OWNERS: Jennifer Gandia and Christina Gandia Gambale; URL: greenwichjewelers.com; FOUNDED: 1976; OPENED FEATURED LOCATION: 2022; AREA: 1,550 square feet; ARCHITECT AND DESIGN: MAOarch, Wield Creative; TOP BRANDS: Alice Cicolini, Eva Fehren, Jamie Joseph, Lorraine West, Marla Aaron, Single Stone, Sylva & Cie, TEN THOUSAND THINGS, WWake; EMPLOYEES: 17; ONLINE PRESENCE: 89,000 followers on Instagram; 620 Google reviews with 4.9 Star average

Sisters Jennifer Gandia and Christina Gandia Gambale; PHOTO CREDIT: Alain Simic

SISTERS JENNIFER GANDIA and Christina Gandia Gambale were inspired by elements of residential design for their new Greenwich St. Jewelers store in Tribeca, and the concept was so successful that their clients now say they want to live there.

That residential vibe began with the selection of their space in a neighborhood that’s a comfortable mix of residential and commercial with a strong community feel, the kind of community their parents Carl and Milly Gandia knew when they opened the original Greenwich Jewelers in the Financial District in 1976, after emigrating from Puerto Rico.

Retail neighbors in Tribeca are an eclectic mix that include the Balloon Saloon party supplies and gifts; Korin, a Japanese cutlery store patronized by chefs; the Mysterious Book Shop; lifestyle and fashion businesses, children’s stores, galleries and restaurants.

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The new Greenwich St. opened last year on Reade Street in the city’s second oldest cast iron building, known as the Obsidian House, built in 1857. The original facade has been carefully restored and the upper floors are all residential. “The space itself we knew was the right space right away,” says Jennifer Gandia. “Something just felt right. The historical and beautiful architecture of Tribeca appealed to us.”

They wanted it to feel luxurious, but not pretentious.

“We wanted the store to feel very downtown New York and welcoming and homey, and in New York that means an apartment,” Gandia says. “It was all about creating a concept that felt warm and energizing with bright color and sumptuous fabrics. We didn’t want a sterile, neutral store.”

Senior marketing manager Grace Barretti describes the color scheme as acid brights mixing with pastels and jewel tones in a playful yet sophisticated way. Showcases feature a variety of finishes, and jewelry forms designed by Wield Creative complement the color explosion. The bathroom’s vibrant gingko leaf tiles reference the sisters’ Puerto Rican ancestry while offering another aesthetic surprise.

Mirroring the layout of a classic New York City railroad apartment, the space is divided into rooms that showcase the work of 40-plus independent designers.

“These were the kind of apartments you saw a lot in tenement buildings, rooms all in one line,” Gandia says. “That in itself is very New York.”

Typically, a foyer flows into living room, kitchen, dining room and finally, a more intimate bedroom space at the back.

In this case, a collection of Jamie Joseph rings in an eye-catching pink display beckons to visitors in the entry foyer and immediately invites them to play with the jewelry and try something on. “There is a different threshold in each room and an element of discovery, which is why there are a lot of different elements in the store, different surfaces, a lot of colors,” Gandia says.

The second room beckons with a sumptuous velvet couch and in the third, a large central showcase conjures images of a formal dining room.

Toward the back, there’s space for custom consultations as well as a private room with glass doors off to the side that represents an outdoor terrace. Overhead lighting is carefully crafted to appear natural. “I think our lighting guy was an artist,” says Gandia. “The lighting in this store, if I do say so myself, is spectacular. You don’t notice it, and that’s the point.”

The original brick arch was the inspiration for using a repeating arch motif to organize the space and create drama.

Ultimately each room was a puzzle piece, or square in a quilt, that had its own smaller unique personality but when all paired together they sing in unison, noted Nico Pallotto, senior associate with MAOarch Architecture.

The store design and material selections demanded a willingness to take risks and cultivate a sense of adventure. Surfaces include lacquer, tabor, a dyed wood facade on the cash wrap, engineered oak plank on the floor, with a layer of reclaimed oak. “We have velvet, we have neon. And it’s a very New York thing to do, to take risks,” Gandia says.

In particular, Gandia says, the feature wall in the back involved quite a few discussions. “We threw a lot of spaghetti at the wall to see what was going to stick,” Gandia says. “Should it be a mural, should it be an installation of mirrors? Gem specimens? Hands reaching out and holding jewelry? We had lots of Pinterest boards with crazy things on them.”

The winning idea came from muralist Mason Nye, who pressed a custom subway grate stencil into the plaster. “Everything else was very pretty and we thought we needed something to add edginess, to scuff it up a little,” Gandia says. “We need something that feels like the sidewalks, the streets, of the city. New York is pretty, but gritty. We needed that bit of grittiness.”

An artist infused the plaster with flecks of mica, a backdrop for art installations. East Village artist Rosalie Knox rendered an original painting in nail polish, which glows in the dark under black light. The chandelier in the front of the store resembles a freeform tangle of hanging chains or New York City grafitti suspended in midair.

From the Beginning

Christina and Jennifer grew up playing on the shop floor of Greenwich St. Jewelers in its original Financial District location, watching their parents work in the store and at the bench.

