During a diamond trade-up event in all of Sissy’s locations, for example, sales associates became so invested in helping the shoppers select a mounting that none of them remembered to show any of the 2-carat loose diamonds the shoppers had asked to see.

From the beginning, Sissy’s training program had been based on having new salespeople learn the ropes organically from Bill himself, but as the business acquired more locations, that learning process was slowing down to the point it would take a trainee two years to get up to full speed. In addition to five Arkansas locations, Sissy’s also has a store in Memphis.

“Bill had an amazing training program, but it was based on him being around all the time,” says William Jones IV, who had the good fortune, he says, to be trained his whole life by the best, including his dad, Bill, and his grandmother and company founder Sissy Jones.

When William took over the company’s training program two years ago, he was also stymied by geography, spending as many as eight hours a week simply traveling between locations. So he introduced Sissy’s Log Cabin University, based on a series of online courses that helps associates learn the basics of the company’s culture, sales techniques and even gemology. “We started recording our classes and sending them to a store and it worked extremely well,” William says.

It began as an onboarding program so that new hires would complete six hours of classes before they even started working.

He also began incorporating those improv actors who were secret shoppers into the in-person training program to foster relationship building, conversational skills and to ensure that associates can think on their feet.

The entire training program is based on the concept that the jewelry business is experience-based. Customers walking into one of Sissy’s locations may not understand that in order to see and learn about all those products under glass, they need to build a relationship with someone who can show them around. The sales associate, then, must know how to begin to establish that relationship smoothly and to eradicate any potential tension. That’s why monthly improv
training helps build confidence.

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“What we found out is that when you’re on the sales floor, you can get in uncomfortable situations,” William says. “Improv training is designed to put you in a state where you’re nervous and uncomfortable and you can practice what to do in those situations.” William says that the idea behind the training program is that it’s always better to have 10 returning customers than 10 new customers, so why not ensure every initial encounter leads to a regular client? Price wars aren’t necessary once loyalty is established.

Since introducing the new, formalized training system, Sissy’s has seen what Bill and William describe as remarkable improvements in closing not only engagement ring sales but diamond fashion as well. In order to sell diamond fashion pieces, in particular, sales skills are vital because clients may not have a good idea of what they want.

“I wish I could take credit,” William says. “But all I did was package this. It is what I grew up learning as I grew up in the business. It takes every ounce of training to operate an experience-based store.”

Sissy’s has begun to make their training program available to other stores, which may not have the resources to develop their own in-house training programs.

It’s branded as Jewelers Sales Academy.

“The question I’m asked most,” Bill says, “is why would I share my secrets? But these aren’t secrets. These are things we have forgotten in retail. This is what everybody used to do. It’s all about relationships, going back to the basics of how to treat people and read body language. How to clientele.

“As the tides rise, all boats rise. We want to make the industry a better place for all.”

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OWNERS: Julie Walton Garland and Michael Walton; URL: waltonsjewelry.com; ONLINE PRESENCE: 36,000 Facebook followers; 19,000 Instagram followers; 101 5-Star Google reviews; OPENED FEATURED LOCATION: 1983; Renovation: 2021; AREA: 550 square-foot showroom; 2,500 square feet total; EMPLOYEES: 5 full-time; 4 part-time

Julie Walton Garland

WHEN A FIRE at an adjacent restaurant destroyed the back of Walton’s Jewelry in downtown Franklin, TN, the last thing on Julie Walton Garland’s mind was how that fire could reveal hidden architectural treasures. Yet, that’s what happened.

The restoration revealed a trove of historical touches in the late-19th-century building her grandmother had purchased in 1982, including original red pine floors buried beneath layers of carpet, plywood tile and linoleum; a beadboard ceiling carefully preserved in plastic sheeting; and old brick walls just begging for another day in the sun.

Three generations of the Walton family history shine through that Main Street structure, too. Company founder Melba Walton had installed distinctive copper awnings. She and her son, Mike Walton, had assembled hand-built showcases that remain, complete with the childhood scribbles of Melba’s granddaughter Julie.

“It was really exciting to me,” Garland says. “It looks like it always should have, which is wonderful. The things that make us Waltons are now showcased better. Cases are original to when my grandmother opened the store. I just had wainscot panels added to the front.”

Garland was drawn to her family’s business of selling estate and antique jewelry through a love of history, signing on full time in 2012. “I like to learn about the era of the pieces and romanticize what the piece saw in its lifetime. You’re not going to see the same thing walking down the street.”

Garland grew up in the family jewelry store acquiring skills she didn’t realize she was picking up from her father and grandmother.

Carefully chosen details in the showroom create an ambience that suggests a visit to a relative’s vintage parlor.

“All my life I’ve known this location,” she says. “I used to play with all the equipment, not knowing what it was. It’s interesting to realize how much you absorb just watching and listening; showmanship has come very natural to me.”

Her grandmother founded the business in 1974. Before having a showroom, Melba would sell jewelry on the hood of her car at flea markets, often setting up right next to people selling chickens.

But Garland didn’t know her grandmother in a professional sense. “I didn’t see the entrepreneur side because she was Maw-Maw to me.

An in-house photographer captures the unforgettable beauty of one-of-a-kind treasures.

“I always say I wish I had become more involved in the jewelry store when she was still alive and at the store,” Garland says. “When I did become involved, her health was declining, and she wasn’t conducting business. I wish I had been at an age that I would’ve known to ask the right questions.”
Still, Garland feels a connection to her through her generational clientele. “There were people who bought from my grandmother at flea markets, and now their grandchildren are shopping with us, and they have jewelry that was enjoyed and celebrated and passed down.”

Garland first tried wedding and event planning as a career. “I discovered that while I was good at it and enjoyed it, working late nights every Friday, Saturday and Sunday was starting to weigh on me quickly,” she recalls. Her dad had never pressured her to join the business, but when she expressed an interest, he said, “why not give it a try?”

“It means so much to me. It’s more than just a business, it’s my family. Getting to be a part of the legacy my grandmother started is remarkable. Everyone who works here becomes like family as well. Franklin is near and dear to my heart and the business owners here are close friends. I love jewelry, I love antique jewelry, and I love the community.”

