry
Wichita, KS

Dan and Lynn Hernandez own Powell Jewelry, which has grown over 90 years from a small store to a multiple brand retailer. Their newest store, designed by Leslie McGwire & Associates, represents a cutting edge, elegant, and classy design that stands out in Wichita with its Italian marble floors and museum cases accented in black, white and brushed gold.

John Thomas Jewelers
Albuquerque, NM

John Thomas Jewelers, owned by John Thomas Mead, occupies 1,500 square feet on the third floor of an office building with almost all alloy samples in bridal. The entire store is client facing with 5-foot wide pullout double level drawers that display more than 2,000 rings. With 3D software and 3D wax printers, a magnetic try-on station, and all of the accessible jewelry, it truly is a hands-on experience.

Dutille’s Jewelry Design Studio
Lebanon, NH

Second-generation jeweler Jude Dutille and son Beau began a major renovation of their full-service store with the help of Retailworks in late 2019. They relocated their workshop from the basement to the main floor, where customers can now observe the repair, design, and creation of jewelry on-site.

Water Street Jewelers
Guilford, CT

At Daniela Balzano’s store, customers have meaningful jewelry transformed into wearable art. Balzano has a commitment to ethical sourcing, independent designers, and sustainable packaging. The store, awash in natural light, is designed with a calming palette of turquoise, white and cream. Plants, natural wood and hand-built cases contribute to an artisanal feel.

The post These 10 Stores Were America’s Coolest Stores Honorable Mentions for 2023 appeared first on INSTOREMAG.COM.

OWNER: Meredith Lusk; URL: moonrisejewelry.com; FOUNDED: 2005; OPENED FEATURED LOCATION: 2021; AREA: 1,700 square feet; INTERIOR DESIGN: Covington Hendrix Anderson Architects, Artco Group; TOP BRANDS: Moonrise, Evocateur, Stuller, JP Diamonds, vintage and estate jewelry; EMPLOYEES: 8 (full-time and part-time); ONLINE PRESENCE: 4.5 Stars on Yelp; 3,400 Facebook followers; 4.9 Stars on Google Reviews; 5 Stars on Tripadvisor

Meredith Lusk

EIGHTEEN YEARS AGO, Meredith Lusk launched a craft business that has evolved into a vibrant and darling destination in her Eastern Shore hometown of Cape Charles, VA.

The owner of Moonrise Jewelry grew up in an entrepreneurial family. Her parents ran the local pharmacy, where a young Lusk sold seashell jewelry and magnets of her own making. For college, she went to New Orleans to study anthropology and Spanish but returned after graduation; the
Delmarva Peninsula called her home, where seven generations of Lusks have lived.

She got a job as a reporter for the local paper, but her desire to make art remained. So, she started making wire-wrapped jewelry in the evenings, selling works at craft and home shows. From the beginning, Lusk aimed to create more opportunities for local women with similar interests.

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“This area is rural — only 1,000 people live here year-round,” she explains. “One of my goals was to create a sustainable enterprise for me and other women who liked fashion and art.”

Passionate about the new pursuit, Lusk created the Moonrise Jewelry website in 2004. She also started renting spaces to work in and became known for handcrafted jewelry featuring orchids encased in resin. Then in 2007 on a Friday at closing time, a call came through on the landline to her studio. “Hello, my name is Stanley Major — would you like to buy some fish leather?” Lusk was puzzled by the caller, who didn’t offer to send samples or an explanation as to what the product was, so she politely declined. A year passed, and on another Friday late afternoon as Lusk was heading out the door, her studio phone rang again. The call was familiar. “Hello, my name is Stanley Major — would you like to buy some fish leather?”

“It was like Groundhog Day,” laughs Lusk. “I said, ‘Stanley, did you call here last year?’” He said he likely did. This time, she explained that she was interested in Fair Trade gems but not fish leather (whatever that was). She gently told him he needn’t call again.

More time passed, the Great Recession struck, and Lusk became a new mom who moved her business back into her home to save money. Sales ebbed and flowed, and Lusk grew frustrated. “I had to come up with something really different to make my business stand out or else I was going to have to close and get a job,” she deadpans. Then, a seed that was planted years prior suddenly sprouted: Fish leather.

She Googled the term and up popped the name Stanley Major. She phoned him for samples, and he sent her salmon leather.

“It was so beautiful, the colors were so rich,” she recollects. “Cape Charles has a big fishing industry. Fish leather just made sense.”

A local artist epoxied a 12-foot coastal jewelryinspired mural behind the cash wrap.

The skins were an upcycled byproduct of non-endangered food species. After a year of experimentation, Lusk taught herself how to set it into jewelry. Large swaths were cut into asymmetrical strips for cuffs, and smaller scraps were repurposed as inlay in daintier designs. Bow ties, flasks, and other fish leather-adorned objects followed. She dug into this new focus, and it worked.

“The response was fantastic — fish leather took off,” she says. “It was comfortable, unique, and available at an approachable price point.”

As interest and sales snowballed, she outgrew multiple spaces and had to find a new supplier. She did in Iceland, a tannery that produced even more colors.

“They had silver and gold metallics and helped me propel the business to where it is today,” she adds. “Fish leather is a hook that draws people into the store.”

In 2021, she made her fourth and final move into a redesigned storefront downtown.

“We moved into a building that was 100 years old — the old Saks Variety store, which was in major disrepair,” she says.

She tapped architect Wayne Anderson to design the façade based on a 1920s photo of the building. In doing so, he restored transom windows and a canopy, then she added a custom mahogany door with oval glass and placed two special features outside: her grandmother’s iron garden bench and flickering faux gas lanterns reminiscent of ones seen in The Big Easy.

Inside, the reno uncovered original pine wood floors that are now restored and brick fireplaces. Artco Group designed custom display cases for side-by-side selling in the center of the store, while French doors in the rear give customers a glimpse of brightly colored racks of fish leather in the studio where artisans work.

A focal point is a back-wall installation that serves as an interactive swatch board for the 150 different types of fish leather in stock. Clients are encouraged to customize colors, which are represented as a large school of magnetic fish that “swim” across a hand-painted river covering the entire wall. “Customers can take fish down off the wall to see how colors look next to each other,” Lusk explains. Most impressive of all: Her team made it, along with nearly every edit in the new interior, given they couldn’t afford a designer.

An exception to the handicrafts comes from a local artist, who epoxied a 12-foot coastal jewelry-inspired mural behind the cash wrap counter. One-of-a-kind paintings from the same individual dot the walls, and reproductions of the scenes exist inside cases on custom jewels created by Evocateur.

And though Lusk isn’t a bench jeweler, her collaborative skills are impressive. She used them to align with a master jeweler from Virginia Beach who gives her estate pieces on consignment and does repair work that now comes into the store.

“We work together to provide a greater range of products and services,” she says.