The family business faced periods of adversity, from the 9/11 terrorist attacks that destroyed the original store, to the Great Recession, Hurricane Sandy, and a pandemic. Loyal clientele supported them through every setback.

Gandia, who studied at the Fashion Institute of Technology, joined the business in 2003, using her public relations and marketing experience in the fashion industry to help her parents recover after 9/11. Her efforts evolved into identifying independent designers to carry, modernizing the infrastructure, and pioneering the digital marketing landscape.

Gandia Gambale officially signed on in 2007, after she finished her education in finance at Fordham University and became a GIA-certified gemologist.

At that time, the independent jewelry designer movement began to take off, creating a synergy between the kind of jewelry the sisters wanted to sell and the kind of jewelry that was available. “The independent designer movement that we know today really started in the early 2000s; 2006, 2007,” Gandia says. “As a younger generation we wanted to sell things that we liked, and the timing made it easier because there were shows where a retailer could find more independent designers.”

They continue to support emerging designers to capture their clients’ imaginations and help them expand their personal collections. “Being known for having an offering that is beautiful, intentional, and well-made is all very important to us,” Gandia says.

Before the sisters had found their Tribeca space or begun to design it, their father died. During construction of the new store, when Gandia Gambale was helping her mother move, she found a book of store design concepts her father had been sketching that now seem prescient. He had drawn arches, a brick wall and even a window that resembles the interior window of the terrace. “We had talked about moving while he was alive,” Gandia Gambale says, “and this felt like a nod of support.”

In turn, the sisters honor the roots of their family business by maintaining the service element, upon which their parents built their business and established links to their community.

“In New York, you don’t find a jeweler very often who can do a bit of everything, that has a full shop, and does custom design, repair, restoration, bridal, fine jewelry and designer jewelry,” Gandia Gambale says. “It’s a point of differentiation for us among our competitors” as well as a gift to the community.

Nico Pallotto says the design team considers the entire project a love letter from Greenwich Street Jewelers to New York City. “We believe everyone can feel the vibe without it being a cliche of stereotypical New York City elements splashed all over the space. It feels familiar, relaxed, approachable, but also elevated.”

People are drawn in, whether they stop by for a repair, to design a custom ring, or simply out of curiosity. When they cross that threshold and embark on a retail adventure, they are often surprised to find such a warm, welcoming place, backed by an incredible team trained to engage shoppers and to make them feel happy.

“That’s why people want to live here,” Gandia says.

Greenwich St. Jewelers created a Toi et Moi ring capsule collection to showcase their use of traceable gems and Fairmined gold.

Five Cool Things About Greenwich St. Jewelers

1. TEAM BUILDING. The goal is to hire collaborative team members with an entrepreneurial spirit. “We have people with incredible experience, background and creativity,” says Gandia. The team consists of artists, opera singers, tarot readers, models, crocheters, fashion lovers and drag queens. Each team member’s birthday or work anniversary is celebrated with a lunch or a treat, like a visit from an ice cream truck or an in-store charcuterie spread. “To thank them,” Gandia Gambale says, “and to let them know we’re thinking of them.”

2. CREATIVE COLLECTION LAUNCH. Greenwich St. hosted an event for the launch of a jewelry collection, partnering with an astrologer who gave readings about the participant’s zodiac signs. The goal was to empower potential clients to learn more about how the stars align for them in their lives, an important inspiration to Gandia, who designed the ASTRA collection of zodiac charms. They also collaborated with an Aura reader.

The Reade Street location, twice the size of the former store, has been the site of multiple in-store events.

3. RESPONSIBLE SOURCING. Greenwich St. achieved Fairmined certification and created a Toi et Moi ring capsule collection, hand-crafted in their workshop, to showcase their use of traceable gemstones and Fairmined gold. They began offering De Beers Code of Origin diamonds and GIA Diamond of Origin to present traceable diamonds that do good in the country they come from, such as providing jobs, healthcare and education.

4. THE PRIZE. The Greenwich St. architectural dream team, Maori Hughes, MAOarch owner/principal, and Nico Pallotto, senior associate, were awarded one of a very few honorable mentions for Greenwich St. Jewelers in the international architecture awards, 11th Annual A+ Awards hosted by Architizer in the Global Retail category, competing against entries from more than 90 countries.

5. VERSATILE DISPLAY. The window vitrines turn 360 degrees and have distinct design styles on either side. This allows for flexibility in display and ease when anyone wants to try on what they see in the window, making the transition from outdoor passersby to indoor shopping seamless.

PHOTO GALLERY (16 IMAGES)

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ONLINE EXTRA

Q & A With Nico Pallotto, senior associate with MAOarch Architecture Firm

Greenwich St. Jewelers owners Jennifer Gandia and Christina Gandia Gambale partnered with MAOArch architecture firm, led by Maori Fujisaki Hughes, to design their new flagship store in New York City. Greenwich St. Jewelers is the No. 1 winner in the Big Cool category of the 2023 America’s Coolest Stores contest.

We asked Nico Pallotto, senior associate with MAOarch, to explain in detail some of the magic behind the store’s unique design.