Mike Walton, who is semi-retired and still shopping for inventory during his travels, was always open to his daughter’s ideas to expand their online presence and e-commerce, which in turn helped grow the business. “My dad has been wonderful in being open to change, which is one of the reasons we are still successful, I believe. We didn’t have much of an online presence at the time, but Dad knew that I’m super type A and organized, so he was like, ‘Do your thing.’”

Garland has built a team of nine, between full and part time staff. “If you think you can do it all, you’re lying to yourself. It’s so important to have a team of people who are better than you in certain aspects. It takes a great team to be successful and to enjoy life.

“We used to hire for personality, but I do now try to hire people who have a background in luxury sales, if not jewelry. It can be taught, but it’s a long process. We do a lot of jewelry repair, so it helps to have basic jewelry knowledge to be able to accurately take in jewelry repair.”

Online presence is curated to offer a one-of-a-kind experience that is both timeless and on trend. Marketing estate and antique pieces that may be more than 100 years old in a way that’s exciting isn’t always easy, but the team is obsessed with antique jewelry.

“Love Stories” feature real couples sharing about the jewelry that marked their engagements and other milestones. Adding to the engaging allure of their social media, there’s a professional in-house photographer on staff, thoughtful blog posts and weekly educational emails. A shoppable Instagram feed takes visitors straight to the items on the website and offers more suggestions handpicked by the team. “We strive to bring the ease and elegance of shopping at Walton’s to buyers across the country,” Garland says.

As for selling style, there’s no pressure.

“Our reputation and continued opportunity to share our love and expertise of antique jewelry is far more important to us than a one-time sale,”

Garland says. “I want people leaving thinking it was a fun, cool experience with a high-end twist. The key to our success generation over generation and decade after decade has been tracking our metrics, valuing quality over quantity, and providing an exceptional experience from a genuine place of joy.”

Five Cool Things About Walton’s Jewelry

1. WINDOW SHOPPING COLLECTION. QR window decals allow customers to learn about items displayed in windows even after the showroom has closed for the night. “Since we are located in a tourist destination, it’s important for us to showcase a sampling of what we offer even after business hours to those walking Main Street,” Garland says. Each front window displays a QR code that links to the “Window Shopping Collection” on the company website, showcasing every item displayed. “Customers can purchase what they are seeing while standing right there on our sidewalk! It brings a whole new meaning to window shopping.”

2. TIME MANAGEMENT. It used to be in the retail jewelry business that if customers weren’t in the store, there was a lot of downtime. The Walton’s team makes the most of that time by marketing to clientele or posting to the website. “There are so many ways to drive business and drive traffic to your business,” Garland says. “Even if the showroom isn’t full of people, we’re still making sales usually.” Garland estimates that 20 percent of sales are strictly e-commerce without even a conversation. After the purchase, though, Walton’s reaches out to talk about sizing and shipping.

3. BY APPOINTMENT. While they first decided to try a “by private appointment only” model out of necessity in 2020, they found the system allows everyone to be better prepared and enjoy a focused experience. These days, walk-ins are welcome but appointments are the priority.

4. INVENTORY MANAGEMENT. Walton’s uses the Edge POS system to track inventory. “Dealing with antique and estate that is one of a kind takes a whole lot more effort. You can’t just duplicate the inventory item, so you have to be very familiar with what sells. Replacing is harder because you can’t just make a call, but theoretically you can replace it because you know what’s selling.”

5. EASTER EGG HUNT. At Easter time, the team at Walton’s hides a gold painted egg somewhere in downtown Franklin. The egg contains a note instructing the finder to bring the note to Walton’s to claim the prize. During 2020 COVID shutdowns, they did the hunt virtually, posting clues each day, and if a participant solved all three clues, they were entered into a drawing to win the prize.

PHOTO GALLERY (13 IMAGES)

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Zadok launched @zadoktime in February 2022 after it had become clear that Zadok Jewelers’ main Instagram account, focused on jewelry and diamonds, had an audience that was 90 percent female, and that the guys, particularly the watch collectors, were tuning out. “Watch guys would follow for a while and then stop,” Zadok says. “If we’re showing 95 percent jewelry and diamonds, the guys who are watch aficionados or watch geeks, they didn’t want to see that.”

Zadok Time’s content is often playful and humorous, and it has organically captured the attention of everyone from celebrity watch collectors and professional athletes to executives from prestigious timepiece brands.

Gilad Zadok

Before becoming marketing director of Zadok Jewelers in Houston, Zadok trained in improv and sketch comedy at the Groundings Theater in West Hollywood and attended the UCLA School of Theater, Film & Television for a graduate program in feature film producing and screenwriting. He also worked as a production assistant, both as a freelancer and for producers/directors/screenwriters Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz at the Bedford Falls Company in Santa Monica.

The Instagram tone can be humorous but can’t go too far since Zadok is representing not only the family business but also the Zadoks’ watch brand partners.

“When you make a reel, you have to use different audio to get more reach,” he says. “Sometimes they’re funny, and there may be a curse word in there, but I know who my audience is.”

Because Zadok uses his own distinctive voice and point of view, viral possibilities seem limitless.

While attending the March 2022 trade show Watches and Wonders in Geneva, Zadok learned that Bulgari had just released the thinnest mechanical watch ever made. After he posted a photo of it, notifications on his phone went “nuts.” Within a year, that post had garnered 550,131 likes and reached 27.4 million accounts.

“I was born and raised in this business,” he says. “I have a perspective and a lifelong experience with brands. An industry insider perspective. I sit with the CEOS, I sit with the presidents, the head of Cartier North America.” He has conversations and sees products that are well out of the scope of most people’s experience.

His efforts have brought awareness to Zadok’s as an elite watch destination. “People started reaching out and asking if that watch were available, or when are you getting those in, and I’d wind up on the phone talking with watch collectors,” he says. “We see a lot of traffic coming from our website to our Instagram. I constantly hear feedback.”