Another meaningful partnership takes place with the nearby Barrier Islands Center. For it, she created an Eastern Shore of Virginia map cuff that’s available exclusively at Moonrise. A portion of proceeds benefit the museum.

Eight employees later and with a prominent position on the town’s main drag, Moonrise Jewelry has seemingly arrived. Some incredible press solidifies the success. Spanx founder Sara Blakely recognized her mission to empower women, NBC’s “Today Show” featured Moonrise Jewelry as a
Top Product Pick, and the store has been recognized by magazines including Southern Living. Lusk has even been acknowledged by the Chamber of Commerce for her contributions to local tourism. Her efforts keep the Eastern Shore in the minds of many long after vacations have ended.

“We ship pieces all over the country to clients who want to be reminded of their connection here,” she says.

Five Cool Things About Moonrise Jewelry

1. ONLY GAME IN TOWN. Moonrise Jewelry is the only full-service jewelry store in Northampton County, VA. Store owner Meredith Lusk says demand exists for fine jewelry in her beachfront community of Cape Charles. “It’s becoming more of a retirement community,” she says. “People move here from Philadelphia and Charlotte.”

4. WOMEN. Moonrise Jewelry is 100% woman-owned and operated. Female artists, teachers, and therapists, among others, have all found their way to the shop to start a new chapter. Even the store’s name is a nod to the gender. “Moonrise is symbolic of feminine energy,” says Lusk.

2. HISTORY — AND LOTS OF IT! Not only is Moonrise located in historic downtown — in the renovated 100-plus-year-old Saks Variety Store on Mason Avenue — Lusk’s family can trace its roots in the area to the 1700s!

3. OLD SCHOOL COMMS. While she’s had a website since 2004, Lusk finds that “old school” marketing techniques work best. “Here, print is not dead, and everyone reads the free weekly local paper,” she says. Also effective: posting flyers on community bulletin boards in town hot spots (think coffee shop, post office, etc.).

5. FISH LEATHER. Have you ever heard of anyone else selling it? Probably not, and that’s why Lusk bills herself as “the world’s leading designer of exotic fish leather jewelry.” While it’s not the only type of jewelry she sells, it is “the hook,” she jokes, that draws in visitors. “Our website is the top Google search result for fish leather jewelry.”

PHOTO GALLERY (12 IMAGES)

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The post A Virginia Entrepreneur Transforms a Hobby into a One-of-a-Kind Jewelry Enterprise on the Eastern Shore appeared first on INSTOREMAG.COM.

OWNERS: Mark Tapper, Leora Tapper, Marla Tapper Young; URL: tappers.com; FOUNDED: 1977; OPENED FEATURED LOCATION: 2023; AREA: 10,000 square feet; ARCHITECT AND DESIGN: JGA, Sachse, Gi els Webster; TOP BRANDS: Rolex, Tudor, David Yurman, Cartier, Breitling, Bulgari, Omega, Panerai, IWC, Grand Seiko, Tag Heuer, Lagos, Mikimoto, Roberto Coin, Marco Bicego, John Hardy, Gucci, Pomellato, Shinola, Casio G-Shock, Charles Krypell, Bellarri, Eriness, Julez Bryant, Maria Tash, Pasquale Bruni, Spinelli Kilcollin, Suzanne Kalan, Tateossian, Temple St. Clair, Walters Faith, Zoe Chicco; EMPLOYEES: 111 full-time; 43 part-time; ONLINE PRESENCE: 4.4 Stars on Facebook; 17,300 Instagram followers

Mark Tapper, Leora Tapper, Marla Tapper Young

Tapper’s new store has a remarkable floor plan — one that you won’t find on the original blueprint.

When Tapper’s president, Mark Tapper, began planning for the family business’s first freestanding store, it was supposed to be a spacious, one-story structure, divided into two halves, which during the planning stage seemed huge.

But when Tapper’s watch and jewelry brand partners became excited about the project, brand requirements and expectations began to soar, making that sprawling space suddenly seem cramped.

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“Unlike being in a mall where there’s infinite space to take over another area, we’re landlocked,” he says.

Since they couldn’t make the first level larger, Tapper and the project’s architects began to look up. That idea led to a second-floor space known as the Diamond Loft, an all-encompassing environment for diamonds and bridal. What started out as a necessity became an exceptional space.

It’s private, quiet and intimate with two salons and an ample lounge.

“It takes away a lot of the pressure, the hustle and bustle of people being around or looking at other categories, and has created an environment of intimacy,” Tapper says.

Throughout the store there are multiple private shopping lounges, a bar and a snack area that includes TVs.

Although a freestanding store had not been a goal, per se, the new store turned out to be a good opportunity. “This area in our city has been neglected in terms of independent retailers and freestanding stores, and we thought the area deserved something of this nature and stature,” Tapper says.

It was also a way to take more control of the environment. “We saw the opportunity to curate our own luxury campus from the second the customer drives onto the property.”

There is a downside to a standalone store, though, Tapper says. “Managing your own building takes a different skill set and sense of patience.

I’ve had conversations I’ve never had to be engaged in, about landscaping, locks and snow removal. I thought it would be more glamorous!”

Since it opened, the store has exceeded expectations on all levels. Traffic is up 30% over projections, and conversion up 50%.

The goal of the design of Tapper’s 2018 America’s Coolest Store, in Troy, MI, was to create more intimacy. That’s a theme on which the Novi location expanded. Six customer lounges in this store create more of a boutique shopping experience while the overall space still allows a wealth of inventory.

“Everything is about access and ease to the customer, so they want to be at the store and have repeat visits,” Tapper says. “That’s really what the whole experience is about for us. Create a comfortable and inviting environment for our guests that allows sales associates to do what they do best.”

Being out of the mall also means that the Novi store is their first that has natural light, with about 35 feet of glass in the front. They made sure the lighting component throughout the store didn’t fight with the natural light and that UV filtration was in place.

“We like having organic and natural materials and elements in the store. For us, it’s about knowing our market, knowing how to create a luxurious environment that is not ostentatious. Having that balance can be somewhat of a challenge.”

Tapper’s has a Guest Experience lead present at all times to ensure visitors are receiving an exceptional experience.

That exceptional experience includes treating guests with “surprise and delight gifts” just because, or to celebrate special occasions through a program called Treated by Tapper’s. The team has access to giveaway items such as champagne flutes, beer mugs, portable chargers, themed baby onesies, a child’s first necklace and more. “We use these items to create an experience that a guest will remember forever,” Tapper says.

The children’s jewelry, stainless steel bracelets and necklaces in a Tapper’s box, is designed to win customers for life. The gift goes a long way with the parents as well.

Store designers also took advantage of the store’s placement near an expressway to make sure it would stand out as a landmark. In a pop-out structure at the top of the building, a special lighting feature can be animated and curated for any occasion: Red for Valentine’s Day; green and white for Michigan State and blue and yellow for University of Michigan, for example. If there’s a special event planned with a watch brand, the brand’s colors can be illuminated.

