Thollot Jewelers’ outreach to local TV network affiliate definitely paid off

Here’s a retail story that illustrates just how big a payoff can be when pursuing strategic alliances for your store.

Troy Thollot, who co-owns Thollot Jewelers in Thornton, Colo., with his wife, Joy, had been reaching out to the local network TV affiliates in nearby Denver for “quite some time” to explore marketing opportunities, he says.  

So when the Extreme Weight Loss series was filming locally and needed a jeweler to create an engagement ring for a couple on the show, Thollot was top of mind for the Denver-based ABC affiliate, who recommended Thollot Jewelers to the show’s producers.

“For quite some time I’d been attempting to get notice from the local affiliates, trying to position the store as the local diamond store in the area,” explains Troy. “This is not a small market, so I’m always working on that.”

Courtesy ABC/Thollot Jewelers

The couple who won the Thollot Jewelers ring lost a total of 272 pounds on Extreme Weight Loss

The show’s producer initially reached out to Troy. The pair “haggled over a contract for quote some time,” the retailer reports, until “we were eventually able to get it done.”

Getting it done meant creating a custom diamond engagement ring for bride Tiffany Kasunich—with input from her groom, Cain Myers. “We had a really good idea of what she wanted,” recalls Troy. “Cain told us she wanted a round- or cushion-cut diamond at around a carat or a carat and a half.”

Thollot partnered with New York City–based diamond company Hasenfeld-Stein, using one of the firm’s signature FireCushion diamonds—which feature cut-out bellies that increase the overall brilliance of the stone—in the classic 1.54 ct. diamond design.

“It was just a stunning diamond,” recalls Troy. FireCushions are about 15 to 20 percent larger than typical cushions of the same weight, with uniform brilliance and an average 95 percent light return, according to the company. 

In the show, the happy couple was challenged by host Chris Powell to lose more weight than any two-person team had lost in the history of the show. If they could do it, they would win the pricey diamond ring.

And they did it! The sweethearts lost a total of 272 pounds—setting the record for a two-person team on the show—and ultimately got married on the episode that aired June 23.

Troy, the store, and the ring were together featured “for maybe a minute” within in the two-hour episode. But Thollot’s clients and friends definitely registered the TV appearance.

“The reaction has been amazing,” says Troy. “People we haven’t spoken to in years have been reaching out, saying they saw us on the show. It’s been fun getting some recognition,” he adds. “It’s been keeping me busy, and that’s a good thing.”

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