As director of marketing, Zadok had stepped into a hands-on social media role often enough to know his watch account would be a major commitment. “It’s a machine,” he says. But his background in film and television saves time when he’s editing and creating content. “I have a passion for it and it comes out,” he says. “It’s also storytelling, and with my film background, creativity comes into it. I enjoy myself, and so I can find time for it.”

Zadok works with his parents, Zadok founders Dror and Helene; his wife, Lisa; two brothers, Jonathan and Segev; and sisters-in-law Amy and Michelle. Of the three Zadok brothers, he’s the creative one, he says. “That’s just my brain,” he says. “That’s how I view the world.”

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“It’s life-giving, a connection to nature,” she says.

When it comes to retail, day-lighting, as it’s called, keeps a store feeling real and not artificial, sets customers at ease and boosts everyone’s mood. “It’s healthier to have natural light illuminating our built environments as much as possible,” she says.

Although natural light changes color and intensity throughout the day, and extreme sun coming in from east, south, and west windows can be challenging, that’s an issue that can be solved with adjustable window treatments.

“Northern light is best,” says Jay Colombo, a partner at Michael Hsu Office of Architecture in Houston, who designed the Zadok store. “It’s never direct, and there’s a lot of consistency and evenness to it.”

To balance natural and artificial light, Falk suggests multiple levels and types of lights that are similar in color temperature. Natural light would be combined with fixtures that provide ambient light, as well as accent lights and decorative lights.

“My go-to-temperature for retail is 3500K, with 3000K as a second option if 3500 isn’t available,” Falk says. “And all jewelers (should) know the importance of showcase lighting that makes jewels/diamonds sparkle, and that’s a 4100-5000K lamp.

“Of course, if the jeweler is in an enclosed shopping mall, they often don’t have access to natural light, in which case, artificial light has to do the heavy lifting, and then color temp is extremely important to get right.”

Warmth of Home
Zadok, Houston, TX

At Zadok’s 28,000 square foot location in Houston, facades on three sides of the building let natural light wash into the showroom. “You don’t feel like you’re in a fluorescent box,” says Jay Colombo, partner at Michael Hsu Office of Architecture, which designed the project. A two-story window wall faces north and illuminates the grand staircase with consistent, even northern light. Windows line the branded boutiques, too, as well as the offices, a feature appreciated by 40 back-office staffers. Glazing and screens on the building enhance energy efficiency and security.

Atrium Ambience
John Atencio, Lone Tree, CO

In general, mall stores are not known for natural light, let alone an abundance of it, but John Atencio’s location in a Lone Tree, CO, mall near Denver, takes advantage of its space under an atrium with sky lights. Light shines through a 14-foot ceiling designed with natural wood in a grid pattern. The jewelry designer’s newest location also features a sheer glass facade that wraps the storefront from floor to ceiling. “When it was complete, I stood back and said, ‘Wow,’” says Atencio, who opened the renovated store in 2018.

Light as Air
Bere, Pensacola, FL

Bere, which opened in 2017, is across the street from the airport, offering owners Barry and Laura Cole a view of the runway from their conference room. Pensacola is home to naval aviation and the Blue Angels, local themes Cole wanted to tie into the store with plentiful views of the sky. An entire wall anchors a bar, lounge and Breitling watch zone, where panel walls with rivets mimicking old airplane and antique propellers pay homage to the local military and aviation history.

See-Through Site
The Diamond Center, Janesville, WI

After 30 years in a huge but windowless space in a mall, the Yeko family moved their operation into a freestanding store with 270-degree views. Designed by Leslie McGwire in 2015, The Diamond Center has more than 2,000 square feet of glass curtain walls, with more than half of that glass tilted out to span a height of 24 feet, floor to ceiling. “When customers come in, the first thing they do is look up at the ceiling,” Steve Yeko Jr. notes. “There are lots of ‘wows.’” The store’s LEDs are all calibrated to simulate natural daylight, too, so daylight is not competing with a different color of light.

Bright and Sunny
Amanda Deer, Austinm, TX

Amanda Deer’s downtown Austin store is the epitome of what’s described as light and airy interior design. Live plants thrive in the natural light and add to the natural, organic feel, which is reinforced by wood floors and bowls filled with black sand that are used as unique display elements. It occupies a historical building in downtown Austin that was built in the late 1800s as a flour warehouse. Owned by Amanda Eddy, the store opened in 2017.

Sunlight Squared
Julz by Alan Rodriguez, Canton, OH

For his newest retail location, Alan Rodriguez purchased a former bank building that was built in 1950 and hadn’t been remodeled in over 40 years. Inspired by the design of an Apple store with a touch of Crate and Barrel, he gutted the structure and built out a two-story glass cube that’s the focal point of the store. This large window structure fills the store with natural light during the day and shows the changing weather background.

Sea Inside
Hamilton Butler, Hermosa Beach, CA

Hamilton Butler brings the outdoors in with its peacock motif and the light flooding in two large windows in the front of the store. Owned by Joni Hamilton and Shelia Butler, the store is an inviting, sun-splashed hangout for the beach community that they opened together in 2016. Sea grass carpeting, pale turquoise walls and a view of palm trees reinforces the vibe. “Even when you’re in the store, you feel like you’re outside at the same time,” Butler says.

Revolution Jewelry Works
Colorado Springs, CO

Revolution Jewelry Works, owned by Jennifer Farnes, has a spectacular corner view of the mountains in its recently expanded space.

Jewelry Set in Stone
Chelsea, MI

In 2022, the Jewelry Set in Stone team moved into the Clocktower building in downtown Chelsea, a historic structure that was once a stove factory. The second floor suite is blessed with light, tall ceilings and much more space than their previous location, a perfect setting for a custom-design business, says owner Stephen Kolokithas.

JustDesi
Beverly Hills, CA

JustDesi, owned by siblings Desi Kraiem and Justin Kraiem, stands out from its neighbors with its expansive windows, brilliant lighting and chic design.