“It brings attention to the building and makes sure the building is refreshing itself in different ways,” Tapper says.

The debut of the new store coincided with a move from a campaign-based marketing approach to an always-on-approach to continue to grow brand awareness. “We realized that the best way to continue to build our brand was to keep Tapper’s top of mind,” Tapper says.

“We also realize that the omnichannel guest experience is important, as the first place many guests interact with us is our website. We put a huge emphasis on bringing our brand to life in the digital space so that it aligns with the in-store experience.”

Traditional marketing is also effective for Tapper’s, particularly the radio campaign that runs 365 days a year with a focus on brand-building through origin stories of the business as well as through interactions between Mark Tapper and a fictitious character, Sir Richard Poshingham.

The store’s grand opening was the largest event in Tapper’s 45-year history as well as the most financially successful. Music, food, signature cocktails, 360-degree cameras and a valet all made it especially memorable.

“People like a nice party and they were curious to see the store,” Tapper says.

Even the most far-flung Tapper’s stores are just 20 minutes apart, so the family has built a loyal client base in a relatively compact area over 45 years. “So everyone came to see the new building, support our family and sales team and see what was different,” he says.

Giveaways include not only branded swag, but also a variety of gifts, which are part of a program called Treated by Tapper’s.

Five Cool Things About Tapper’s Jewelry

1. RISKING IT ALL. Newly married, baby on the way, company founder Howard Tapper borrowed money from his family and sold his car to raise the funds to open his first jewelry store. He sketched the floor plan on a scrap piece of paper. And then he bought his first inventory on credit as well. On the first day of business, he managed to sell $1,025, enough to pay that first month’s rent.

2. DEAD ZONE STRATEGY. Tapper’s uses heat mapping to identify high traffic areas and dead zones in the store. Instead of installing lower-priced merchandise in dead zones, they’ve added destination merchandise like religious jewelry or studs, making what would be a dead zone into a profit center.

3. COMPANY CULTURE. In 2022, Tapper’s was one of only two retailers in the region named one of the best places to work by the Detroit Free Press after being nominated by the team. Once a quarter, the stores close to plan a social activity outside of work, to encourage camaraderie. They’ve rented out a bowling alley, hosted an event at Top Golf and thrown a company picnic for employees and their families with food trucks and clowns. “The emphasis we put into building culture and fostering a team environment has paid off in terms of our associates,” Tapper says.

4. COAT DRIVE. Tapper’s biggest community initiative is the Coat Drive. The team works throughout the year to gather monetary and coat donations. The money is used to buy new coats for families in need. Each Tapper’s store has a collection box, and they partner with other local businesses to collect as well. The coats are distributed to 20-plus local charities.

5. THE TAPPER’S WAY. Tapper’s launched a weekly fundamentals program called “The Tapper’s Way,” actions and behaviors designed to reinforce the company’s core values. Each week, a fundamental is introduced and discussed during every team meeting. One team member is also asked to highlight the fundamental through a video that is shared company-wide. Some examples are: Deliver Legendary Service, Make it Happen, Celebrate Success, Get Better Every Single Day, Let Your Kindness Shine, Assume Positive Intent, Go the Extra Mile, Be a Great Teammate, Keep Things Fun.

PHOTO GALLERY (7 IMAGES)

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OWNER: Julez Bryant; URL: julez.com; FOUNDED: 2003; OPENED FEATURED LOCATION: 2020; RENOVATED: 2022;AREA: 1,000 square feet; TOP BRANDS: Julez Bryant, Jamie Joseph, Celine D’Aoust, Artemer, Jennifer Demoro; EMPLOYEES: 4; ONLINE PRESENCE: 889 Facebook followers

Julez Ward

FOR YEARS, JULEZ WARD was the queen of trunk shows. As a jewelry designer, she built her brand visiting retail stores.

At the same time, she longed to have her own store, in part because she wanted to see the full collection on display exactly as she imagined it.

“I realized it was time for me to try a new route to bring it to the world on our own, to control our destiny,” she says.

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Once that goal was established, she began searching in the design district of her hometown, Solana Beach. When she did find her spot, she was finally ready to open in March 2020, which admittedly wasn’t the best timing. “I hired our gallery director and laid her off on the same day,” Ward recalls, as COVID shut down her dream.

Still, she found a way to work around it. As a wholesaler, she’d been late to e-commerce, but she began to emphasize that aspect of the business. COVID’s focus on e-commerce leveled the playing field, she believes, making retailers and designers more of a team.

She was also able to bring one sales associate at a time into the store to meet with customers by appointment and host private meetings for designer friends, too, until she could fully open months later. “We tried to build a community and it ended up working out,” she says.

The store showcases her namesake Julez Bryant collection along with a mix of 13 acclaimed and emerging designers, all known for their artisanal approach to jewelry making.

It’s a great time for artisans and stores that celebrate the craft of jewelry to shine, she says.

“Clients are really valuing how jewelry is made and are curious about the story behind each piece because it’s becoming increasingly rare to view objects made by hand. We’ve found that people are always looking for things that feel personal and unique to them.”

Ward sells her jewelry to lifestyle stores, gallery-style stores and traditional fine jewelry stores. In traditional stores, she’s seen owners struggle to capture self-purchasers because many of them have been designed for men to buy for women. She kept that in mind when creating her own store. She wants her female clients to feel comfortable not only just to be in a fine jewelry store, but also to treat themselves and feel that they deserve it. “Oftentimes, people walk into our store because they’ve always been curious about jewelry but may have felt too intimidated or just don’t know where to start,” she says.

Making those clients comfortable is in no small part about hiring and training the right staff.

Photo shoots emphasize how Julez Bryant shoppers can build a collection of comfortable and distinctive jewelry they can wear every day

“If there is fire in their eyes, they’re excited and want to do the work because they love the product, then that’s the person we want,” she says. “I want them to be more storytellers than product sellers.” Her team loves helping people express their personal style through jewelry.

The emphasis is empowering women to wear jewelry in their everyday life, whether they’re adding to an existing collection or trying on their first piece.

“When they leave with a piece from our store, they are choosing to celebrate themselves. It’s always such a magical moment. Our team never tires of it because we just love matching the right piece of jewelry to the right person.”

Personalized service includes hand sketching custom designs, locating special diamonds and other gemstones to meet the customers’ needs, and remodeling heirlooms.

Store design was DIY on a shoestring budget.

The color palette is pulled from a painting that Ward’s mother had loved. Cases are moveable for flexibility. And the floor is made of Moroccan-style tiles.

For 30 years, Ward had collected colorful glass bottles, which have become a distinctive feature of the decor. She changes the colors of the bottles she displays from season to season for a simple mood shift. “It’s fun to see them come to life in this setting, these bottles collected from all around the world. That, to tell you the truth, is what people come in to look at.”

