New York City Jewelry Designer Page Sargisson Finds a Niche in Retail

Page Sargisson, Brooklyn, NY

OWNER: Page Sargisson; FOUNDED: 2004; Opened featured location: 2020; EMPLOYEES: 5 full-time; 3 part-time; AREA: 1,000 square feet; store design: Caroline Brown Design; online presence: 4.8 Stars on Google; 32,000 Instagram followers

Page Sargisson

WHEN JEWELRY DESIGNER Page Sargisson opened her first retail store in Brooklyn, NY, in 2020, she got a crash course in brick-and-mortar reality on day one.

Shoplifters hit the store during its first weekend, teaching her the hard lesson of keeping constant eyes on inventory. “I was new to all that,” she recalls of those early retail growing pains.

It was just one of many adjustments Sargisson made as she transformed her established jewelry business from primarily wholesale to primarily retail, a transition that has proven both financially rewarding and creatively liberating.

Sargisson’s path to jewelry wasn’t traditional. Though she enjoyed crafts and working with her hands as a kid, she initially followed a more conventional route. After college, she worked at a biotech company in San Francisco. But her creative impulses never disappeared. She made beaded necklaces to match party outfits, sewed purses for bridesmaids, and knitted hats for friends. When a coworker asked to buy some of the necklaces she wore, “before I knew it, I had a side hustle,” she recalls.

Wax carving and metalsmithing classes gave Sargisson the skills to create one-of-a-kind pieces, and in 2003, she quit her biotech job to pursue jewelry full-time. She was accepted to her first trade show in 2004 and began selling wholesale to small boutiques.

After 15 years running a Brooklyn studio focused on wholesale accounts and private clients, Sargisson began considering a shift to brick-and-mortar retail. Then COVID-19 changed everything. “I was like, thank God I didn’t do that,” she says of her initial relief at avoiding retail during the pandemic’s early days. But as the crisis wore on, she realized a store could provide both a new revenue stream and better serve her private clients during uncertain times. With favorable lease terms negotiated, she decided to take the plunge with a combination store and studio space.

Learning the Retail Ropes

Beyond security concerns, Sargisson had to navigate challenging customer interactions that felt very different from her wholesale relationships. Some customers made impossible demands before she learned to draw boundaries. “Sometimes you just have to say no, if they’re asking for something that isn’t really your design or what you do,” she explains.

Her staff, several of whom had retail experience, became invaluable teachers. “They taught me, I’d say, more than I’m teaching them,” Sargisson admits. This willingness to learn from her team reflects a management philosophy that has become central to her retail success — giving employees significant autonomy while building a collaborative culture that customers can feel.

“If you read our Google reviews, you’ll see how many people mention my employees by name and call them out for being so supportive and helpful,” she notes. “We remember people’s stories, we interact with them like friends, and it makes a huge difference.”

What surprised Sargisson most about the transition was the creative freedom she found. She had felt constrained at times by assembling comprehensive collections for her wholesale accounts. “Before having the store, I would buy these cool stones, very one of a kind, and a store would want [additional pieces to match]. They’d say, can I get a ring that matches that? And I was like, well, that really just works as a necklace.”

Having her own retail outlet allowed for more experimentation. “Creatively, it’s been fabulous because I can make all these one-of-a-kinds and it makes sense in the context of my store.”

Direct customer relationships have proven deeply satisfying. Sargisson describes a recent project where a customer brought in what she calls the ugliest necklace from the 1980s, a ruby and diamond piece her mother had owned. “We took all the diamonds and rubies out and we made seven pendants for her, her sisters and nieces and daughters. She sent me pictures of everyone opening them all together. Those are things I missed being a designer on the back-end that I have so enjoyed in this situation.”

Design That Tells a Story

The store also allowed her to expand her engagement ring business exponentially. Since she makes rings in-house, “the process is pretty seamless.”

The physical space reflects Sargisson’s approach to merging production with retail. A three-quarter wall separates the studio from the showroom. The store’s corner location provides street-side windows where passersby can watch bench jewelers setting stones and soldering. “The best part of our store is that the studio is in the back,” she says. “Not only does it allow production and sales to work together in the same space, but it also allows us to bring stones to the front or at times bring customers to the back to see ‘how the sausage is made.’”

The design aesthetic deliberately avoids traditional jewelry store conventions. Working with a retail designer rather than a jewelry specialist, Sargisson chose custom white oak and glass cases built at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Industrial felt lines the cases and is fashioned into displays, adding warmth and texture without distracting from the jewelry.