King’s Fine Jewellery
Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada

After 38 years in a popular mall, King’s Fine Jewellery faced the decision of closing or relocating during a major mall renovation. Owners Brian and Nancy Nelson decided they weren’t ready to retire and purchased and built out a freestanding store in a new shopping center. In the new space they have two walls of glass windows, providing an abundance of natural light. They aren’t the only ones benefiting from natural light. A large school of cardinals, four varieties of angel fish and a collection of catfish thrive in a naturally planted, 7-foot-long aquarium.

Kesslers Diamonds
Grand Rapids, MI

Kessler’s location, its eight store, was chosen for its three walls of windows that provide an abundance of natural light. Kesslers Diamonds is employee owned.

The post These 12 Jewelry Stores Know How to Let In the Light appeared first on INSTOREMAG.COM.

OWNERS: David and Ronnie Malka; URL: www.malkadiamonds.com; ONLINE PRESENCE: 220 Google reviews with 4.9 stars; 4,272 Instagram followers; SHOWCASES: JF Metal Works (hand-fabricated bases) and KDM Innovative Retail Solution (glass showcases); FOUNDED: 2008; Opened featured location: 2020; AREA: 2,100 square feet; Buildout cost: $200,000; ARCHITECT AND DESIGN FIRMS: Elk Collective, interior designer; Owen Gabbert Construction; TOP BRANDS: Facet Barcelona, Jolie Designs, Chris Proof Designs, Doves and Lashbrook Designs; EMPLOYEES: 4 full time

David and Ronnie Malka

IT’S BEEN A couple of years since David and Ronnie Malka moved their retail diamond and jewelry business into the second floor of a building in Portland’s Pearl District, but Ronnie still marvels at the change in perspective that move has brought.

Clients enjoy the treetop view while discussing custom design projects and making themselves comfortable on a green vintage sofa in the parlor-like lounge. Eighty percent of clients now make appointments, and a large percentage of those begin designing their rings using a tool on the Malkas’ new website. With few window shoppers, there are fewer distractions at work, which leads to an efficiency that has allowed the couple and their team to be open fewer hours a day and fewer days a week, a big work-life balance benefit for the staff and a recruitment tool as well.

The building is on a streetcar line near restaurants, breweries and shops, including world famous Powell Bookstore. Windows give it the ambience of an elegant tree house. “There’s great light on the second floor,” Ronnie says. “There are some trees outside the windows that cast beautiful shadows. It’s an inviting space to work in every day.” The couple has managed their business in a way that’s allowed it to evolve, grow and pivot to meet challenges since they opened their store in 2010 and ran straight into the Great Recession. From the beginning, they succeeded by giving their wedding and engagement clients what they wanted, whether that turned out to be salt-and-pepper or geometric-shaped diamonds, vintage rings, well-cut mined diamonds, or more recently, specially cut, proprietary lab-grown diamonds, all delivered with a straightforward, honest approach to education and a friendly informality.

When COVID-19 shutdowns and persistent vandalism in the summer of 2020 forced them to close their original storefront in downtown Portland’s mini-diamond district, they sought temporary refuge in an office building while weighing their options.

Not only did they begin reimagining what their new brick-and-mortar space would be, they also linked a Shopify account to their website and posted a curated selection of inventory focused on unique settings and the kinds of gemstones popular with their young, wedding-minded clientele, quickly creating an e-commerce outlet that didn’t exist before. They sought feedback from online clients and, in response to learning that clients seek assurances the store is LGBTQ-friendly, Ronnie added an entire landing page to the site to ensure a proper welcome.
The Malkas and their team became even more available and responsive than they had tried to be in the past, using FaceTime, virtual appointments and calls to connect.

Soon they had transitioned to a larger, second-floor space with a lounge, private offices, their first break room, and a much bigger shop. A camera and a call box at the street announce guests.

The space has a custom feel that complements their custom business. The second floor is painted jet black, against which the gold store logo pops. “It’s very, very fun to open up the steel black doors with gold finishings, to walk in and see that it’s bright and pretty and full of light,” Ronnie says. “Customers comment about how private it is and that it feels like a hidden gem.”

When they first discovered their new spot, it was kind of a skeleton, Ronnie, says, leaving plenty of room for self-expression and imagination. They worked with a design company, Elk Collective, to define spaces. The showroom is divided by a cube encased with a textured geometric tile wall, which houses a full shop. The cube has several windows through which to view the work within.

Even before clients visit, they’ve already made a connection, which is the goal of Malka’s marketing strategy, which includes a blog and paying attention to Google analytics. They engage with clients through Facebook and Instagram. Along with the new store, they launched a website designed to be both engaging and intuitive. “With great videography and imagery, our clients get a clear feel for the space, vibe and our team,” Ronnie says. Website visitors can choose to further engage via chat, book an appointment online or start designing a custom ring.

Once the user clicks on the “Custom” tab on the homepage, they’re prompted to narrow down options. The Malkas instantly receive an email with the client’s center stone preference, ring silhouette, metal and budget, as well as inspirational photos. “Before we even meet with our clients, we have a clear understanding of what they want to create,” Ronnie says.

Currently, 10 to 15 percent of sales are made directly online. Much of the alternative bridal, unique salt-and-pepper and vintage collections are set with live centers and available for sale on the website. They’ve invested in hiring an in-house photographer, too, to elevate the look of website inventory as well as social media.

Despite improved efficiency, no one will feel rushed. The Malkas take the time to build a relationship, whether customers make an immediate decision or return, which inevitably they do. Ronnie attributes their success to their non-commission, organic selling style. “We don’t pressure-sell,” she says. “I would see that as a huge red flag. Everyone’s on the same team; everyone’s here for you.”

Windows allow clients to view jewelers at work in the shop at Malka Diamonds & Jewelry.

Respect for the clients’ budget also goes a long way to close sales. “If you are custom making it, you can let them know from the beginning how much it’s going to cost. We can price it at the price that makes sense for us and for the customer. It’s very transparent,” she says.

By the time clients make a purchase or put a deposit down, a relationship has been built. Customers receive a pamphlet detailing the history of the Malkas’ three-generation tradition of diamond dealers, and an appraisal. A guarantee is automatic for the life of the ring.

