Bring Out the Booze and They Will Come!

I opened the new store October 5^th—a soft opening of course, and celebrated with our Grand Opening this past weekend. I didn’t see as much revenue as I expected but word was definitely out that there is a new jeweler in town.

The concept of our new store focuses on the shopping experience. I have a plasma screen on the wall behind our 12foot all granite bar. Yes, we have a bar foot rail, bar stools, and we serve wine, beer, coffee, and tea. Most men never want to go jewelry shopping so we’ve made it a place they can sit, relax, and watch the game, while there wives, fiancés, or girlfriends pick out what they like and then they can break away for a bit to help their partner decide, pack, pay, and go.

I have never had such a response to this type of store—in all seriousness many people have asked me:

1. Do you have to have a liquor license?
2. How do you handle insurance?
3. How to handle how many drinks to serve?

In the state of North Carolina, as long as you serve and do not charge for drinks you do not need an ABC license. I serve my customers wine, beer, coffee, or tea. At a large event like the Grand Opening we should have had a bartender because a professional bartender usually carries insurance, will not serve a minor, and are trained to know when to cut somebody off. My husband was playing bar tender and we did card individuals who we felt were under the age of thirty, we had a sheriff present on premises during the entire event, and we served only one glass to each person. You can spend for my liability insurance whenever you are throwing such and event and should consider doing. If you have any questions on handling the bar issue—email me at shanu@gulianis.com

Overall the event went real well—everyone was talking about our concept, enjoyed perusing with a drink in hand and loved walking up on the red carpet before entering the store.

What kind of shopping experience does your store offer?

I just got a new computer with Vista and the programs are very different—I can’t figure out how to crop a picture. I will post them later this week or email me if you’d like to see.