Q. There is so much going on in the interior of Greenwich St. Jewelers, in a good way! How do the many layers work?

A. We like to think of this store as a love letter to New York City from G. St & MAOarch. This love letter celebrates the complexity and layers of the dense city blocks, a diverse population, diversity of eateries, smells, noise, speeds, and rich layers of history, all of which gives New York City that je ne sais quoi. You can’t put your finger on everything all at once, but the pieces come together as you travel from front to back and back to front of this TriBeCa flagship. It feels familiar, relaxed, approachable, but also elevated.

Simultaneously, our goal was to execute the sequence of materials in a way that doesn’t feel overwhelming and is curated and considered. Architecturally, with the help of Hyde Park Moldings of New York, we combined the softness of the custom white plaster walls that are embedded with flecks of mica and crushed pieces of clear glass, with the softness of reclaimed American oak floors that act as the foundation and backdrop for the material palette.

These main materials are balanced with the textures of fine mosaic tiles on the floor, pockets of original brick wall and undersides of arches hand troweled with a gold and cream textured plaster, as well as the custom feature wall.

That feature wall, at the rear of the space, is inspired by the texture of the often overlooked New York City sidewalk/subway grates. Its material transitions, such as oxidized copper and metallic gray lime plaster, were masterfully executed by local muralist Mason Nye, and in the end alludes to the steam one would walk through passing overtop any street grate.

At the bottom half is a custom-made raised plaster subway grate built out of laser cut templates and layers of dark gray and metallic silver custom lime plaster. The result is a 3D extruded plaster surface that travels along the width of the wall, steps up and down, and partially conceals the door to the back of house. It felt like it was an original old wall discovered and exposed during construction.

As you proceed through the space from front to back the visual and tactile story begins to layer and then expand as you reach the main (bridal) salon and feature wall. It’s just like walking through your friend’s chic Soho loft. A crescendo at the end of the space was important.

Q. Tell us about the layers of lighting

A. Lighting is key to any successful jewelry shop or store. Here at G.ST there are many types and levels of artificial lighting mixed with soft northern natural light. There is warm lighting with a nod to residential spaces that beams down from the ceiling; you don’t see the light coming down. The perimeter walls flanking the long sides of the space have continuous arches revealed between plaster and brick walls that help brighten and feel as if they expand the width of the space.

Our lighting designer also mentioned the ceiling would provide a dome of warm light similar to a residence. Sconces, bookcase accent lights and picture lights over artwork add another layer of ambience or highlight various rooms and provide balance, warmth and sparkle.

Finally, the foyer is illuminated by customized brass stems draped in illuminated braided ropes that resemble the gestural moves of graffiti floating in space, and/ or the ropes once used on pulleys for moving goods from New York City sidewalks to basement vaults. The chandelier is a celebration of our greatest muse, New York City, and downtown’s gilded age.

Q. How do so many distinctive design elements and ideas work together so well in a relatively small space?

A. From a spatial perspective, our tactic was how to make sure that the space felt like you could breathe, that you didn’t feel like there were barriers in the way.

Also, we strategically placed architectural elements that created moments of expansion and contraction of the space.

Although our material palette, which we were calling our “material universe” could read as overwhelming or an overload of materials, colors, textures, and patterns, when one would see it for the first time, we made sure that we utilized the mood board to strategically sprinkle interesting patterns or colors of materials throughout the space, and also study their proportions /size in relation to the overall space and size of the rooms.

Ultimately each room was a puzzle piece, or square in a quilt, that had its own smaller unique personality but when all paired together they sing in unison.

We also wanted to make sure that the materials were a combination of luxurious looking and feeling materials balanced with more humble materials that felt contextualized to this particular TriBeCa neighborhood and history.

We took advantage of extremely tall ceilings, paired with narrow spaces in the horizontal direction, and added a series of specially carved arches to modulate the tall vs. narrow, and essentially trick the eye and body into it feeling like a comfortable space. Supporting this larger architectural maneuver, the bookcase, wall niches, wall mounted vitrines, hanging vitrines, free standing fixtures against walls or in the middle of the space, soft custom furnishings, and unique accessories all play a part in eliminating the feeling that you are in a long narrow tunnel or a small crowded space.

Q. How did the concept of a New York City apartment inform the layout?

A. The raw, original space we were provided with was long and narrow and it naturally felt like a NYC railroad apartment mixed with the expansive identities of neighboring SoHo lofts.

The program for the space developed from the hybridization of the two typologies above. It became a procession of rooms that had their own identities, allowed for a sense of enclosure but also felt open to other rooms. The strategy was to entice customers to feel this expansion and contraction of space, allowing them to slow down, temporarily disengage from the frenzy outside, embrace the space and most importantly engage the product and fine jewelry associates. In addition, the joint residential-retail energies of the rooms allow customers to feel comfortable away from the busy streets, but also when inside the pretension that can typically be felt in larger jewelry stores could be eliminated. It also allows for a more personal approach because of the familiar vibe of the spaces, the integration of a side-by-side selling approach and interactive display showcases fixtures.