David’s father, Yossi Malka began his career as an apprentice under his great uncle in Israel, studied diamond cutting and later became a wholesale dealer in Portland. David earned a graduate gemologist degree, worked in a retail store for several years and also ran his own jewelry appraisal lab, Independent Gemological Services, before opening a store.

The Malkas take the long view. “It’s fun to look back at 14 years because the first couple of years you wonder, ‘Is this going to go?’” Ronnie says.

“It’s been a fun, fun ride. Our mission is to be that jeweler who takes care of you for generations.”

One major benefit of Malka’s new location is more space and breathing room for the store’s bench jewelers.

Five Cool Things About Malka Diamonds & Jewelry

1. WORK-LIFE BALANCE. The Malkas are open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. five days a week, shorter hours than they had before COVID disruptions. “COVID did a lot for people’s way of looking at life,” Ronnie says. “We can spend quality time with our clients in the five days we’re here, and then spend quality time with our family on the other days. And when we’re hiring, those interested in the position are excited about the hours.”

2. ALLURE. The Malkas have developed a proprietary cut for lab-grown diamonds called Malka Allure, their own cross between cushion and emerald cut. The diamonds are cut in a solar-powered lab in Israel. Their first three sold in five days. “We’re buying from labs that have high-quality lab-grown diamonds and that are treating people well,” Ronnie says. “We’re selling about 65 to 70 percent lab-grown.”

3. MERCH. A free Malka hat, pin and umbrella are a part of the stealth marketing plan. “Our clients get asked about these items, which sparks up an organic conversation,” Ronnie says.

4. PERMANENT JEWELRY. The Malkas offer to affix permanent bracelets to clients during certain hours they’re open. “It’s fun, it’s an added thing we offer. It’s a $200 item, so we’re not doing it on the weekends because we’re busy.” The Malkas have seen couples visiting the store to exchange permanent bracelets. Groups are also welcome to come in early on a weekday, have mimosas and get permanent bracelets.

5. SOCIAL GROWTH. The Malkas add 100 to 200 new followers on social media every week or so. “We’re boosting posts and focusing on generating excitement, which generates appointments. Our followers direct message us often with questions about recent posts. They love our custom creations. They love when we share recent engagement photos, new babies, etc. Keeping our digital presence is key to showcasing that we are a brick and mortar, local with real people making real jewelry.”

PHOTO GALLERY (22 IMAGES)

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He’d been wearing a hat with ear flaps, a surgical mask, hiking boots and a coat, none of which was all that unusual for Vermont. But he had unusually red hands. There was also a picture. “We were all on alert,” Dumont says.

Not long after, on Dec. 13, Dumont saw a man who fit the description enter the store, but he was wearing a different hat and coat and his hands were not immediately visible. “I just said to my team be alert and grab your cellphones,” Dumont says.

The sales staff showed him one piece of jewelry at a time. When Dumont could see that his hands were red, she called the police, but they weren’t able to respond based on a suspicion.

“He said he needed to look at the piece closer to the window, near the front of the store. We said that wasn’t allowed, and he just walked out with it,” she says.

It been an excruciatingly tense 11 minutes. “The store was full of people, and then one person after another kept coming in, and we had to go through the motions while this other thing was in the back of our heads.”

They began locking the door, but the next day they let in a man without hat or surgical mask. A closer look revealed he had red hands. The police did respond this time, but he left when they wouldn’t let him hold anything and was at another store within five minutes. “Because he came back without a hat or mask, our video camera got a great image of him.” Police circulated the photo; not only was he arrested, but more jewelry from other stores was recovered than anyone realized had been stolen.

When the Von Bargen piece was returned to Dumont, who had designed it herself, store management decided to raffle it off to benefit the Howard Center’s Church Street Outreach Team, a local organization for mental health.

“As soon as we got it back, we decided we wanted to create some positivity out of a really terrible day,” she says. The stolen piece is an 18K yellow gold medallion on a long chain, with baguette and white brilliant cut diamonds flush set into it, valued at $4,550. Tickets were sold for $50, and limited to 150 to make it more appealing to people, but when the local TV station picked up the news, those tickets sold out in less than 24 hours, raising $7,500.

“The Church Street Outreach Team has been a great resource to us throughout the years,” Dumont says. “Whenever we’re confronted with individuals suffering from mental health issues, we call them. They work to keep our community safe.”

Local TV stations continued to follow the story. “All contributions by donors, by folks in the community, are really an investment in our community,” Howard Center’s Denise Vignoe told WCAX TV in Burlington. The Church Street Outreach Team provides resources to downtown merchants, but they also check in on Vermonters struggling with homelessness, substance abuse or mental health issues. They provide things like sleeping bags and tents, which are where the proceeds from the raffle will go.

The store had had a security meeting just weeks before with a police officer who worked in security for a bank. Dumont said it was frightening to be in the store twice with a suspected thief, but that the recent training session had helped reinforce important concepts.

“It was a good reminder that there is literally nothing you can do except get through it,” she says.

“We tend to think if we do X, Y and Z, this won’t happen to us or if we do X, Y and Z, we will be able to stop the person. Knowing there is nothing you can do takes away the pressure. Just get the person out of the store, let them take what they want and support each other after.”

Dumont and a group of local jewelers now keep in touch via text and are considering holding an annual jewelry raffle to benefit local organizations. “Giving back to our community has always been a part of our mission and something we feel fortunate to be able to do,” she says.

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OWNER: Lucian Lee; URL: halesjewelers.com; ONLINE PRESENCE: 4.9 star average with 296 Google reviews; 8,000 Facebook followers; FOUNDED: 1856; Opened featured location: 2021; AREA: 8,000 square-foot showroom; 9,500 square feet total; ARCHITECT AND DESIGN FIRMS: DP3, Larry Johnson, The Heirloom Companies, Maven Construction; TOP BRANDS: Rolex, Forevermark, A. Link, JB Star, Kwiat, Yourline Jewelry, Fana, Tissot, William Henry; EMPLOYEES: 15 full-time; 5 part-time

Lucian Lee’s post-college job led to a fulfilling career.