One crucial insight involved marketing effectiveness. While she spent significantly on online advertising, she noticed minimal impact on e-commerce sales while her Brooklyn store sales continued growing. “I realized that my jewelry isn’t traditional and it’s extremely personal,” she says. “Customers want to come in and try the piece on; each stone is different. So marketing isn’t about selling the product, but telling the story of who we are, how we make it and about my vision.”

realization shaped her approach to social media, where she shows the making process — hands carving wax, setting stones, soldering — rather than just finished products. Live reels featuring new “drops” give VIP customers preview access to one-of-a-kind pieces, often selling items before they officially launch.

The Staff Factor

Above all, Sargisson emphasizes that retail success depends on having the right team. “You really have to trust them with your reputation, with your customers, with security, with your jewelry, with everything,” she says.

The stakes feel higher in retail than wholesale. “You had a little more flexibility with it in wholesale,” she says. There were fewer one-on-one interactions so that if a team member was a little late on occasion or, if they weren’t as polished in communications as they could be, the business wasn’t hugely impacted. “Whereas when you’re in retail, you’re really forward facing and outward facing with the customers and it makes a difference,” she says.

Her hands-off management style, born from disliking micromanagers, requires self-directed employees who support the team. The result is a collaborative atmosphere that customers notice.

“Since the studio is in the back, customers can hear us talking, hear the tools buzzing — the energy is palpable. Our camaraderie is contagious; people want to be a part of that happy energy.”

A corner location with plenty of windows allows passersby a view of jewelers at work.

Expanding Horizons

The Brooklyn store’s success led to a second location on Madison Avenue’s Carnegie Hill, which opened in September 2024. “We had customers come from New Jersey and the Upper East Side, so I started to think about opening a second store but knew it had to be in another real neighborhood, not a touristy neighborhood.” However, Sargisson quickly learned she couldn’t simply replicate her Brooklyn model. The customer base, demographics and purchasing patterns are different. “I think I thought I could just take the model, open it up and do it again. And I’m realizing it takes a while for people in the neighborhood to get to know you.”

Five years after opening her first store, Sargisson acknowledges the trade-offs retail demands. “There are times when Mother’s Day or the holidays come around, and my friends who have office jobs can go on vacation, where I’m like, no, I’m short-staffed. I have to be here. Since I’ve opened the store, I’ve worked on Christmas Eve every year.”

But the rewards — financial, creative, and personal — make it worthwhile. Her advice for other designers considering the wholesale-to-retail transition: Be prepared to learn constantly, invest heavily in the right staff, and don’t underestimate how much the direct customer
relationships will enrich your creative work.

“After 15 years of being in the business and not working with the customers as much directly, retail is great,” she reflects.

Five Cool Things About Page Sargisson

1. WALL ART. Sargisson hired an artist who specializes in making stencils and painting with spray paint to design a mural with a brightly colored abstract flower motif for the store’s exterior brick wall. “It gives the idea of color and modernity before even setting foot in the store,” she says. “We also added a drawing of my dog, Junebug, to give a little levity and show that we were a dog-friendly store.”

2. ART OPENING. Sargisson discovered the importance of community events and creative marketing. When her 87-year-old mother needlepointed 165 napkins for a family wedding, Sargisson displayed them on a laundry line in the window and hosted an opening celebrating her mother’s work.

3. SOCIAL MEDIA STRATeGY. Sargisson’s marketing team produces live reels with the new jewelry “drops” showing what just came off the bench. “VIP customers get a sneak peak of those pieces and since many are one of a kind, we often sell with that preview,” Sargisson says.

Social media reveals what just came off the bench.

4. PLAY BALL. Sargisson sponsors a girls’ softball team because she says it’s important for girls to see the name of a female-owned business on the back of their uniforms. The buyer at the Museum of Art and Design’s daughter ended up on that team. “You never know who will see it!” she says.

5. CREATE OPPORTUNITY. Brooklyn’s largest street fair is on Atlantic Ave every October. “In the past, I tried to just ignore it,” Sargisson says. “It’s total chaos, and people only walk into the store to ask to use the bathroom.” But last year, she rented a space in front of the store and offered sterling silver permanent bracelets at a discount. “It introduced us to a whole new crowd of people, and many of them came back later with friends.”

PHOTO GALLERY (6 IMAGES)