Q. What stands out for you in memory about this project?

A. Right before the soft opening, Christina and Jennifer shared a sketchbook they found in the attic a few months before the opening. It was a newer sketchbook of their not too recently passed father. When he heard that Christina and Jennifer had suggested looking for a new space to build out a new location, in secret he began sketching his dream store, which was full of arches and a feature wall that was a nod to time. When we saw these sketches, while our clients were merchandising the store, it brought tears to our eyes because the entire time we were designing, without him being present and providing opinions, we ended up utilizing arches and brick walls as the grand gestures to create impact, to modulate and organize the space. Not having used arches in the past in our designs, it truly felt like he was with us and guiding from above and speaking thorough our architectural sketches, plans, and material selections to create a dream space for a beautiful, unique and successful GST flagship in NYC.

Nico Pallotto joined MAOarch in 2021 with an extensive experience in luxury retail, residential and commercial projects. As Senior Associate, he leads a team of designers and architects on luxury retail and specialty projects including Greenwich St. Jewelers, Carolina Herrera, Stefano Ricci, Burberry, Bergdorf Goodman and Wildlike.

MAOarch is a NYC-based full-service architecture firm, specializing in luxury retail and commercial projects of all scales and sizes. The firm was founded by Maori Fujisaki Hughes, AIA in 2018, a registered architect with extensive experience working with renowned luxury retail brands, both nationally and internationally.

The post Residential Design and Art Installations Make Tribeca Jewelry Store Feel Like a High-Class Home appeared first on INSTOREMAG.COM.

Popular speaker Shane Decker drew a crowd as the keynote speaker on Monday, Aug. 14, where he addressed “How to Double Your Average Ticket Sale.” Decker’s fans piled on the accolades on social media, with one person gushing about his longtime column in the magazine and others posing with him in selfie photos.

On the show floor, more educational seminars took place on Monday and Tuesday. Among them were Just Be You: How to Match Your Store Environment with Your Culture and Model, How to Overcome the Most Difficult Customer Objections, How to Prep for Fourth Quarter Based on Current Retail Trends, and 3 Ways to Update Your Store on a Budget. Popular INSTORE columnists and retailers featured on the pages of the magazine led thoughtful discussions and offered tips on how to elevate businesses.

“It was great to see the pages of INSTORE come to life with so many of our columnists and peers present for the show,” Eileen McClelland, managing editor.

Winners of the Bench Pressure Challenge, meanwhile, emerged on Monday after two days of competition. Two separate challenges included a “mystery box” of materials — including one unusual item — sent to three bench jewelers who then designed a piece using the materials and brought it to the show. The jewelers explained to the audience how and why they used their materials and techniques. A second Timed Challenge involved resizing, setting and finishing a piece using materials given out at the show and completed within a three-hour period by three other competitors.

The winner of the Mystery Box Challenge was Shayna Egan from Green Lake Jewelry Works in Seattle, and the winner of the Timed Challenge was Jimmy Butts from Sissy’s Log Cabin in Pine Bluff, AR.

Exhibitors and show shoppers were pleased with the event’s location, layout and vibe.

“One opening day, we did triple the goal we set for ourselves for the entire show,” said Kimberly Collins of the eponymous gemstone firm. “Retailers restocked some loose colored gemstones, including a huge blue zircon from Cambodia and teal sapphires. We also sold a beautiful ruby tennis necklace, and there was also lots of interest in rainbow jewelry and Barbie pink.”

“We signed up five new accounts on our first day,” noted Larry Rodgers of Lavish Jewelry Cleaner. “We met a lot of store owners that we’ve never seen at any other show.”

“It was great to reconnect with people,” said Alan Goodheart of Goodheart’s Jewelry in Overland Park, KS. “We haven’t been to a show since before the pandemic. We’ve had two great days of buying and the party was amazing—the food, the music, the excitement.”

Dates for next year’s show are already set for Aug. 11 – 13, 2024, to be held again in Rosemont at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center.

For more information, log onto  theinstoreshow.com or direct any questions to INSTORE staff at info@theinstoreshow.com.

About The INSTORE Show 2023

The INSTORE Show 2023 offers exhibitors the opportunity to connect with highly engaged buyers who will come to discover the latest curated products, services and innovations. This is a must-participate event for suppliers, designers, manufacturers and service providers who are industry mainstays as well as those who are shaping the future of the jewelry industry. Review the Exhibitor Prospectus and Application here or email exhibit@theinstoreshow.com to learn more!

The post The INSTORE Show 2023 Ends on a High Note with Robust Sales, Great Speakers and Dates Set for Next Year appeared first on INSTOREMAG.COM.

 

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ANYONE CAN HAVE a date night with their husband. But when Vice President Kamala Harris goes on a date with her husband to see Beyoncé in concert, there are added layers: The powerhouse VP with the Second Gentleman seeing another powerhouse woman perform. On Instagram she wrote, “To the one of one, the number one, the only one, @beyonce, thank you for a fun date.”

