America's Coolest Stores

Meet the America’s Coolest Jewelry Store Judges for 2024

Industry experts, architects, marketers and retailers selected this year’s winning stores.

Published

4 months ago

August 7, 2024

INSTORE Staff

BIG COOL

Christina Gandia Gambale owns Greenwich St. Jewelers in New York City with her sister, Jennifer Gandia. Greenwich St. Jewelers won an America’s Coolest Stores first-place award in 2023.

Gabrielle Grazi is a strategic advisor in the luxury, fine jewelry and retail industry, who in the past 11 years has held key leadership positions at Signet Jewelers and the Natural Diamond Council in addition to WJA.

Todd Edmonds, principal, HSE Architects, designed the B.C. Clark store in Oklahoma City, winner of a first place America’s Coolest Stores award in 2021.

Elizabeth Ross Brewer, a jewelry industry veteran, is the trade show manager for the Diamond Council of America (DCA). She has held key positions at Brown+Partners, de Boulle Jewelers and The American Trade Association. dcalearning.org

Kimberly Collins, president of the AGTA Board of Directors, is a colored-gemstone dealer whose company, Kimberly Collins Colored Gems, specializes in fine colored gemstones and an 18K gold finished jewelry line.

Larry Johnson, author of The Complete Guide To Effective Jewelry Display, heads his own display consulting firm specializing in helping independent jewelers improve their sales by implementing better visual merchandising techniques.

SMALL COOL

Megan Crabtree, the founder and CEO of Crabtree Consulting, specializes in growing sales numbers for high-volume manufacturers and independent jewelry retailers alike.

Marnelli Martin is the driving force behind Karat Social, a jewelry marketing and advertising concierge firm. A graduate of The Wharton School’s Digital Marketing Executive program, Marnelli is also a GIA-Certified Diamond Graduate.

Leslie McGwire has over 35 years in business development with interior design in retail and jewelry-based businesses. lesliemcgwire.com

Elizabeth Gibson is CEO and founder of Eliza Page, the Austin jewelry store that won an America’s Coolest Stores first-place award in 2023.

Adrianne Sanogo is a GIA Graduate Gemologist whose expertise has made her a sought-after guest lecturer, moderator and contributor to industry publications. She is a co-founder of the Black in Jewelry Coalition, where she holds the role of education chair.

Duvall O’Steen is a freelance publicist, writer, trend reporter, and luxury communications consultant, specializing in the fine jewelry industry. She provides expertise to jewelry designers worldwide who are seeking to promote their brands in the U.S. market. Follow her on Instagram
@duvallosteennyc

Retiring? Let Wilkerson Do the Heavy Lifting

Retirement can be a great part of life. As Nanji Singadia puts it, “I want to retire and enjoy my life. I’m 78 now and I just want to take a break.” That said, Nanji decided that the best way to move ahead was to contact the experts at Wilkerson. He chose them because he knew that closing a store is a heavy lift. To maximize sales and move on to the next, best chapter of his life, he called Wilkerson—but not before asking his industry friends for their opinion. He found that Wilkerson was the company most recommended and says their professionalism, experience and the homework they did before the launch all helped to make his going out of business sale a success. “Wilkerson were working on the sale a month it took place,” he says. “They did a great job.”