WHEN LUCIAN LEE walked into Hale’s Jewelers to buy an engagement ring in 1973, he found the perfect ring — and also found a job to pay for that ring.

It led to a happily-ever-after story in more ways than one. Lee and his wife, Jeanie, have been married for 47 years, and although she has been gifted with other rings since then, she still treasures the original. As a recent college graduate, Lee also fell in love with the jewelry business and the people at Hale’s, so much so that the job he walked into turned into a long and rewarding career.

“I was fortunate enough to be adopted into the family,” he says. “It was my passion, and they recognized it.” Eventually, Lee formed a partnership with the Sullivan brothers, who owned the store. After the brothers both retired, Lee bought the business in 2000.

By 2020, Hale’s had been in one location for 40 years. And Lee was ready to transform his historic retail jewelry company into something that would make a splash in Greenville, SC, while offering a modern selling experience.

The company was founded in 1856 (making it the oldest business in Greenville), and since then, it had taken on a variety of forms, ranging from a wooden structure on Main Street in the beginning to a mall and freestanding locations later on. But Greenville had grown, and so had its residents’ expectations. Lee believed it was time to make another move.

The new store is a theme of the marketing strategy.

Architect Meg Terry and her team with DP3 in Greenville had a tall order with the design of the prospective new location, which was to be built in a development that was mixed use but still largely residential. Hale’s and its neighbor, a men’s store, represented the first wave of retail construction. The master plan for the site required the store be two stories. “So, while Lucian didn’t need a two-story, we needed to give him one,” Terry says.

Terry and team had to make the soaring, dramatic space feel homey and welcoming, which was Lee’s highest priority. “We had to mitigate the height so it didn’t feel like a vast canyon,” Terry says.

And from the perspective of his thriving repair business, Lee wanted the store to be convenient for people to run in and out of without having to navigate obstacles or a circuitous traffic pattern. It has a dual purpose in that sense: relaxing enough to hang out, but with a simple floor plan that allows for quick visits, too.

“The goal was to create an experience, an environment where they’d want to come hang out for a while, and if you have 10 different conversations going on, you don’t feel on top of each other,” Lee explains. The hangout areas include a hospitality space, the first time Hale’s has had one that is a prominent feature in the store. Guests can enjoy coffee or a glass of wine in a seating area incorporated into the design center.

Showcases allow for side-by-side selling. “The new world of retail is about interactive shopping,” Lee says. “This space gave us the opportunity to have plenty of room to self-shop or shop with the salesperson.”

Although Terry had worked on other retail projects, this was her first jewelry store, so she had no preconceived notion of what should or shouldn’t be done. “We try to be specific to the needs of the user and the owner and make sure it makes sense for how they want the space to feel and work,” she says.

Of three conceptual options presented to him, Lee chose one with the working title of “The Jewel Box.” The soaring slope of the roof suggests a jewelry or gift box being opened.

A sculptural custom light fixture reinforces the jewel box concept, particularly at night, when it resembles the glowing jewels within. The Heirloom Companies, a local metalworking firm, was commissioned to create a piece that characterized a floating jewel-like sculpture. “There is not another fixture like that in the world,” Terry says. “It was an effort to fill that big void. To bring the scale down over the center section of the store was really important.”

Shop-in-shops for Rolex and Forevermark were to be integral to the store, and so Terry and team made sure they coordinated well with the rest of the space. “The color and the finishes felt cohesive but still gave those brands their own identity,” she says.

Natural light is plentiful and can be filtered with remote-controlled shades. A vertical fin structure on the exterior ties into the architecture while filtering the light as well. Glass is high-tech, double paned and reinforced to meet security standards, similar to hurricane glass. “There’s not anything better to show off what we sell than natural light,” Lee says.

Since it’s opened, Terry has enjoyed observing how customers experience the space. “I took my grandmother’s jewelry in to have it appraised, and I was sitting there waiting, and it was cool watching how people mingle and use the space. In their previous store, when 15 people were in there, it felt tight and uncomfortable. When I was there at the new store, there were 30 people and it felt spacious and still welcoming.

“There’s nothing much like this in Greenville. It’s a differentiator for sure. That was the intention of it. To make sure it was identifiable as Hale’s and a cornerstone of the area.”

Because the store has such a wow factor, Bottom Line Marketing designed a “Come as You Are” ad campaign in 2021 to reassure Greenville residents they didn’t need to be rich to walk in the doors. The goal was to increase awareness that if you have $50 to spend or $50,000, Hale’s would treat you the same way.

The company’s history is highlighted within a modern wall case, along with select jewelry.

“For a lot of their branding campaigns, we do use the store because it’s such an interesting design and the inside of the store is so beautiful, so unique, showcasing jewelry as art,” says Sarah Gray, Bottom Line’s account manager for Hale’s. “Any time we’re not using images of brides, we love to use photos of the store.”

Hale’s has a 12-month TV, outdoor, digital, social and holiday catalog program that keeps the brand, the brand’s faces and the jewelry at the forefront of everything. “People come in after seeing us on YouTube and feel like they already know us,” Lee says.

Of course, for any business owner who operated a store, let alone opened a new one in the early years of the pandemic, added stress was a given. The ribbon-cutting took place with everyone wearing masks, out in the parking lot.

“I certainly aged in the last few years,” Lee says. “We started, and four months later, the world changed, but construction continued and we continued. It was stressful, but we were fortunate when we opened that the world was starting to come back.” In some ways, though, the timing was optimal. “Because people had not been able to travel and to do other things, it did create an opportunity.”

That unexpected opportunity, combined with the new location, almost guaranteed a successful outcome. “It’s something new and different in a good area,” he says. “We were just fortunate. We have pretty heavy traffic most all of the time, even in January, which used to be slower.”