First Lady Michelle Obama wore many independent designers while in the White House, and although Harris has her own style — which at the beginning included various styles of pearls — she took a page out of Michelle Obama’s book. For the Beyoncé concert, she wore independent designer Lauren Godfrey of Harwell Godfrey’s Major Sun Sign pendant and Foundation chain. It was just the right touch with her gold lamé shirt and white pants for an elegantly casual look.

The Sun Sigh pendants are available in two sizes and with a diamond center stone or any of the birthstones. The VP wore a large pendant in what I believe was on a 16 inch or 18 inch chain, based on the photos.

Godfrey is based in California, which is the home state of the VP and of laid-back luxury.

If you were to go to a Beyoncé concert with your man, what jewels from Harwell Godfrey would you wear? Would you layer more on or bespeak quiet luxury like our VP?

The post Vice President Kamala Harris Wears Harwell Godfrey appeared first on INSTOREMAG.COM.

OWNER: Elizabeth Gibson; URL: elizapage.com; FOUNDED: 2004; OPENED FEATURED LOCATION: 2005; AREA: 1,200 total square feet; DESIGNER: Kasey McCarty Interior Design; TOP BRANDS: Eliza Page, Dilamani, Facet Barcelona, Shaesby, Midas, Zoe Chicco, Marika Desert Gold, Armenta, Lashbrook, Jennie Kwon, Jade Trau, Scribe; EMPLOYEES: 5 full-time, 1 part-time; ONLINE PRESENCE: 56,100 Instagram followers, 122 Google reviews with a 4.9 star average; BUILDOUT COST: $150,000

Eliza Page

ELIZA PAGE HAS been known as a “cool store” around the jewelry industry for a long time. But it was only after last year’s renovation that owner Elizabeth Gibson decided to enter INSTORE’s America’s Coolest Stores competition — and won it on her first try.

“It’s exciting for the jewelry business to see more independents that are unique,” says Gibson. “When I opened 20 years ago, there weren’t a lot of stores like mine, and now there are, which is cool. I think that just shows that today’s clients want a boutique experience, a more intimate experience. Austin definitely caters to that; that’s the culture of our city.”

While the city itself may boast the motto of “Keep Austin Weird,” Eliza Page was still an outlier when Gibson opened the store in 2004. Her original location in south Austin was “terrible,” as she puts it, so she quickly moved into her current location downtown the following year. But she was distinctly lacking in neighbors.

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“I was the first retailer to open in the 2nd Street District,” Gibson recalls. “It was just empty store fronts around me. There was probably some naivete in my choice, but I knew downtown was going to grow.” Today, Eliza Page is a stalwart presence in a thriving retail area that includes independent restaurants, boutiques and one of Austin’s top live music venues, Austin City Limits Live at the Moody Theater. The store has evolved over the past 20 years, but it remains true to Gibson’s original vision: to create an approachable environment that showcases fashion-forward, artisan-created jewelry in a boutique setting that feels more like an art gallery than a traditional jewelry store.

Starting a New Chapter

Gibson didn’t come from a jewelry family like many of her fellow independent retailers did. In fact, she didn’t even intend to be a jeweler. She began her career in marketing after receiving a college degree in English. But jewelry-making had always been something she loved, starting with beads, friendship bracelets and pins, and wirewrapping.

“I had started taking metalsmithing and wax carving classes locally. I wanted to make real jewelry,” says Gibson. “As I started to sell it locally as a hobby, I realized that Austin didn’t have a cool store. You couldn’t find fashion-forward jewelry here. Austin is hip, trendy but independently minded, and it supports local retailers so well. I decided to open a store and see what happened.”

She opened the store on a shoestring budget and a prayer. “I literally had to turn down a $100 change order when we were doing the buildout because I didn’t have investors backing me, I just had to make it work,” she says. The gallery space looked different back then, with a cash wrap at the back, independently designed fine jewelry in the wall cases and costume jewelry in the center.

Over the years, engagement and wedding jewelry became an unexpected profit center. “We didn’t start out selling wedding rings and bridal,” says Gibson. “Our clients asked for it, so we started making and selling it, and it’s been a strong part of our business for many years now.”

Today, all of the bridal jewelry sold in the store is from the Eliza Page line or custom designed — a service that wasn’t offered in the original incarnation of the store. “We sold designer bridal for years, but our clients didn’t want that, so we created our own bridal line, and that’s what we sell.”

The store has also phased out costume jewelry (“that customer went away during the pandemic,” says Gibson) and replaced it with ear piercings and permanent jewelry. “The price point is low, so as a retailer, that’s not exciting, but from a lifetime customer standpoint — my staff told me we’ve got to keep offering it. It’s brand-building and relationship-building,” says Gibson.

Turning the Page

When she initially designed Eliza Page, Gibson intended the space to be an open canvas that could be adapted in years to come as the business evolved. In 2022, the time was right to make a major change — in part because of what was happening next door.

The neighboring tenant moved out, leaving an empty space, which would allow Eliza Page to operate temporarily out of that location while the store was being renovated. “I knew that kind of thing only happens every few years, so it was kind of a ‘now or never’ renovation,” explains Gibson. The business functioned in the temporary space for three weeks while the renovation was completed.