Ward worked with a local metalsmith to create custom door handles that integrate her brand’s logo. “We love that they are a gorgeous shade of gold that references back to our signature shade of gold in our jewelry,” Ward says. “We refine all of our gold in-house to get the color just right.”

Opening the store has brought her much more engagement and wedding business than she had in the past. It represents about 10% of her retail business, while self-purchasers represent the other 90%. At Julez Bryant, wedding rings and engagement rings are made from scratch, made to last and sold by a knowledgeable team. “We get so many brides and grooms that come in together. They always come back to us and say they never found this level of customer service and education anywhere else.”

Jewelry design was not Ward’s first career choice.

Formerly a vice president and director for a global independent video game developer, she traveled the world in that role, speaking at universities, including Cambridge, Oxford and Trinity.

At the same time, she’d been dabbling in jewelry for fun. She started her line when a close friend who was diagnosed with terminal cancer gave her a charm bracelet. “He inspired me to live in the moment and focus my energy on my dreams, rather than my fears,” she says. She loved wearing the bracelet, but she converted it into a necklace design after the bracelet caught on her clothes.

When another friend admired it and asked her to design jewelry for her, she turned to what she had on hand. She remade all of her grandmother’s old necklaces, stuffed them into a shoebox and sold them to her friend. From there, jewelry making became a regular pursuit. “I did my corporate job, put the kids to sleep and worked on jewelry till 2 a.m.,” she says.

Moroccan tile floor, pops of color and carefully curated display cases help create an artisinal enclave.

When the company she worked for was acquired, she was offered an overseas position, but she didn’t want to move. “I thought if I’m out of this industry for a year, I won’t be forgotten.” But after beginning to work in jewelry full time 20 years ago, she stuck with it.

It’s all hand-forged at her design studio on the Southern California coast. “I taught myself and ended up doing everything in house. I stay in my lane; it’s all I know.” Each design is crafted to be both beautiful and comfortable, combining a love of bold shapes with soft, satin finishes and delicate hand-hammered touches. All materials are created from recycled 14K and 18K gold with responsibly sourced diamonds and gemstones.

“My goal for the future is to make sure my team has a company that they can be proud to work at and could eventually call their own. People who work in artisanal jewelry love the arts and all the splendor of it. To be able to provide a healthy workplace is No. 1 above everything.

“I let the business lead me to where it needs to go. We all love making jewelry and we all love jewelry. It’s like Christmas for us.”

Five Cool Things About Julez Bryant

1. GRATITUDE IN THE MAIL. Instead of approaching Black Friday in a typical way, Ward decided to send her VIP clients a gratitude package in the mail to thank them for supporting the business for the year. They received a hand sketch by Ward, a packet of California marigold seeds (a local bloom that Ward loves), a ceramic pot and planting kit, so clients could grow their own flowers. “We are a small and independent designer, so it really means a lot to have clients choosing to support our brand,” Ward says.

2. TREASURES. A vintage-store treasure hunter, Ward collects vintage jewelry boxes, which engagement ring shoppers select as keepsakes. “We try to let the jewelry do the speaking, but it’s fun to have another creative outlet.”

3. INFLUENCERS. Ward says that hosting local micro-bloggers can be very effective when they’re a good match for your corpoate philosophy and value system. “Find the ones that match that, then it’s natural, not forced, it’s a very easy relationship. Then it’s likely that people who follow them will love our work.”

4. CREATIVE FAMILY. Julez’s daughter, Gia, and son, Myles, have been involved in the business. Julez and Gia created the Golden Collection, inspired by growing up as a family on the Southern California coast. The designs feature motifs like the night sky and ocean waves. Myles has worked as a bench jeweler in the shop. One day, he handmade a flat link gold chain for his mom, inspired by a chain she wears every day that once beloned to her mother. Myles wanted to surprise her with a new version of the necklace as an ode to both his mother and grandmother. Named the DOEY chain after Myles’ childhood nickname, it’s become a best-seller.

5. NON-COMPETE. Although she’s planning additional retail locations, Ward says she is not trying to compete with her wholesale accounts. “I’m very honest with our retailers. We see it more as a showroom. And oftentimes, shoppers see it here and buy it somewhere else.”

PHOTO GALLERY (11 IMAGES)

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The post California Jewelry Designer Infuses First Retail Location with Personal Flair appeared first on INSTOREMAG.COM.

OWNERS: Jennifer Gandia and Christina Gandia Gambale; URL: greenwichjewelers.com; FOUNDED: 1976; OPENED FEATURED LOCATION: 2022; AREA: 1,550 square feet; ARCHITECT AND DESIGN: MAOarch, Wield Creative; TOP BRANDS: Alice Cicolini, Eva Fehren, Jamie Joseph, Lorraine West, Marla Aaron, Single Stone, Sylva & Cie, TEN THOUSAND THINGS, WWake; EMPLOYEES: 17; ONLINE PRESENCE: 89,000 followers on Instagram; 620 Google reviews with 4.9 Star average

Sisters Jennifer Gandia and Christina Gandia Gambale; PHOTO CREDIT: Alain Simic

SISTERS JENNIFER GANDIA and Christina Gandia Gambale were inspired by elements of residential design for their new Greenwich St. Jewelers store in Tribeca, and the concept was so successful that their clients now say they want to live there.

That residential vibe began with the selection of their space in a neighborhood that’s a comfortable mix of residential and commercial with a strong community feel, the kind of community their parents Carl and Milly Gandia knew when they opened the original Greenwich Jewelers in the Financial District in 1976, after emigrating from Puerto Rico.

Retail neighbors in Tribeca are an eclectic mix that include the Balloon Saloon party supplies and gifts; Korin, a Japanese cutlery store patronized by chefs; the Mysterious Book Shop; lifestyle and fashion businesses, children’s stores, galleries and restaurants.

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The new Greenwich St. opened last year on Reade Street in the city’s second oldest cast iron building, known as the Obsidian House, built in 1857. The original facade has been carefully restored and the upper floors are all residential. “The space itself we knew was the right space right away,” says Jennifer Gandia. “Something just felt right. The historical and beautiful architecture of Tribeca appealed to us.”

They wanted it to feel luxurious, but not pretentious.

“We wanted the store to feel very downtown New York and welcoming and homey, and in New York that means an apartment,” Gandia says. “It was all about creating a concept that felt warm and energizing with bright color and sumptuous fabrics. We didn’t want a sterile, neutral store.”

Senior marketing manager Grace Barretti describes the color scheme as acid brights mixing with pastels and jewel tones in a playful yet sophisticated way. Showcases feature a variety of finishes, and jewelry forms designed by Wield Creative complement the color explosion. The bathroom’s vibrant gingko leaf tiles reference the sisters’ Puerto Rican ancestry while offering another aesthetic surprise.

Mirroring the layout of a classic New York City railroad apartment, the space is divided into rooms that showcase the work of 40-plus independent designers.

