Retail jewelers and their staff work hard to be heroes in the eyes of their customers. Jason Druxman, co-owner of Avenue
Jewelers, took his “Diamond Stud” identity to superhero status in the recent
swimsuit (June-July) issue of FOX CITIES
Magazine.
This week’s Retailer Spotlight shines on Druxman for taking his store and branding
identity to higher heights by appearing in and on the cover of a local
magazine’s hotly anticipated swimsuit issue—the 10th anniversary swimsuit
issue, no less. 

Based in Appleton, Wis.,
Druxman and his fellow Appletonians reside in a network of communities that are
part of the Fox Cities—the cities, towns, and villages along
northeastern Wisconsin’s Fox
River. FOX CITIES Magazine’s (circulation:
60,000) is a monthly things-to-do-around-town/local lifestyle magazine that serves
Fox Cities’ residents.

For the last 10 years of FOX
CITIES Magazine’s 28 years of publishing, each June-July publication is
the swimsuit issue. “Selecting individuals to appear in our annual swimsuit
issue isn’t so much a matter of systematization, but more a matter of
nabbing the right individuals—those who would open up to the
kitschiness of this issue and have fun with it!” says associate editor Alison Fiebig. 

“We try to diversify our selection, and this year, Jason Druxman
represented the ‘Appleton
business owner’ category. Occasionally, we will have a business professional
express interest in being featured, but in most cases, it’s a year’s worth of
searching on our end. Sometimes it takes several years to finally convince
someone.”

It took two years for FOX
CITIES Magazine to catch up with Druxman, a current advertiser with the
magazine. When Druxman met with the editor in chief about his ad in the
magazine in 2009, the store owner asked how the editorial staff chooses the
local personalities to model swimwear in the swimsuit issue. The editor’s
response included an invite to be part of a swimsuit issue. Druxman agreed to
the offer at the time and didn’t think much of it…until his phone rang
in late spring this year.  

Six years ago, Druxman created an informal store policy
asking each employee to develop a fun store name
that emphasized a staff member’s specialty in serving store customers.
Druxman’s moniker, the “Diamond Stud,” became more than just a fun store name. He
has built it up to become a powerful promotional personality for his radio and
TV commercials.

Given full creative license to come up with an idea for the
personality he wanted to embellish for the swimsuit issue photo shoot, Druxman
wanted to take the Diamond Stud to super-hero status.

Award-winning
Wisconsin-based editorial and
commercial photographer David Jackson ran with the idea. Jackson liked the superhero concept and
resulting images so much that Druxman was featured in swimsuit story’s two-page
opening spread and the cover. 

“I was really surprised not only being asked to participate
but also the prominent editorial placement in the story and on the cover,” says
Druxman. “When the June-July issue was sent out and on newsstands, it created
a lot of buzz for us. Customer calls, emails and text messages poured in. They
did a great job.”

Photo copyrights DAVIDEJACKSON | STUDIOS (Appleton, Wis.)
Photo courtesy of
FOX CITIES Magazine

JCK