EMPLOYEES NEED SOMETHING to shoot for — a guideline to let them know whether they’re succeeding. In a jewelry store, that’s often a sales goal.
Gene the Jeweler, the fictional character created by marketing specialist Jimmy DeGroot, lets his staff members set such goals themselves. Which is to say, there are no sales goals.
“That’s sort of the beauty of how I run this business,” Gene says in the video below. “Everyone has the freedom to go and be the best ‘them’ they can be.”
They’re basically free-range employees. Gene doesn’t want to impose his own definition of success on anyone else.
If the business adage “what you measure is what you get” is true, you have to wonder what’s in store for Gene’s business.
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Four Decades of Excellence: How Wilkerson Transformed a Jeweler's Retirement into Celebration
After 45 years serving the Milwaukee community, Treiber & Straub Jewelers owner Michael Straub faced a significant life transition. At 75, the veteran jeweler made a personal decision many business owners understand: "I think it's time. I want to enjoy my wife with my grandchildren for the next 10, 15 years."
Wilkerson's expertise transformed this major business transition into an extraordinary success. Their comprehensive approach to managing the going-out-of-business sale created unprecedented customer response—with lines forming outside the store and limits on how many shoppers could enter at once due to fire safety regulations.
The results exceeded all expectations. "Wilkerson did a phenomenal job," Straub enthuses. "They were there for you through the whole thing, helped you with promoting it, helping you on day-to-day business. I can't speak enough for how well they did." The partnership didn't just facilitate a business closing; it created a celebratory finale to decades of service while allowing Straub to confidently step into his well-earned retirement.