“These were the kind of apartments you saw a lot in tenement buildings, rooms all in one line,” Gandia says. “That in itself is very New York.”

Typically, a foyer flows into living room, kitchen, dining room and finally, a more intimate bedroom space at the back.

In this case, a collection of Jamie Joseph rings in an eye-catching pink display beckons to visitors in the entry foyer and immediately invites them to play with the jewelry and try something on. “There is a different threshold in each room and an element of discovery, which is why there are a lot of different elements in the store, different surfaces, a lot of colors,” Gandia says.

The second room beckons with a sumptuous velvet couch and in the third, a large central showcase conjures images of a formal dining room.

Toward the back, there’s space for custom consultations as well as a private room with glass doors off to the side that represents an outdoor terrace. Overhead lighting is carefully crafted to appear natural. “I think our lighting guy was an artist,” says Gandia. “The lighting in this store, if I do say so myself, is spectacular. You don’t notice it, and that’s the point.”

The original brick arch was the inspiration for using a repeating arch motif to organize the space and create drama.

Ultimately each room was a puzzle piece, or square in a quilt, that had its own smaller unique personality but when all paired together they sing in unison, noted Nico Pallotto, senior associate with MAOarch Architecture.

The store design and material selections demanded a willingness to take risks and cultivate a sense of adventure. Surfaces include lacquer, tabor, a dyed wood facade on the cash wrap, engineered oak plank on the floor, with a layer of reclaimed oak. “We have velvet, we have neon. And it’s a very New York thing to do, to take risks,” Gandia says.

In particular, Gandia says, the feature wall in the back involved quite a few discussions. “We threw a lot of spaghetti at the wall to see what was going to stick,” Gandia says. “Should it be a mural, should it be an installation of mirrors? Gem specimens? Hands reaching out and holding jewelry? We had lots of Pinterest boards with crazy things on them.”

The winning idea came from muralist Mason Nye, who pressed a custom subway grate stencil into the plaster. “Everything else was very pretty and we thought we needed something to add edginess, to scuff it up a little,” Gandia says. “We need something that feels like the sidewalks, the streets, of the city. New York is pretty, but gritty. We needed that bit of grittiness.”

An artist infused the plaster with flecks of mica, a backdrop for art installations. East Village artist Rosalie Knox rendered an original painting in nail polish, which glows in the dark under black light. The chandelier in the front of the store resembles a freeform tangle of hanging chains or New York City grafitti suspended in midair.

From the Beginning

Christina and Jennifer grew up playing on the shop floor of Greenwich St. Jewelers in its original Financial District location, watching their parents work in the store and at the bench.

The family business faced periods of adversity, from the 9/11 terrorist attacks that destroyed the original store, to the Great Recession, Hurricane Sandy, and a pandemic. Loyal clientele supported them through every setback.

Gandia, who studied at the Fashion Institute of Technology, joined the business in 2003, using her public relations and marketing experience in the fashion industry to help her parents recover after 9/11. Her efforts evolved into identifying independent designers to carry, modernizing the infrastructure, and pioneering the digital marketing landscape.

Gandia Gambale officially signed on in 2007, after she finished her education in finance at Fordham University and became a GIA-certified gemologist.

At that time, the independent jewelry designer movement began to take off, creating a synergy between the kind of jewelry the sisters wanted to sell and the kind of jewelry that was available. “The independent designer movement that we know today really started in the early 2000s; 2006, 2007,” Gandia says. “As a younger generation we wanted to sell things that we liked, and the timing made it easier because there were shows where a retailer could find more independent designers.”

They continue to support emerging designers to capture their clients’ imaginations and help them expand their personal collections. “Being known for having an offering that is beautiful, intentional, and well-made is all very important to us,” Gandia says.

Before the sisters had found their Tribeca space or begun to design it, their father died. During construction of the new store, when Gandia Gambale was helping her mother move, she found a book of store design concepts her father had been sketching that now seem prescient. He had drawn arches, a brick wall and even a window that resembles the interior window of the terrace. “We had talked about moving while he was alive,” Gandia Gambale says, “and this felt like a nod of support.”

In turn, the sisters honor the roots of their family business by maintaining the service element, upon which their parents built their business and established links to their community.

“In New York, you don’t find a jeweler very often who can do a bit of everything, that has a full shop, and does custom design, repair, restoration, bridal, fine jewelry and designer jewelry,” Gandia Gambale says. “It’s a point of differentiation for us among our competitors” as well as a gift to the community.

Nico Pallotto says the design team considers the entire project a love letter from Greenwich Street Jewelers to New York City. “We believe everyone can feel the vibe without it being a cliche of stereotypical New York City elements splashed all over the space. It feels familiar, relaxed, approachable, but also elevated.”

People are drawn in, whether they stop by for a repair, to design a custom ring, or simply out of curiosity. When they cross that threshold and embark on a retail adventure, they are often surprised to find such a warm, welcoming place, backed by an incredible team trained to engage shoppers and to make them feel happy.

“That’s why people want to live here,” Gandia says.

Greenwich St. Jewelers created a Toi et Moi ring capsule collection to showcase their use of traceable gems and Fairmined gold.

Five Cool Things About Greenwich St. Jewelers

1. TEAM BUILDING. The goal is to hire collaborative team members with an entrepreneurial spirit. “We have people with incredible experience, background and creativity,” says Gandia. The team consists of artists, opera singers, tarot readers, models, crocheters, fashion lovers and drag queens. Each team member’s birthday or work anniversary is celebrated with a lunch or a treat, like a visit from an ice cream truck or an in-store charcuterie spread. “To thank them,” Gandia Gambale says, “and to let them know we’re thinking of them.”

2. CREATIVE COLLECTION LAUNCH. Greenwich St. hosted an event for the launch of a jewelry collection, partnering with an astrologer who gave readings about the participant’s zodiac signs. The goal was to empower potential clients to learn more about how the stars align for them in their lives, an important inspiration to Gandia, who designed the ASTRA collection of zodiac charms. They also collaborated with an Aura reader.

The Reade Street location, twice the size of the former store, has been the site of multiple in-store events.

3. RESPONSIBLE SOURCING. Greenwich St. achieved Fairmined certification and created a Toi et Moi ring capsule collection, hand-crafted in their workshop, to showcase their use of traceable gemstones and Fairmined gold. They began offering De Beers Code of Origin diamonds and GIA Diamond of Origin to present traceable diamonds that do good in the country they come from, such as providing jobs, healthcare and education.

4. THE PRIZE. The Greenwich St. architectural dream team, Maori Hughes, MAOarch owner/principal, and Nico Pallotto, senior associate, were awarded one of a very few honorable mentions for Greenwich St. Jewelers in the international architecture awards, 11th Annual A+ Awards hosted by Architizer in the Global Retail category, competing against entries from more than 90 countries.

5. VERSATILE DISPLAY. The window vitrines turn 360 degrees and have distinct design styles on either side. This allows for flexibility in display and ease when anyone wants to try on what they see in the window, making the transition from outdoor passersby to indoor shopping seamless.

