Shanu Singh Guliani

I Wanna Take My Store from Just Bridal to a Place of Fashion Too!
July 13, 2007

I always thought it was all about bridal—and I definitely think it use to be. It use to be so easy…guy comes in looking for a solitaire diamond and based on what he tells us or what we find out about her we’d point him in the direction of the “perfect ring.”

Nowadays, I think “women have the power.” They pick up their favorite magazine, point out the shape and the style, and send their men on a wild goose chase to find the perfect ring. That’s the way we see bridal at our store—oh and the four C’s and the having to compete with the net, and the stores down the street selling a 1 carat for $2500.

It’s tough—and luckily because “women have more power,” they are buying for themselves by themselves. So, how do you take your store from bridal to a place of fashion too?  Besides buying into the hottest fashion lines such as many sterling and colored stones lines which are hot and so are the price points—you need to make your store a place of fashion. My suggestions below and I’m always looking for yours:

1. Add a full length mirror in your store. Whether it be a ring or bracelet women love to stand up in front of a mirror and check out their jewelry with their clothes—being able to check your make-up at the same time is always a plus too.
2. Add a small dressing room where women can try on their formal wear and their jewelry at the same time. If you store size is tight you might consider changing the look of your bathroom. Add some hooks on the back door, add a demi-table to freshen up, and keep it tidier than usual.
3. Have your employees wear the latest trends to show them off.
4. Add a celebrity fashion course to your weekly meetings. For example, have a sales associate a week gather up the latest trends celebrities are wearing and promote those pieces—of course with stories like, “Did you know that yellow gold is back—take a look at Sarah Michelle Geller, and Angelina Jolie in the latest trends.”
5. Instead of looping all the bridal Ads on that huge plasma screen—show some red carpet events with celebrities wearing the hottest trends.
6. Gather some of your best female customers and bring in some of the latest designs—get their opinions on what they’d love to see more of. They’ll be telling all their friends that they helped get those pieces into the store.
7. Bring a savvy fashion consultant in to talk about the latest purses and which types of jewelry you have to have with that bag.

I’m out of ideas—please feel free to add some more.

Posted by Shanu Singh Guliani on July 13, 2007 | Comments (3)