Concrete floors were replaced with hardwood. Walls were moved to create a private piercing room. Wallpaper was strategically hung in the center of the back wall to add a pop of color and texture. A large TV screen was placed on the same wall to play marketing videos. And a gorgeous new light fixture, which looks a lot like big gold bubbles floating near the ceiling, was mounted.

Custom furniture, including a new point-of-sale station and floor display cases, was built and installed throughout the store. The cash wrap was built to be slightly smaller and was placed in the middle of the store against a wall so that customers wouldn’t walk around it. The floor showcases are gold-toned with wood accents and are slightly larger than the previous cases. Plus, an extra showcase has been added to help accommodate more jewelry. “We only have 1,000 square feet to work with in the showroom, so we had to maximize our showcase space as much as possible,” explains Gibson.

One of Gibson’s favorite features of the remodel were built-in desks for staff. “Jewelry is a lot of account management, back and forth with vendors and clients, so we are giving our team members a private space to do that,” she says.

The private ear-piercing area has been a hit with clients who prefer an elegant, calm environment to the raucous energy of a tattoo parlor or the inexperience of hourly employees in chain boutiques like Claire’s. “A lot of moms come with their daughters,” says Gibson. “We spend a lot of time with these clients and get a lot of really great reviews.”

The addition of piercing as a category at Eliza Page came about during the pandemic. “Piercing parties had started to become a trend, and we were just about to do our first with a local tattoo artist when the pandemic happened and we weren’t able to,” says Gibson. But then, Sirandyn Wayne, a longtime employee that Gibson calls the store’s “Swiss army knife,” volunteered to learn how to pierce. As the pandemic receded, more and more people came in for piercings.

“We have medical-grade sanitizing equipment, and we’re regulated by the state. They say we’re the most sanitary jewelry store in the city that does piercings,” says Gibson. “Some clients are really needle-phobic — we’ve had a couple of people pass out — so we have snacks and waters and Cokes, so we’re prepared!”

The store also now features a small semi-private consultation area at the back, which can serve as either a private diamond and custom showing area or a place for permanent jewelry to be welded onto wrists. “One positive coming out of the pandemic is that people like to make appointments now, so we are able to make sure that we don’t have a permanent bracelet welding at the same time that we have a custom-design client,” Gibson says.

With the renovation, Gibson was able to retain the open gallery feel while raising the overall look of the store. “It’s still a welcoming, less intimidating environment, but we wanted to elevate the materials and the design to better fit the product we’re selling. We hope to grow our average retail sale and bring our customer into bigger, better jewelry purchases.”

Growing Together

“I know the store’s named after me,” says Gibson. “But the reason why Eliza Page is successful is the people who work here.”

The small team is comprised entirely of female employees — an eclectic and multi-talented group, according to Gibson. “We have a unique combination of sporty (wakeboarders, tennis players), skilled (a ceramicist and an Austin Community College bench jewelry professor) and fantasy-loving ladies (Harry Potter and Dungeons and Dragons fans).”
Eliza Page offers GIA AJP training to all staff, online sales training, and the sales and marketing staff has been sent to market trips in

Vegas, Scottsdale, Tucson, and Lafayette. “Our sales and marketing team members get to see our partner designer and vendors’ entire collections and learn about the jewelry firsthand from the makers and owners. It’s so important to put a face to the people we work with so closely, growing the relationships beyond phone calls and emails,” says Gibson.

The team also enjoys an annual staff retreat on the Tuesday after Labor Day every year, which generally takes the form of a spa day or a trip to the nearby Texas wine country area. “I think that you want to come to work and enjoy your colleagues,” says Gibson. “I try to create a relaxed environment. I give people a lot of flexibility and understanding that life gets in the way sometimes. I’ve never worked in a truly corporate environment; it’s not for me or anyone who works here.

“They work really hard to go above and beyond for our clients. That’s what boutique stores do. The Small Cool stores are pretty special; we have to wear a lot more hats.”

Eliza Page’s marketing incorporates in-house photography of the store’s jewelry on models. The campaign above shows how jewelry reflects the inner self.

Five Cool Things About Eliza Page

1. MARKETING KNOW-HOW. The Eliza Page marketing team includes a director, a social media coordinator and a graphic/web designer/photographer. The brand gets traction on TikTok, where it regularly receives hundreds of views of its tongue-in-cheek videos. “People my age are still on Facebook, but the younger generation isn’t,” says Gibson. “My team has a great vision, they’ve pushed me into being more edgy. We still want to be as luxury as possible, but Austin is funky, so I hope we do both of those things well.”

2. WHOLESALE LINE. Gibson recently introduced a wholesale line called Scribe to the industry at large. The line is based on acrostic stylings, with each gemstone representing a letter. The emblematic designs are inspired by European ironwork, antique architecture and nature. A Scribe medallion won 1st Place in the Personalized Jewelry category of this year’s INSTORE Design Awards.

3. CONNECTION THROUGH EVENTS. Creative in-store events are a hallmark of Eliza Page. For Mother’s Day, the store highlighted tennis bracelets and necklaces with a tennis-themed event. It included a balloon arch for photo ops, bouquets for clients, and branded Eliza Page swag with purchase. The team also wore EP-branded tennis sweaters. And for a color-themed trunk show with designer Armenta, the store brought in a person to read clients’ “color aura.”