PHOTO GALLERY (16 IMAGES)

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ONLINE EXTRA

Q & A With Nico Pallotto, senior associate with MAOarch Architecture Firm

Greenwich St. Jewelers owners Jennifer Gandia and Christina Gandia Gambale partnered with MAOArch architecture firm, led by Maori Fujisaki Hughes, to design their new flagship store in New York City. Greenwich St. Jewelers is the No. 1 winner in the Big Cool category of the 2023 America’s Coolest Stores contest.

We asked Nico Pallotto, senior associate with MAOarch, to explain in detail some of the magic behind the store’s unique design.

Q. There is so much going on in the interior of Greenwich St. Jewelers, in a good way! How do the many layers work?

A. We like to think of this store as a love letter to New York City from G. St & MAOarch. This love letter celebrates the complexity and layers of the dense city blocks, a diverse population, diversity of eateries, smells, noise, speeds, and rich layers of history, all of which gives New York City that je ne sais quoi. You can’t put your finger on everything all at once, but the pieces come together as you travel from front to back and back to front of this TriBeCa flagship. It feels familiar, relaxed, approachable, but also elevated.

Simultaneously, our goal was to execute the sequence of materials in a way that doesn’t feel overwhelming and is curated and considered. Architecturally, with the help of Hyde Park Moldings of New York, we combined the softness of the custom white plaster walls that are embedded with flecks of mica and crushed pieces of clear glass, with the softness of reclaimed American oak floors that act as the foundation and backdrop for the material palette.

These main materials are balanced with the textures of fine mosaic tiles on the floor, pockets of original brick wall and undersides of arches hand troweled with a gold and cream textured plaster, as well as the custom feature wall.

That feature wall, at the rear of the space, is inspired by the texture of the often overlooked New York City sidewalk/subway grates. Its material transitions, such as oxidized copper and metallic gray lime plaster, were masterfully executed by local muralist Mason Nye, and in the end alludes to the steam one would walk through passing overtop any street grate.

At the bottom half is a custom-made raised plaster subway grate built out of laser cut templates and layers of dark gray and metallic silver custom lime plaster. The result is a 3D extruded plaster surface that travels along the width of the wall, steps up and down, and partially conceals the door to the back of house. It felt like it was an original old wall discovered and exposed during construction.

As you proceed through the space from front to back the visual and tactile story begins to layer and then expand as you reach the main (bridal) salon and feature wall. It’s just like walking through your friend’s chic Soho loft. A crescendo at the end of the space was important.

Q. Tell us about the layers of lighting

A. Lighting is key to any successful jewelry shop or store. Here at G.ST there are many types and levels of artificial lighting mixed with soft northern natural light. There is warm lighting with a nod to residential spaces that beams down from the ceiling; you don’t see the light coming down. The perimeter walls flanking the long sides of the space have continuous arches revealed between plaster and brick walls that help brighten and feel as if they expand the width of the space.

Our lighting designer also mentioned the ceiling would provide a dome of warm light similar to a residence. Sconces, bookcase accent lights and picture lights over artwork add another layer of ambience or highlight various rooms and provide balance, warmth and sparkle.

Finally, the foyer is illuminated by customized brass stems draped in illuminated braided ropes that resemble the gestural moves of graffiti floating in space, and/ or the ropes once used on pulleys for moving goods from New York City sidewalks to basement vaults. The chandelier is a celebration of our greatest muse, New York City, and downtown’s gilded age.

Q. How do so many distinctive design elements and ideas work together so well in a relatively small space?

A. From a spatial perspective, our tactic was how to make sure that the space felt like you could breathe, that you didn’t feel like there were barriers in the way.

Also, we strategically placed architectural elements that created moments of expansion and contraction of the space.

Although our material palette, which we were calling our “material universe” could read as overwhelming or an overload of materials, colors, textures, and patterns, when one would see it for the first time, we made sure that we utilized the mood board to strategically sprinkle interesting patterns or colors of materials throughout the space, and also study their proportions /size in relation to the overall space and size of the rooms.

Ultimately each room was a puzzle piece, or square in a quilt, that had its own smaller unique personality but when all paired together they sing in unison.

We also wanted to make sure that the materials were a combination of luxurious looking and feeling materials balanced with more humble materials that felt contextualized to this particular TriBeCa neighborhood and history.

We took advantage of extremely tall ceilings, paired with narrow spaces in the horizontal direction, and added a series of specially carved arches to modulate the tall vs. narrow, and essentially trick the eye and body into it feeling like a comfortable space. Supporting this larger architectural maneuver, the bookcase, wall niches, wall mounted vitrines, hanging vitrines, free standing fixtures against walls or in the middle of the space, soft custom furnishings, and unique accessories all play a part in eliminating the feeling that you are in a long narrow tunnel or a small crowded space.

Q. How did the concept of a New York City apartment inform the layout?

A. The raw, original space we were provided with was long and narrow and it naturally felt like a NYC railroad apartment mixed with the expansive identities of neighboring SoHo lofts.

The program for the space developed from the hybridization of the two typologies above. It became a procession of rooms that had their own identities, allowed for a sense of enclosure but also felt open to other rooms. The strategy was to entice customers to feel this expansion and contraction of space, allowing them to slow down, temporarily disengage from the frenzy outside, embrace the space and most importantly engage the product and fine jewelry associates. In addition, the joint residential-retail energies of the rooms allow customers to feel comfortable away from the busy streets, but also when inside the pretension that can typically be felt in larger jewelry stores could be eliminated. It also allows for a more personal approach because of the familiar vibe of the spaces, the integration of a side-by-side selling approach and interactive display showcases fixtures.

Q. What stands out for you in memory about this project?

A. Right before the soft opening, Christina and Jennifer shared a sketchbook they found in the attic a few months before the opening. It was a newer sketchbook of their not too recently passed father. When he heard that Christina and Jennifer had suggested looking for a new space to build out a new location, in secret he began sketching his dream store, which was full of arches and a feature wall that was a nod to time. When we saw these sketches, while our clients were merchandising the store, it brought tears to our eyes because the entire time we were designing, without him being present and providing opinions, we ended up utilizing arches and brick walls as the grand gestures to create impact, to modulate and organize the space. Not having used arches in the past in our designs, it truly felt like he was with us and guiding from above and speaking thorough our architectural sketches, plans, and material selections to create a dream space for a beautiful, unique and successful GST flagship in NYC.

Nico Pallotto joined MAOarch in 2021 with an extensive experience in luxury retail, residential and commercial projects. As Senior Associate, he leads a team of designers and architects on luxury retail and specialty projects including Greenwich St. Jewelers, Carolina Herrera, Stefano Ricci, Burberry, Bergdorf Goodman and Wildlike.

