Art Nouveau Treasures
NYC retailer A La Vieille Russie is hosting an exhibition of drawings by René Lalique, legendary Art Nouveau era jeweler. Lalique used these ink and pencil drawings as production patterns — they match up perfectly to many of his finished jewels. The largest collection of Lalique’s drawings outside of France, the exhibition also includes several jewels and will run through March 2024. alvr.com
AI For All
Bottom Line Marketing (BLM) has a high-tech new service: BLM AI. BLM can now use AI Location Intelligence services to offer their clients data collected from mobile devices via foot traffic through their physical locations. This cutting-edge tech is invaluable to business owners in identifying customer behavior trends. bottomlinemarketing.com
A Fab Time
MJSA ConFAB, a one-day educational program dedicated to jewelry industry business practices for breakthrough success, will debut March 9 at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. Featuring the FAB business template, the conference will focus on key areas of business success: Strategy & Planning, Operations & Staffing, Product Development & Lifecycle, and Sales & Marketing. mjsa.info/confab
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Store in Store
VAHAN Jewelry has launched its first ever in-store boutique! The 7,000 square-foot freestanding store inside Joyce’s Jewelry in Uniontown, PA, is sleek and modern with clean lines, a tempting store-within-a-store destined to increase sales by providing clients with a cohesive experience. vahanjewelry.com
Where the Watches Are
Historic American watch brand BENRUS has announced Grand Central Watch as the brand’s official Authorized Service Center and Retail Partner in New York City. Located inside the 45th Street Passageway in Grand Central Terminal, Grand Central Watch is a New York City watch-repair institution, first established in 1952 as a third-generation family owned and operated business. benrus.com
Honoring a Legacy: How Smith & Son Jewelers Exceeded Every Goal With Wilkerson
When Andrew Smith decided to close the Springfield, Massachusetts location of Smith & Son Jewelers, the decision came down to family. His father was retiring after 72 years in the business, and Andrew wanted to spend more time with his children and soon-to-arrive grandchildren.
For this fourth-generation jeweler whose great-grandfather founded the company in 1918, closing the 107-year-old Springfield location required the right partner. Smith chose Wilkerson, and the experience exceeded expectations from start to finish.
"Everything they told me was 100% true," Smith says. "The ease and use of all their tools was wonderful."
The consultants' knowledge and expertise proved invaluable. Smith and his father set their own financial goal, but Wilkerson proposed three more ambitious targets. "We thought we would never make it," Smith explains. "We were dead wrong. We hit our first goal, second goal and third goal. It was amazing."
Smith's recommendation is emphatic: "I would never be able to do what they did by myself."
