Samuel Getz Private Jewelers and Designers, Coral Gables, FL
OWNER: Samuel Getz Private Jewelers and Designers; ADDRESS: The Offices at Merrick Park; 4425 Ponce de Leon Blvd., Suite #240; Coral Gables, FL 33146; LOCATION TYPE: Jewelry salon located in an office building/shopping mall complex; PHONE: (305) 448-4567; FAX: (305) 448-2244; OPENED: 2002; EST. PROPERTY VALUE: Rental property. Estimated build-out cost $350,000; STORE AREA: 2,200 square-feet; STAFF: 4; SALES IN 2003: N/A
ITʼS NO ACCIDENT that Samuel and Jennifer Getzʼs jewelry salon looks like someoneʼs home — with touches like a contemporary formal dining-room-length table next to a comfortable sitting area and a bar. In the time leading up to the opening of Samuel Getz Private Jewelers & Designers, the couple perfected their techniques for providing “the personal touch” by selling high-quality jewelry from their home.
“When we were getting started, weʼd invite people into our home,” Jennifer recalls. “Weʼd sit around the dining room table with customers discussing design ideas, showing jewelry, having some drinks … it was a casual and very personal setting that we wanted to bring to our salon.”
As a third-generation jeweler, Samuel has the business in his blood. Most of his career has been spent in jewelry retail, living the corporate life in large companies like Mayorʼs Jewelers. With such experience, Samuel had seen enough to know exactly what he wanted when it came time to open his own private jeweler salon.
With ambitions firmly rooted in superlative customer service, Samuel sought to take the best of aspects of a conventional, time-honored European tradition and offset it with a casual American persona to make the jewelry salon experience more fun, approachable — even sexy. Not an easy task.
Mario Echeverria and head designer John Naranjo of award-winning design firm Echeverria Design Group were handed Samuelʼs overwhelming wish list to create a jewelry salon “infused with enormous style and sophistication that would demystify the jewelry buying process,” says Samuel.
The result: A 2,200 square-foot space complete with elements and interior design features including “beautiful woods, leather furniture and subdued earth tones that helped us achieve such luxurious, streamlined surroundings,” says Jennifer.
The phrase “a dream come true” has been used so often that it reads like a worn out cliché. But for Samuel and Jennifer Getz, the coupleʼs dream store came out looking exactly as they had envisioned it. “This was a deeply personal project for us,” Jennifer says. “Building this store was almost like building a house. We are very personal and thatʼs what we strived for.”
STORE REVIEWS
- Jennifer Getz: “What we decided to do hadnʼt been done before. We wanted to create an environment so we could buy and sell jewelry the way we wanted to. What makes us cool is standing apart from other jewelers. We want to turn people on to buying jewelry as so many jewelry stores turn people off. Jewelry is a very personal and significant purchase. We want people to do a little journeying with us. Jewelry is personal and so should be the buying experience.”
- MARK & MONIKA CLODIUS: “Really nice living room! Whenʼs dinner? Whereʼs the dinner party? Iʼm not sure that it really is any kind of a ʻstoreʼ but it looks wonderful and inviting.”
- GREG GORMAN: “Clean, sophisticated and wonderful visual site lines used throughout. The color palette and total look complements the price points and experience when inside. The residential approach with defined separate sitting areas versus sit down at cases is unique. It has the feeling that you have entered someoneʼs home versus a store. Supports the price points of the merchandise.”
- KAREN KARCH: “Very modern in a Miami Vice kind of way … a little 80ʼs. Seems to have more tables and chairs than jewelry displays … more conference room than shop. The executive must feel at home here.”
- LINDA CAHAN: “Elegant, warm, personal and chic are the first adjectives that come to mind for this store. The energy of the owners seems to infuse the space. You feel as if youʼre going into a private home and being entertained by jewelry. From the photos, the mix of elements feels balanced and proportional. I like the addition of the soft, metallic fabric combined with the more static materials. There is a feeling of flow that is even picked up by the shape of the chairs. This store doesnʼt feel like a place to browse in — itʼs for serious buyers.”
- DEBORAH YONICK: “How can you not find this [salon] elegant, sophisticated, and special? An upscale, personal jewelry salon with gallery appeal that seeks to pamper customers while making them feel right at home. But it is a bit intimidating and that might prevent more people from checking out his jewelry and realizing they can own a Samuel Getz.”
PHOTO GALLERY (5 Images)
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