MAOarch is a NYC-based full-service architecture firm, specializing in luxury retail and commercial projects of all scales and sizes. The firm was founded by Maori Fujisaki Hughes, AIA in 2018, a registered architect with extensive experience working with renowned luxury retail brands, both nationally and internationally.

The post Residential Design and Art Installations Make Tribeca Jewelry Store Feel Like a High-Class Home appeared first on INSTOREMAG.COM.

OWNER: Elizabeth Gibson; URL: elizapage.com; FOUNDED: 2004; OPENED FEATURED LOCATION: 2005; AREA: 1,200 total square feet; DESIGNER: Kasey McCarty Interior Design; TOP BRANDS: Eliza Page, Dilamani, Facet Barcelona, Shaesby, Midas, Zoe Chicco, Marika Desert Gold, Armenta, Lashbrook, Jennie Kwon, Jade Trau, Scribe; EMPLOYEES: 5 full-time, 1 part-time; ONLINE PRESENCE: 56,100 Instagram followers, 122 Google reviews with a 4.9 star average; BUILDOUT COST: $150,000

Elizabeth Gibson

ELIZA PAGE HAS been known as a “cool store” around the jewelry industry for a long time. But it was only after last year’s renovation that owner Elizabeth Gibson decided to enter INSTORE’s America’s Coolest Stores competition — and won it on her first try.

“It’s exciting for the jewelry business to see more independents that are unique,” says Gibson. “When I opened 20 years ago, there weren’t a lot of stores like mine, and now there are, which is cool. I think that just shows that today’s clients want a boutique experience, a more intimate experience. Austin definitely caters to that; that’s the culture of our city.”

While the city itself may boast the motto of “Keep Austin Weird,” Eliza Page was still an outlier when Gibson opened the store in 2004. Her original location in south Austin was “terrible,” as she puts it, so she quickly moved into her current location downtown the following year. But she was distinctly lacking in neighbors.

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“I was the first retailer to open in the 2nd Street District,” Gibson recalls. “It was just empty store fronts around me. There was probably some naivete in my choice, but I knew downtown was going to grow.” Today, Eliza Page is a stalwart presence in a thriving retail area that includes independent restaurants, boutiques and one of Austin’s top live music venues, Austin City Limits Live at the Moody Theater. The store has evolved over the past 20 years, but it remains true to Gibson’s original vision: to create an approachable environment that showcases fashion-forward, artisan-created jewelry in a boutique setting that feels more like an art gallery than a traditional jewelry store.

Starting a New Chapter

Gibson didn’t come from a jewelry family like many of her fellow independent retailers did. In fact, she didn’t even intend to be a jeweler. She began her career in marketing after receiving a college degree in English. But jewelry-making had always been something she loved, starting with beads, friendship bracelets and pins, and wirewrapping.

“I had started taking metalsmithing and wax carving classes locally. I wanted to make real jewelry,” says Gibson. “As I started to sell it locally as a hobby, I realized that Austin didn’t have a cool store. You couldn’t find fashion-forward jewelry here. Austin is hip, trendy but independently minded, and it supports local retailers so well. I decided to open a store and see what happened.”

She opened the store on a shoestring budget and a prayer. “I literally had to turn down a $100 change order when we were doing the buildout because I didn’t have investors backing me, I just had to make it work,” she says. The gallery space looked different back then, with a cash wrap at the back, independently designed fine jewelry in the wall cases and costume jewelry in the center.

Over the years, engagement and wedding jewelry became an unexpected profit center. “We didn’t start out selling wedding rings and bridal,” says Gibson. “Our clients asked for it, so we started making and selling it, and it’s been a strong part of our business for many years now.”

Today, all of the bridal jewelry sold in the store is from the Eliza Page line or custom designed — a service that wasn’t offered in the original incarnation of the store. “We sold designer bridal for years, but our clients didn’t want that, so we created our own bridal line, and that’s what we sell.”

The store has also phased out costume jewelry (“that customer went away during the pandemic,” says Gibson) and replaced it with ear piercings and permanent jewelry. “The price point is low, so as a retailer, that’s not exciting, but from a lifetime customer standpoint — my staff told me we’ve got to keep offering it. It’s brand-building and relationship-building,” says Gibson.

Turning the Page

When she initially designed Eliza Page, Gibson intended the space to be an open canvas that could be adapted in years to come as the business evolved. In 2022, the time was right to make a major change — in part because of what was happening next door.

The neighboring tenant moved out, leaving an empty space, which would allow Eliza Page to operate temporarily out of that location while the store was being renovated. “I knew that kind of thing only happens every few years, so it was kind of a ‘now or never’ renovation,” explains Gibson. The business functioned in the temporary space for three weeks while the renovation was completed.

Concrete floors were replaced with hardwood. Walls were moved to create a private piercing room. Wallpaper was strategically hung in the center of the back wall to add a pop of color and texture. A large TV screen was placed on the same wall to play marketing videos. And a gorgeous new light fixture, which looks a lot like big gold bubbles floating near the ceiling, was mounted.

Custom furniture, including a new point-of-sale station and floor display cases, was built and installed throughout the store. The cash wrap was built to be slightly smaller and was placed in the middle of the store against a wall so that customers wouldn’t walk around it. The floor showcases are gold-toned with wood accents and are slightly larger than the previous cases. Plus, an extra showcase has been added to help accommodate more jewelry. “We only have 1,000 square feet to work with in the showroom, so we had to maximize our showcase space as much as possible,” explains Gibson.

One of Gibson’s favorite features of the remodel were built-in desks for staff. “Jewelry is a lot of account management, back and forth with vendors and clients, so we are giving our team members a private space to do that,” she says.

The private ear-piercing area has been a hit with clients who prefer an elegant, calm environment to the raucous energy of a tattoo parlor or the inexperience of hourly employees in chain boutiques like Claire’s. “A lot of moms come with their daughters,” says Gibson. “We spend a lot of time with these clients and get a lot of really great reviews.”

The addition of piercing as a category at Eliza Page came about during the pandemic. “Piercing parties had started to become a trend, and we were just about to do our first with a local tattoo artist when the pandemic happened and we weren’t able to,” says Gibson. But then, Sirandyn Wayne, a longtime employee that Gibson calls the store’s “Swiss army knife,” volunteered to learn how to pierce. As the pandemic receded, more and more people came in for piercings.

“We have medical-grade sanitizing equipment, and we’re regulated by the state. They say we’re the most sanitary jewelry store in the city that does piercings,” says Gibson. “Some clients are really needle-phobic — we’ve had a couple of people pass out — so we have snacks and waters and Cokes, so we’re prepared!”

The store also now features a small semi-private consultation area at the back, which can serve as either a private diamond and custom showing area or a place for permanent jewelry to be welded onto wrists. “One positive coming out of the pandemic is that people like to make appointments now, so we are able to make sure that we don’t have a permanent bracelet welding at the same time that we have a custom-design client,” Gibson says.