4. MATERIAL ADVANTAGE. The recent renovation included not only a new hardwood floor, but also a point-of-sale station and built-in desks and cabinetry handmade by a local carpenter out of solid walnut. The meeting table at the back of the store is marble and is surrounded by custom upholstered velvet chairs. An antique wood and glass display case was outfitted with custom-built brass legs in order to combine old with new.

5. NON-TRADITIONAL HIRES. Most of the team at Eliza Page did not have prior jewelry experience. “Having a jewelry background is great, but you can’t train people to be kind and smart and hard-working. So that’s what I’m looking for first,” says Gibson. “I didn’t have a traditional jewelry background when I opened the business. I believe in the individual, that they can rise to the occasion if they want to and we give them the training. We want them to be passionate about the customers and the product.”

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ONLINE EXTRA

What did you envision for the business when you opened the store in 2004?

GIBSON: “We originally designed the store as an open canvas. I wanted it to be a gallery — warmer and more inviting than most jewelry stores. This past year, we created a private room for ear piercings and maybe one day will turn into private diamond showings. We’ve also created a dedicated area for our bridal customers, including a table where we can sit and do the presentation. We have Eliza Page-branded champagne and try to create an intimate experience. We’re a downtown, modern store, so it has more of a downtown vibe than a lot of stores.”

Why did you choose to be in downtown Austin?

GIBSON: “There was probably some naivete in my choice, but I knew it was going to grow downtown. Of course, you have to find parking and often pay for that — although we validate for our clients — but Austinites are used to that. Our customers think independently, they’re individualists. That’s why they shop at boutiques. I had a second location for a while in a shopping center, and clients were always ‘just shopping.’ They weren’t really boutique customers who want something special. Our downtown clients don’t want to look like everybody else.”

What’s the story on your new wholesale collection, Scribe?

GIBSON: “I’ve seen jewelry collections for years, and I got really excited about the acrostic concept. We’ll see. It’s an old concept but we’re modernizing it, and I feel like it has a special story to tell. I’m always thinking about the collection from a business perspective as well as, ‘Are my clients going to like this and sell it? Does it have a great story? Can it be marketed? Can it be passed down?’ Everyone has to carry collections that speak to their brand and business model. About half of what we sell is customized — meaning, they pick their own stones. The other half buy the pieces the way they’re made. It’s a passion project. It has its own personality. I see this as a marathon, not a sprint.”

Did you compare notes with your friend Jennifer Gandia, who owns Greenwich St. Jewelers in New York (our Big Cool winner this year) and created her own wholesale line?

GIBSON: “Yes, Jennifer created her own line as well, called Astra, hand-enameled zodiac. As retailers, we see so much jewelry — and of course we get excited about new jewelry all the time — but we’re probably not moved to the ends of the earth by too many things. We’re not collectors; we’re businesspeople. Jennifer and I were talking about starting our own collections, and we thought, why not? We know how to make it, we understand the markup, we know what the client wants, we know what retailers want. So naturally, if we’re designer-inclined, we would make our own jewelry. We have all of the facilities to do so. It’s really more like a time, money and interest thing.”

Marketing is very important to you. What’s your current approach?

GIBSON: “By combining images of products alongside curated and stylized model shots, we invite people to explore the new, ultimate, everyday luxury in a realistic way. We’ve modernized our approach to connecting with customers by reaching out to them through SMS marketing as well as email campaigns. Creating new lines of communication such as videos on social media has increased our visibility and relatability with our customer base. In our holiday 2022 campaign, we aimed to showcase how jewelry can be a true reflection of one’s inner self, and how it can accentuate an individual’s personality. Our objective was to demonstrate that jewelry can serve as a person’s ultimate accessory. We utilized this campaign extensively across various digital media platforms and also in printed materials. This campaign performed significantly higher digitally and got a much more enthusiastic response from our clients in person than our previous year’s campaign.”

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“As the metaverse quickly evolves, we’ve already seen these types of technologies take hold within different industries,” said Chris Johnson, a partner in Bain’s Technology practice. “A good example of this is immersive gaming platforms, which are already boasting hundreds of millions of monthly active users.

“And while it’s not immediately clear how the metaverse landscape will shift, our research shows there are five competitive battlegrounds that executives should be considering if they wish to get ahead and eventually scale. This is an ongoing journey toward more immersive and collaborative experiences, enabled by rapid improvements in the underlying technology.”

As reported in VMSD magazine’s 2023 forecast issue, several retailers (including Forever 21, and, according to other published reports, such chains as Nike, Charlotte Tilbury and Dior) have been dipping their toes in the metaverse to explore how such technology can be a part of their omnichannel selling efforts.

Click here for more on the Bain & Co. report.

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“This is Stuller’s first chain catalog,” says Alix Gonsoulin, vice president of merchandising. “Chain is a vital link in our industry – so why not make a comprehensive guide to our assortment of chain for jewelry making in addition to chain-related components, repair tools, supplies, and selling systems?” Each of these catalogs also contains a unique selection of features designed to improve a jeweler’s experience and provide them with the best selection of products needed to get the job done.