Five Cool Things About Hale’s Jewelers

1. ORIGIN STORIES. In the beginning, the gold used by Hale’s was sourced from a local mine. The store was known for engraving and for crafting love tokens such as watch fobs or hair bows braided with hair and thin threads of gold for soldiers during the Civil War. Hale’s was spending money on advertising as early as the 1860s. Early maps had no street names, and so ads for the store, instead of listing an address or intersection, would offer directions such as two blocks east and a few paces north of the courthouse.

2. BONUS SPACE. The second floor isn’t entirely volume and open space. There’s office space, a conference room and a lobby on the second floor along one end of the store, which provides a good view of the showroom. The space is convenient for training sessions or private client meetings.

3. ALL ABOUT SYSTEMS. The structural part of the high-volume business is all about systems. “After 165 years, we have learned a few tricks in how to make our operations run smoothly,” Lee says. “From shipping, receiving, invoicing, marketing, sales, management, we all work as one. No one department is greater than the other and everyone treats everyone like family.”

4. OWNERSHIP IN A NUTSHELL. The business was founded in 1856 by James Hunter Randolph. In 1887, his grandson, William Randolph Hale, took over and renamed it Hale’s Jewelers. In 1910, William Randolph Hale Jr. installed Hale’s Clock, a landmark that served as the standard time for Greenville’s residents. In 1923, Hewlett Sullivan Sr. bought the business, which remained in the Sullivan family for the rest of the 20th century, until 2000 when Lucian Lee bought Hale’s. The landmark clock still stands outside the new store.

5. LOCAL TALENT. “It was important for me for everyone from the architects to the builder to the interior designer to be part of my local community,” Lee says. “For the most part, the store was built with local talent. I’m proud of that. We promote ‘shop local,’ and I needed to live that creed.”

PHOTO GALLERY (7 IMAGES)

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OWNER: Karina Brez; URL: karinabrez.com; DESIGN: Romanov Interiors; ONLINE PRESENCE: 570 Facebook followers; 19,700 followers on Instagram; FOUNDED: 2011; Opened featured location: 2021; AREA: 145 square feet; EMPLOYEES: 1

Karina Brez finds her niche in a jewel box of a space in Palm Beach, FL.

ELEVEN YEARS AGO, Karina Brez launched her jewelry business in a tent at a horse show. A horse enthusiast with a passion for gemstones, Brez is a third-generation jeweler, a GIA certified appraiser, a graduate gemologist and a 2012 Miss Florida USA.

As a designer of equestrian-themed jewelry, she knew the pop-up VIP-tent operation was a perfect place to begin. She created a garden oasis of retail by using a Home Depot trellis draped with greenery and incorporating her favorite color, green, in the decor. “I was in a VIP tent for 12 weeks at a time,” she explains. “I’d bring my cases, then have my moving company pack up the cases and put them into storage.” But working in a tent without air conditioning at the Equestrian Center in Wellington, FL, did have a downside: “It didn’t have a privacy feel, and come March, it was so hot that clients didn’t want to shop.”

When she opened her first permanent store in 2021, tucked away in a Spanish-style villa on Palm Beach’s tony Worth Avenue, she was looking for the same aesthetic and colors she’d used in the pop-up. But at 145 square feet, space was a challenge. High ceilings helped, though, to create a more expansive feeling, and she designed the space vertically, having a wooden trellis pattern painted on one wall. A vine made from a real willow was twisted to form an arch, which was adorned with faux flowers and installed just opposite her front door. The store is surrounded by greenery. “I’m literally in a garden now, and there’s a water feature outside, too,” adds Brez.

Green is Brez’ favorite color for a variety of reasons beyond her affinity for foliage. As a May baby, emerald is her birthstone, which was also the Pantone color of the year when she launched her brand in 2013. That had to be a lucky sign, she thought. “And my eyes are green!” she says.

Designer Karina Brez says she continues to make pieces only if they’re proven fast sellers, such as her Lucky Horseshoe Collection.

Even so, she was a little nervous about painting the interior dark green. “I thought if I didn’t love it, I could just paint over it. But I do love it. It has a very moody, romantic vibe. So many places now are white. I like to be different.”

Brez worked with interior designer Natasha Steinle, who helped her fine-tune her vision and procure her specialty wallpaper. Brez had an image in her head of the chandelier she wanted, and she found just what she envisioned on Pinterest. “The chandelier is made of geometric crystals, which is so cool because I love minerals,” she says. Other luxurious details include a gilded ceiling and braided carpet.

Brez recognizes the importance of a beautiful jewelry store at a time when many people are attuned to HGTV interior design shows and are in pursuit of beautiful environments. “You can’t just go buy metal cases and some fluorescent lamps,” she says. “It’s about creating an environment that’s comfortable, where people enjoy spending 30 minutes of their time.”

Her jewelry collections are imaginative and carefully considered, but they must pull their own weight. “When I design a piece, I make one or two and wear it to get a reaction from customers. If people love it, I make more of it.” If it doesn’t sell within a year, on the other hand, it’s history. “I own every piece in my cases. Sweat equity is sitting in my cases. I only make pieces that are fast sellers. If it doesn’t sell in the first year, I stop making it.”

Her practical side can be traced to her parents, who emigrated from Ukraine and who each had two or three jobs while she was growing up. Her father washed cars and repaired jewelry; her mother, a hair stylist, worked all day and continued her work at home in the evening, sometimes until midnight. “From an early age, I saw my parents working so hard to make an honest living that I didn’t know any different,” she says. “That’s how you live, that’s how you survive. I’ve always had that entrepreneurial spirit. I didn’t have a TV or an iPad; I didn’t have toys. I had a piece of paper and a pen. If I was left with a babysitter, all I did was sit and draw.”

That work ethic led her to compete in and win the Miss Florida USA pageant. “Competing in a pageant was on my bucket list, and there’s a time limit on certain things you can do,” she says. “I did research, I had a business plan and I ended up winning. I got to meet ambitious, smart ladies and bring awareness to my friends’ charity, Horses Healing Hearts. It was one of the best times of my life.

Sketch of pop-up store courtesy of Tani Babaian.

