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And the Coolest Jewelry State in America Is …

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Go to any business school and they will drum into you the importance of treating memory and intuition with suspicion. If it’s a decision that’s important, recurring and amenable to improvement, you should invest in gathering data, doing analysis, and examining “failure factors,” or so goes the orthodoxy (and the jargon).

Now suppose the issue at stake was, What’s the coolest state in America for jewelry retail, based on the one with the most appearances on INSTORE’s America’s Coolest Store honor list dating back to 2008 (when we introduced the Small Cool, Big Cool format)?

As someone who has written some of the store profiles and edited many of the pages, I think I could be trusted to deliver a pretty reliable answer to such a line of inquisition. My response, stated with the conviction of an inside expert: somewhere in the Pacific Northwest, probably Oregon. But what about Florida, California and New York, you say. Yes, time and time again we hear from small stores in country towns that the highest compliment they have received is, “Wow, this is the kind of store I’d expect to find in Manhattan.”

Yet, I can confidently declare we’ve never had a Cool Store winner from Manhattan, and only a smattering from New York state …

So, in the wake of our latest competition, which featured a very strong showing from Washington (Green Lake Jewelry Works), no less, where is it, the coolest state in the land for jewelry retail?

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This is discouraging, from a human fallibility point of view … but the numbers don’t lie: It’s New York, with 13 placings including one first place finish (London Jewelers in 2009). Then come Texas and Illinois followed by yet more big states: California, Florida, Minnesota and North Carolina, which had seven stores each. Mid-table were Washington State at four and Oregon at three.

OK, so maybe it’s true: We do tend to give too much weighting to recent events. But the good thing about looking at the Coolest Store winners list over the last few years is their geographic diversity. A huge chunk of the country has been represented, from the places you’d expect – Orange County, CA, and Palm Beach, FL – to the ones you may not: Boise, ID; Tulsa, OK; and Florence, AL.

But then again, a statement like that probably just reflects more faulty preconceptions on my part.

So, if you own a store, go ahead and enter the contest next year, especially if you’re from a state (or province, for our Canadian cousins) that’s never won  you’ll be doing your part of the country/continent proud.

Here is that list of Cool Store winning states, dating back to 2008.

  • 13 from NY
  • 9 from TX
  • 8 from IL
  • 7 from FL
  • 7 from CA
  • 7 from MN
  • 7 from NC
  • 6 from LA
  • 4 from AZ
  • 4 from MI
  • 4 from VT
  • 4 from WA
  • 3 from OR
  • 3 from Washington, DC
  • 2 from IN
  • 2 from MT
  • 2 from NV
  • 2 from OK
  • 2 from PA
  • 1 from AL
  • 1 from AR
  • 1 from CT
  • 1 from IA
  • 1 from ID
  • 1 from GA
  • 1 from HI
  • 1 from MO
  • 1 from MD
  • 1 from UT
  • 1 from VA

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Family Legacy, New Chapter: How Wilkerson Turns 89 Years of History Into Future Success

After 89 years of serving the Albany community, Harold Finkle Your Jeweler faced a pivotal decision. For third-generation owner Justin Finkle, the demanding hours of running a small business were taking precious time away from his young family. "After 23 years, I decided this was the time for me," Finkle explains. But closing a business with nearly nine decades of inventory and customer relationships isn't something easily managed alone. Wilkerson's comprehensive approach transformed this challenging transition into a remarkable success story. Their strategic planning handled everything from advertising and social media to inventory management and staffing — elements that would overwhelm most jewelers attempting to navigate a closing sale independently. The results speak volumes. "Wilkerson gave us three different tiers of potential goals," Finkle notes. "We've reached that third tier, that highest goal already, and we still have two weeks left of the sale." The partnership didn't just meet financial objectives—it exceeded them ahead of schedule.

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And the Coolest Jewelry State in America Is …

mm

Published

on

INSTORE USmap

Go to any business school and they will drum into you the importance of treating memory and intuition with suspicion. If it’s a decision that’s important, recurring and amenable to improvement, you should invest in gathering data, doing analysis, and examining “failure factors,” or so goes the orthodoxy (and the jargon).

Now suppose the issue at stake was, What’s the coolest state in America for jewelry retail, based on the one with the most appearances on INSTORE’s America’s Coolest Store honor list dating back to 2008 (when we introduced the Small Cool, Big Cool format)?

As someone who has written some of the store profiles and edited many of the pages, I think I could be trusted to deliver a pretty reliable answer to such a line of inquisition. My response, stated with the conviction of an inside expert: somewhere in the Pacific Northwest, probably Oregon. But what about Florida, California and New York, you say. Yes, time and time again we hear from small stores in country towns that the highest compliment they have received is, “Wow, this is the kind of store I’d expect to find in Manhattan.”

Yet, I can confidently declare we’ve never had a Cool Store winner from Manhattan, and only a smattering from New York state …

So, in the wake of our latest competition, which featured a very strong showing from Washington (Green Lake Jewelry Works), no less, where is it, the coolest state in the land for jewelry retail?

Advertisement

This is discouraging, from a human fallibility point of view … but the numbers don’t lie: It’s New York, with 13 placings including one first place finish (London Jewelers in 2009). Then come Texas and Illinois followed by yet more big states: California, Florida, Minnesota and North Carolina, which had seven stores each. Mid-table were Washington State at four and Oregon at three.

OK, so maybe it’s true: We do tend to give too much weighting to recent events. But the good thing about looking at the Coolest Store winners list over the last few years is their geographic diversity. A huge chunk of the country has been represented, from the places you’d expect – Orange County, CA, and Palm Beach, FL – to the ones you may not: Boise, ID; Tulsa, OK; and Florence, AL.

But then again, a statement like that probably just reflects more faulty preconceptions on my part.

So, if you own a store, go ahead and enter the contest next year, especially if you’re from a state (or province, for our Canadian cousins) that’s never won  you’ll be doing your part of the country/continent proud.

Here is that list of Cool Store winning states, dating back to 2008.

  • 13 from NY
  • 9 from TX
  • 8 from IL
  • 7 from FL
  • 7 from CA
  • 7 from MN
  • 7 from NC
  • 6 from LA
  • 4 from AZ
  • 4 from MI
  • 4 from VT
  • 4 from WA
  • 3 from OR
  • 3 from Washington, DC
  • 2 from IN
  • 2 from MT
  • 2 from NV
  • 2 from OK
  • 2 from PA
  • 1 from AL
  • 1 from AR
  • 1 from CT
  • 1 from IA
  • 1 from ID
  • 1 from GA
  • 1 from HI
  • 1 from MO
  • 1 from MD
  • 1 from UT
  • 1 from VA

Advertisement

SPONSORED VIDEO

Family Legacy, New Chapter: How Wilkerson Turns 89 Years of History Into Future Success

After 89 years of serving the Albany community, Harold Finkle Your Jeweler faced a pivotal decision. For third-generation owner Justin Finkle, the demanding hours of running a small business were taking precious time away from his young family. "After 23 years, I decided this was the time for me," Finkle explains. But closing a business with nearly nine decades of inventory and customer relationships isn't something easily managed alone. Wilkerson's comprehensive approach transformed this challenging transition into a remarkable success story. Their strategic planning handled everything from advertising and social media to inventory management and staffing — elements that would overwhelm most jewelers attempting to navigate a closing sale independently. The results speak volumes. "Wilkerson gave us three different tiers of potential goals," Finkle notes. "We've reached that third tier, that highest goal already, and we still have two weeks left of the sale." The partnership didn't just meet financial objectives—it exceeded them ahead of schedule.

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