Highlights from Chain & Components 2024-2025 include

• All things chain and chain-related components and tools in our first comprehensive chain catalog.
• Featured sections such as classic and on-trend chain, men’s chain, custom length chain, permanent jewelry, chain components, and chain repair.
• A permanent jewelry section with our best-selling chains, findings, tools, and equipment.
• New badges indicating Hollow, Permanent Jewelry, and New Expansions.

Highlights from Findings & Metals 2024-2025 include

• More than 1,000 new styles or expanded selections of current bestsellers.
• Enhanced Buyer’s Guides through each section.
• Lab-grown diamond options highlighted with the LG badge and made easy to find at the end of each applicable section.
• New Expansions badge on new sizes or qualities added.
• Additional pricing through the Fabricated Metals sections.
• Addition of item numbers within Fabricated Metals to make ordering easier.

“With the busy holiday season approaching, these two resources, when used together, will help jewelers craft their customers’ dream jewelry,” says Tiffany Adams, executive director of findings, tools, and metals. “Our hope is that they become important resources for every jeweler’s business.”

Learn more about each of these catalogs, visit here and here.

About Stuller

In 1970, Matthew Stuller founded Stuller Inc. headquartered in Lafayette, Louisiana. The prime manufacturer provides a wide range of goods and services for jewelry professionals worldwide. Stuller’s core product categories include bridal jewelry, wedding bands, fine jewelry, mountings, diamonds, gemstones, findings, metals, tools, packaging, and digital solutions.

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“It’s great to be back in Chicago,” said Trace Shelton, editor-in-chief of INSTORE. “Watching the Bench Pressure Challenge take place again and seeing so many familiar faces has been such a pleasure.”

The INSTORE Show aims to be a premier trade event for independent fine jewelry professionals, including jewelry store owners, managers and buyers, as well as industry suppliers. Keynote speaker and award-winning marketer and cultural translator Marcus Collins addressed a packed room of retailers on Sunday morning in his “A Cultural Look at Consumer Meaning-Making and Brand Consecration,” while more seminars took place throughout the day. Another highlight? The Bench Pressure Challenge, organized by MJSA, which is happening on the show floor. More seminars are taking place each day of the show.

Retailer attendees expressed delight in being able to attend the show not only for the 200 booths on the exhibition floor but to soak up the education for which the INSTORE brand is known. “This show offers a lot of great seminars geared toward sales staff,” said Mark Binkley of Cooper & Binkley Jewelers, Brighton, MI. “We brought 8 out of 10 of our staffers.”

Vendors, too, had a robust first day, with a line of merchants queuing up early to start shopping.

“We are very happy,” says Sebastian Velasquez of INOX Men’s Jewelry. “This show is bringing in a lot of people whom we haven’t seen in a while or don’t go to other shows. We met store owners we’ve wanted to work with, and we’ve already signed up 16 new accounts.”

For more information, log onto  theinstoreshow.com or direct any questions to INSTORE staff at info@theinstoreshow.com.

About The INSTORE Show 2023

The INSTORE Show 2023 offers exhibitors the opportunity to connect with highly engaged buyers who will come to discover the latest curated products, services and innovations. This is a must-participate event for suppliers, designers, manufacturers and service providers who are industry mainstays as well as those who are shaping the future of the jewelry industry. Review the Exhibitor Prospectus and Application here or email exhibit@theinstoreshow.com to learn more!

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to America’s Coolest Stores 2023!

Our six America’s Coolest and additional 10 Cool Stores — each of which will be featured in INSTORE issues through summer 2024 — represent outstanding achievements in creativity, marketing savvy, company culture and individuality.

Each year, judges with expertise in architecture and store design, retail operations, visual merchandising, marketing and branding evaluate stores in multiple categories: the brand story, the look, the marketing, online presence, and what we here at INSTORE believe is the key to cool — individuality. As in past years, we divided the entries into two categories: Big Cool and Small Cool, based on staff size.

There is no one secret formula for being cool. And that may be the point. Each store is cool in its own way, and this year’s winners are cool in many ways that set them apart.

AMERICA’S COOLEST STORES 2023 SPONSORS

Greenwich St. Jewelers is designed to reflect its downtown New York environment, both pretty and gritty. Owners Jennifer Gandia and Christina Gandia Gambale demonstrate a commitment to maintaining a full-service shop in their Tribeca community and a dedication to sustainability and diversity within their company and within the jewelry industry as a whole.

Eliza Page was the first retail business to open in the 2nd Street District in downtown Austin. The original store was designed by owner Elizabeth Gibson with a flexibility that anticipated the recent renovation and updates, during which a permanent bracelet station and a private ear piercing room were added.

If you haven’t taken the time to enter yet, please consider doing so when we open the contest for entries again this month. Retailers have told us that the application process alone is motivational because it requires them to assess all aspects of their businesses and get around to things they’d been putting off, like having professional photos taken of their store interior and head shots of themselves.

And if you entered and weren’t chosen this time, feel free to update your entry and try again.

Thanks to all who took the time to enter this year.

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