With the renovation, Gibson was able to retain the open gallery feel while raising the overall look of the store. “It’s still a welcoming, less intimidating environment, but we wanted to elevate the materials and the design to better fit the product we’re selling. We hope to grow our average retail sale and bring our customer into bigger, better jewelry purchases.”

Growing Together

“I know the store’s named after me,” says Gibson. “But the reason why Eliza Page is successful is the people who work here.”

The small team is comprised entirely of female employees — an eclectic and multi-talented group, according to Gibson. “We have a unique combination of sporty (wakeboarders, tennis players), skilled (a ceramicist and an Austin Community College bench jewelry professor) and fantasy-loving ladies (Harry Potter and Dungeons and Dragons fans).”
Eliza Page offers GIA AJP training to all staff, online sales training, and the sales and marketing staff has been sent to market trips in

Vegas, Scottsdale, Tucson, and Lafayette. “Our sales and marketing team members get to see our partner designer and vendors’ entire collections and learn about the jewelry firsthand from the makers and owners. It’s so important to put a face to the people we work with so closely, growing the relationships beyond phone calls and emails,” says Gibson.

The team also enjoys an annual staff retreat on the Tuesday after Labor Day every year, which generally takes the form of a spa day or a trip to the nearby Texas wine country area. “I think that you want to come to work and enjoy your colleagues,” says Gibson. “I try to create a relaxed environment. I give people a lot of flexibility and understanding that life gets in the way sometimes. I’ve never worked in a truly corporate environment; it’s not for me or anyone who works here.

“They work really hard to go above and beyond for our clients. That’s what boutique stores do. The Small Cool stores are pretty special; we have to wear a lot more hats.”

Eliza Page’s marketing incorporates in-house photography of the store’s jewelry on models. The campaign above shows how jewelry reflects the inner self.

Five Cool Things About Eliza Page

1. MARKETING KNOW-HOW. The Eliza Page marketing team includes a director, a social media coordinator and a graphic/web designer/photographer. The brand gets traction on TikTok, where it regularly receives hundreds of views of its tongue-in-cheek videos. “People my age are still on Facebook, but the younger generation isn’t,” says Gibson. “My team has a great vision, they’ve pushed me into being more edgy. We still want to be as luxury as possible, but Austin is funky, so I hope we do both of those things well.”

2. WHOLESALE LINE. Gibson recently introduced a wholesale line called Scribe to the industry at large. The line is based on acrostic stylings, with each gemstone representing a letter. The emblematic designs are inspired by European ironwork, antique architecture and nature. A Scribe medallion won 1st Place in the Personalized Jewelry category of this year’s INSTORE Design Awards.

3. CONNECTION THROUGH EVENTS. Creative in-store events are a hallmark of Eliza Page. For Mother’s Day, the store highlighted tennis bracelets and necklaces with a tennis-themed event. It included a balloon arch for photo ops, bouquets for clients, and branded Eliza Page swag with purchase. The team also wore EP-branded tennis sweaters. And for a color-themed trunk show with designer Armenta, the store brought in a person to read clients’ “color aura.”

4. MATERIAL ADVANTAGE. The recent renovation included not only a new hardwood floor, but also a point-of-sale station and built-in desks and cabinetry handmade by a local carpenter out of solid walnut. The meeting table at the back of the store is marble and is surrounded by custom upholstered velvet chairs. An antique wood and glass display case was outfitted with custom-built brass legs in order to combine old with new.

5. NON-TRADITIONAL HIRES. Most of the team at Eliza Page did not have prior jewelry experience. “Having a jewelry background is great, but you can’t train people to be kind and smart and hard-working. So that’s what I’m looking for first,” says Gibson. “I didn’t have a traditional jewelry background when I opened the business. I believe in the individual, that they can rise to the occasion if they want to and we give them the training. We want them to be passionate about the customers and the product.”

PHOTO GALLERY (16 IMAGES)

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ONLINE EXTRA

What did you envision for the business when you opened the store in 2004?

GIBSON: “We originally designed the store as an open canvas. I wanted it to be a gallery — warmer and more inviting than most jewelry stores. This past year, we created a private room for ear piercings and maybe one day will turn into private diamond showings. We’ve also created a dedicated area for our bridal customers, including a table where we can sit and do the presentation. We have Eliza Page-branded champagne and try to create an intimate experience. We’re a downtown, modern store, so it has more of a downtown vibe than a lot of stores.”

Why did you choose to be in downtown Austin?

GIBSON: “There was probably some naivete in my choice, but I knew it was going to grow downtown. Of course, you have to find parking and often pay for that — although we validate for our clients — but Austinites are used to that. Our customers think independently, they’re individualists. That’s why they shop at boutiques. I had a second location for a while in a shopping center, and clients were always ‘just shopping.’ They weren’t really boutique customers who want something special. Our downtown clients don’t want to look like everybody else.”

What’s the story on your new wholesale collection, Scribe?

GIBSON: “I’ve seen jewelry collections for years, and I got really excited about the acrostic concept. We’ll see. It’s an old concept but we’re modernizing it, and I feel like it has a special story to tell. I’m always thinking about the collection from a business perspective as well as, ‘Are my clients going to like this and sell it? Does it have a great story? Can it be marketed? Can it be passed down?’ Everyone has to carry collections that speak to their brand and business model. About half of what we sell is customized — meaning, they pick their own stones. The other half buy the pieces the way they’re made. It’s a passion project. It has its own personality. I see this as a marathon, not a sprint.”

Did you compare notes with your friend Jennifer Gandia, who owns Greenwich St. Jewelers in New York (our Big Cool winner this year) and created her own wholesale line?

GIBSON: “Yes, Jennifer created her own line as well, called Astra, hand-enameled zodiac. As retailers, we see so much jewelry — and of course we get excited about new jewelry all the time — but we’re probably not moved to the ends of the earth by too many things. We’re not collectors; we’re businesspeople. Jennifer and I were talking about starting our own collections, and we thought, why not? We know how to make it, we understand the markup, we know what the client wants, we know what retailers want. So naturally, if we’re designer-inclined, we would make our own jewelry. We have all of the facilities to do so. It’s really more like a time, money and interest thing.”

Marketing is very important to you. What’s your current approach?

GIBSON: “By combining images of products alongside curated and stylized model shots, we invite people to explore the new, ultimate, everyday luxury in a realistic way. We’ve modernized our approach to connecting with customers by reaching out to them through SMS marketing as well as email campaigns. Creating new lines of communication such as videos on social media has increased our visibility and relatability with our customer base. In our holiday 2022 campaign, we aimed to showcase how jewelry can be a true reflection of one’s inner self, and how it can accentuate an individual’s personality. Our objective was to demonstrate that jewelry can serve as a person’s ultimate accessory. We utilized this campaign extensively across various digital media platforms and also in printed materials. This campaign performed significantly higher digitally and got a much more enthusiastic response from our clients in person than our previous year’s campaign.”

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