Retail Profiles
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Jeweler taps into innovation
By Michelle Graff
August 25, 2009
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| An Albany, N.Y., jeweler is using a bar stocked with wine and beer to market the store as a cozy, non-intimidating place to shop--especially for young bridal customers. |
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Albany, N.Y.--Jeff Weiss and his staff went through three architects before they settled on one who they were confident could capture the vision they had for Glennpeter Jewelers' first-ever standalone store.
To step inside Glennpeter Jewelers Diamond Centre is to understand what all the hand-wringing was about. This is no ordinary jewelry store--unless you consider a bar with built-in showcases, a 10-foot fireplace and a room for children's birthday parties commonplace for jewelry stores these days. (For more on the store's kid-friendly features visit our 10X blog.)
Weiss and his business partner, Glennpeter Jewelers President David Blackmore, knew the concept for their Albany, N.Y., store (created by architect Bob Bucher of Design Logic Architects in Albany) was unusual--and that was precisely the point.
"For me, it's got to be fun, it's got to be an experience," Weiss says. "Any jewelry store sells jewelry, so [we asked] what can we do to define ourselves to make it an experience that is not given in the area?"
In doing so, Weiss and his team zoomed in on one of the main problems retail experts have with jewelry stores: Shoppers find them boring and intimidating.
The jewelry shopping experience ranked middle-of-the-road among those surveyed as part of a three-year study conducted in 2005-2008 by advertising firm JWT, which handles U.S. marketing for De Beers.
Very few survey respondents--just 3 percent--said they found the jewelry shopping experience fun, while 4 percent said they found jewelry stores innovative and even fewer, 1 percent, found them welcoming.
Participating retail expert Paco Underhill was not nearly as kind as the surveyed shoppers, calling the jewelry retail shopping experience "among the worst he's seen."
Weiss, who had a sense that the jewelry-shopping experience could use an upgrade, understands the gripes of jewelry consumers.
"In the mall environment, it's about traffic coming in and out," he says. "I've been to high-end jewelry stores and you feel like you don't belong. It's very intimidating."
With this new 7,000-square-foot store, Weiss thinks the team has gotten it just right.
Bottoms up
A lot of retailers have made offering customers a cold beverage a custom, but Weiss raised the bar--literally--on the retail refreshment game.
The Diamond Centre's wine-and-beer bar, and the adjacent 10-foot fireplace, are designed to make couples feel as if they are on a relaxing weekend date, removing some of the anxiety inherent to spending thousands of dollars on a life-changing decision.
"It takes that fear of 'Hey, I'm in this jewelry store and I'm going to be spending a lot of money,' out of the equation," Weiss says.
Both industry marketing expert Ellen Fruchtman and retail consultant Kate Newlin--for whom the thought of jewelry stores summons the words "formal" and "museum-like"--applaud the Diamond Centre for its innovation.
Fruchtman says jewelers might also want to look to purveyors of other luxury items, such as cars and clothes, for cues on what to offer.
"What about the art gallery around the corner? I bet they have comfortable seating to lounge and take it all in," she says. "What about the high-end clothing boutique across the street? I bet they offer you something to drink, have a comfortable dressing room and fashionable decor."
On the other hand, Newlin, of New York-based Kate Newlin Consulting, is not sold on the bar concept because she fears it could distract visitors from the shopping mindset, or tempt shoppers into having a few too many and regretting purchases later.
"It's mixing two metaphors," says Newlin, author of Shopportunity!, which examines how great retail experiences are created. "One is a leisure activity and one is a shopping activity."
Weiss says the store has addressed that concern.
To avoid becoming popular for the wrong reasons, the Diamond Centre took steps to avoid being confused for the corner pub: Two jewelry display windows are built into the bar top and there's a two-drink maximum per person, he says.
Also, per the type of state liquor license the store obtained, the Diamond Centre just serves beer and wine, so there is no mixing of vodka cocktails or shaking of martinis.
"We didn't want it to be a real bar bar," Weiss says, adding that to his knowledge, the store hasn't had any regretful customers return a piece they purchased after a couple of glasses of red wine.
Some red tape
Before retailers start tapping kegs of craft beer in the hopes of competing with the local watering hole, Jewelers Vigilance Committee (JVC) Assistant General Counsel Suzan Flamm says owners need to check with their state's liquor authority to see what the laws are regarding alcohol service.
The New York State Liquor Authority, for instance, dictates that establishments must have a state-issued license to serve any amount of alcohol, complimentary or not, says spokesman Bill Crowley.
This also applies to special events, for which one-day liquor licenses are available.
"That's really the only way you can do it, even if you just want to give [drinks] away," Crowley says.
Before opening the bar, Weiss obtained a Tavern Wine License, which allows the store to sell or provide complimentary beer and wine but not hard liquor, Crowley says.
The Diamond Centre is the only retail jewelry store in the state to currently hold a liquor license of any kind, Weiss says.
"To our knowledge, it's the only jewelry store in the state that has a license," says Crowley, confirming that assertion. The cost of the Tavern Wine License Weiss obtained for the store is $370 a year, which includes filing fees.
In New York State, the cost of liquor licenses varies by region; for example, the same license in New York City would be $676, also including filing fees.
The JVC also advises retailers looking to pub-up their retail experience to inform their insurance company of their intentions so that they can ensure proper coverage.
Tough time to open
The Diamond Centre opened last year on Black Friday, which normally commands brisk post-Thanksgiving traffic but ended up being a dark day for many retailers after last September's economic implosion.
The downturn cast a ghostly pall over the entire 2008 holiday shopping season, giving jewelers little reason for retail cheer. So how is the Diamond Centre doing, given its inopportune opening date?
"I'm not looking at sales," Weiss says. "I'm looking at the relationships we make with our people. I know some jewelers are having a tough time, but our store's a winner already."
In its first year of business, the Diamond Centre has already outpaced sales at Glennpeter Jewelers' four other locations in New York's capital region, including another store in Albany suburb Colonie, plus locations in Saratoga Springs, Rotterdam and Clifton Park.
While Weiss remains upbeat, it's clear that even the most imaginative store design in the world can't bring in customers who simply don't have the money to shop for jewelry right now.
A case in point is India-based retailer Tanishq, which ran a chain of stores noted for breathing fresh air into the retail jewelry concept by creating a spa-like atmosphere that included a plethora of plants and running water.
Despite its relaxed vibe and recession-friendly price points--and being supported by a large Indian-based jewelry manufacturer, Titan Industries Ltd.--Tanishq shuttered both of its U.S. stores in July, after less than a year in business.
Despite this type of news, Weiss refuses to brood over the economic downturn, and says he's more concerned about getting his staff ready to ring up sales this holiday season.
In the next few months, he expects the Diamond Centre to be packed, with all of the past year's relationship-building and hard work accumulating to create a blizzard of sales.
After all, the staff likes to call their customers "friends," and they've created an atmosphere designed to make shoppers feel as if they are entering a store where everybody knows their name.
"I think we're going to have a phenomenal Christmas," Weiss says.
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