This story is part of INSTORE’s lead story, “Radical Reinvention”, featured in the December 2025 edition.
Gem Jewelry Boutique, Oak Park, IL
IN THE 1990S, LAURA KITSOS lived in Portland, OR, where she worked for a high-end furniture store. To occupy herself during slow times, she made beaded necklaces, a hobby that evolved into a jewelry design side hustle and, by 2004, her own jewelry store in Oak Park, IL.
The focus since the beginning has been on craftsmanship and ingenuity in her curation of jewelry. “I am obsessed with sharing small, hard-to-find designers and traveling extensively in order to meet with or simply become inspired by these artists,” she says.
Three years ago, Kitsos opened a second store, Gem Home, focusing on vintage home goods, gifts and art, right next to her jewelry store, Gem Jewelry Boutique.
Interior design was her first love, and so it was fun at first to give the second store a try. But it was an experiment she quickly began to rethink.
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“Paying two rents and utilities and sets of employees was insane,” she says. “To have two spaces in the same block, I don’t know what I was thinking.”
After a year of that arrangement, she relocated and combined both enterprises into a more tucked-away location on a scenic cobblestone alley with European-style charm. Combining the two meant she could slash expenses significantly. Eighty percent of sales come from jewelry, and more and more of those sales are made online.
“I am toying with the idea of creating different pop-up themes on the home side, so the in-store experience is always changing,” she says. “We might do clothing for six months, then maybe rugs. We’re trying to find a way to bring more foot traffic back into the store.”
The gift side of things does attract a different customer, she’s found, and also provides add-on gift items to her jewelry customers. Sometimes, an event, such as a book signing for an interior design book, will bring crossover business.
