How to Create Privacy
At Marks Jewelers in Montgomeryville, PA, owners Jim and Dareen Brusilovsky, created a Diamond Diner, with diner-like booths. The Diamond Diner concept affords couples a comfortable, intimate way of choosing a ring at the same time it creates a more effective and private selling environment.
How to Encourage Browsing
Fakier Jewelers in Houma, LA, implemented a cell-phone audio tour for clients who like to explore on their own. The app is accessed from the store’s website and customers use their own phones, listening to descriptions associated with each display. It’s also a novel way to acknowledge the importance of mobile window shopping. “The consumer now comes in with their phones in their hands, usually with something they saw on our website,” says owner Greg Fakier.
How to Put Customers At Ease
At Marisa Perry Atelier, clients collaborate with the sales staff and with designer and co-owner Douglass Elliott, around a long, custom-made community table, where everyone can be comfortable and relaxed while creating their dream engagement rings. Elliott and his team made 725 pieces of jewelry by hand last year.
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How to Entertain Kids
At Bell Brooke Studio and Gallery in Santa Fe, NM, Belle Brooke Barer set up an art station in the courtyard she shares with neighboring galleries to encourage children (and others) to explore their creativity. “There’s absolutely nothing for kids on Canyon Road, and people come to Santa Fe with their families and drag their kids through the galleries. The kids are bored and the parents want to look around.” People of all ages are invited to make art there with paper, glue, scissors, crayons and markers. Some of the artists leave their work behind and Barer often displays it in the store.
How to Throw a Party
On the second floor of Stephen Webster’s Beverly Hills Boutique, there’s an art gallery, lounge and event area with a bar and banquet tables, where Webster and friends can easily accommodate dozens of guests for catered dinners. “We made a bar, we made a lounge, it felt a bit like coming to a club,” he says. “And you can come up here and see the things that I enjoy. I’ve done many, many shows with artists, photographers, musicians, fashion designers. The first floor is always Stephen Webster. The second floor is what Stephen Webster likes.”
How to Engage the Community
Viviana Langhoff, owner of Adornment + Theory in Chicago, offers monthly workshops where attendees learn hands-on techniques that help them create and appreciate the art of metalsmithing and other accessory-based techniques. She’s hosted workshops on ‘How to Make a Silver Ring’, ‘Shibori Dying: Make Your Own Scarf’, as well as ‘How to Read Diamonds’. “These workshops have helped cultivate community and further the customer experience. Not to mention, everyone has a great time. I love hearing the store filled with laughter,” Langhoff says.
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How to Be Dog-Friendly
Hillary Randolph, owner of Wear Your Grace in Santa Fe, NM, created a dog bar near the entrance to her store, complete with treats tucked inside a mailbox over a tromp l’oeil of splashing water from a faux-spigot. There’s also a real water bowl there. Inside, Randolph displays a line of candy-colored leather dog leashes and collars engraved with “Walk with GRACE.” Sales help support animal rescue organizations.
How to Sell Laboratory-Grown Diamonds
McCoy Jewelers in Dubuque, IA, began selling lab-grown diamonds three years ago, not expecting they would dominate their market. Now 84 percent of center diamonds they sell are lab-created, even though they do talk about the rarity of mined diamonds. The whole presentation is about offering up options and showing the stones next to each other, says owner Jonathan McCoy. Nearly 80 percent of sales at McCoy Jewelers are bridal-related, much of it custom.
How to Get Noticed
In 2017 Northeastern Fine Jewelry in Albany, NY, sponsored a contest to win the opportunity to propose in a live commercial aired during halftime of the Super Bowl on FOX. The winner was featured in People Magazine, the Daily Mail in the UK and the New York Times. They also sponsored a half-court shot during a Siena College basketball game; the contestant made the shot and walked away with $25,000, leading to intensive coverage from ESPN.