“I remember growing up, I was terrified to go in front of a camera. I wouldn’t talk. Doing the pageant helped me get more comfortable in interviews and talking to people. I had to take public speaking and acting classes as part of the process. And I think the more I did events and interviews and just got out there, I got more comfortable in my own skin. I had to do an interview in a bikini! Thank God I did that THEN. Now you wouldn’t catch me dead in a bikini!”

While being in a permanent location in Palm Beach leaves her with a less targeted demographic than a horse show tent provides, her work appeals to a variety of people. In addition to equestrian-themed collections, she has a garden collection and designs one-of-a kind couture pieces around unique colored gemstones she buys. It’s a full functioning jewelry store with custom design. Her dad does all the bench work in his own space.

“My pieces are middle ground; they’re not too horsey,” she says. “Many of my customers are on a horse all day every day and they say they don’t want to look at another horse. People love that it symbolizes a lot of different things. My collections have a minimalistic look with attention to detail. They are like an optical illusion of a horse.”

“A lot of people walk through Worth Avenue and explore. They’re intrigued because it’s different. I don’t fit into a regular box. A lot of them know me because I grew up here and am an integral part of the community.”

Five Cool Things About Karina Brez Jewelry

1. MODEL COMMUNITY. Brez, like other boutique owners on Worth Avenue, employs a licensed model during South Florida’s busy season to show her jewelry on the street in a low-key manner. It’s a tradition there for models to carry discreet signs while showing clothing or jewelry from Worth Avenue boutiques. Brez partnered with a clothing store that appeals to her clientele, and together they hired the model.

2. PUBLIC RELATIONS. Working with a public relations firm, specifically Olga Gonzalez of Pietra PR, has changed the face of Brez’s brand, she says, as she launches a wholesale line. “When you have someone on your team who is your cheerleader, it helps you to expand.”

Brez employs a licensed model to show her jewelry on Worth Avenue.

3. COUTURE ALLURE. Brez launched her wholesale business in 2022 at the Couture Show. “We signed seven stores, which I thought was amazing,” she says. “That was the first hurdle. The second hurdle is, ‘Are they going to reorder?’ and believe it or not almost everyone reordered within two months.”

4. NICHE NEWS. “Because of our niche market, we can easily market within our equestrian community,” Brez says. “So, this means that we are constantly in editorials of magazines that are focused on the equestrian lifestyle.”

5. WHAT’S NEXT? Brez plans to introduce a solar-powered, tiny-house style store on wheels with 11-foot ceilings that’s eco-friendly and portable, so she can sell her jewelry at horse shows in comfort. Built by Movable Roots Tiny Home Builders in Melbourne, FL, it will be called the Jeweled Barn and have the look of an English countryside tap room with a green-plaid wall and leather-trunk cases. Everything runs off a solar panel battery, which can last for two days and was as costly to purchase as a car, Brez says. The custom 800-pound safe is just 24 by 15 inches.

PHOTO GALLERY (18 IMAGES)

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WHEN MATTHEW GROSS first visited San Miguel de Allende in Mexico last year, he fell in love with it, and like many Americans before him, he quickly began to factor it into his retirement plans.

“It’s a pretty magical place,” says Gross, owner of MHG Jewelry Studio in Berkley, MI. “I was ready to sell everything and to move there.”

It also inspired him to imagine what he can do to bolster a fledgling community of local jewelry makers in a scenic city with Spanish-colonial architecture while spending some time away from Michigan’s frigid winters.

Gross is in the process of building a non-profit organization within the U.S. jewelry community to help San Miguel’s jewelers obtain much-needed tools and equipment and to elevate training.

Jesus Villaverde Fuentes teaches both in his home studio, at right, shown with his wife, Alejandra, and his students, and at the Instituto Allende, above.

While San Miguel is a well-known artist’s community, the jewelry trade remains rudimentary, Gross says. “Ninety percent of the jewelry stores are a little hole in the wall, and there’s a showcase and maybe a guy is working on the bench behind it,” he says. “They make it work with whatever they have.”

Jesus Villaverde Fuentes, who leads one effort to teach the jewelry arts in San Miguel, built his kiln out of parts recovered from trash, used a 5-power magnifying glass instead of a microscope and taught himself hand-engraving with a less-than-optimal engraver before meeting Gross last year. “The skills that they’ve learned are very, very basic, which they’ve done very well with, but we have a lot to give,” Gross says. “They need better skills, better equipment. It’s a struggle to make a living. With the right tools, you never know what someone can do.”

To date, Gross has received tool and equipment donations from Tapper’s Fine Jewelry in Michigan, AU Enterprise, Blaine Lewis of the New Approach School for Jewelers in Tennessee, and Charlotte Kearney, VP for product development at Gesswein, among others. He also raised money through a GoFundMe page to ship 500 pounds of equipment from Michigan to San Miguel. The crate also contained gemstones, findings and beads.

The focus of initial efforts has been to provide help to Villaverde, who teaches at the art school jewelry department of San Miguel’s Instituto Allende and has his own teaching studio for children, where he lives with his family and also sells vegetables and fruit.

Matthew Gross, right, is helping to equip instructor Jesus Villaverde Fuentes.

Ultimately, Gross would like to raise $500,000 to $1 million to refurbish the jewelry school, invite U.S. jewelers to teach master classes there, and to create a co-op studio, where graduate students could rent affordable space to launch their businesses.

Already, after Villaverde received the first shipment, progress is being made. Gross used FaceTime to teach him how to use the ultrasonic and the magnetic tumbler he sent. Now Villaverde has a microscope, a rolling mill, push engravers and has taught himself hand-engraving. He sends photos and videos of his progress to Gross, who says, “The skill level has gone way up.”

Gross is bringing other jewelers with him to San Miguel this winter to promote the effort and assess the community’s needs. This time, he plans to stay a month. “I asked friends in the business, and they said count me in,” Gross says.

Changing even one life at a time can have cumulative effects, he believes.

“It will be interesting to know that if Jesus does better financially, then he can give his daughter a better opportunity. Who knows what she’ll do. She might change the world. That’s the exciting thing for me; what will happen when I’m out of the picture.”

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