Dan Schuyler admits he’s been in the jewelry industry for more than 25 years and never received an award. All that changed when he opened Lily & Co. three years ago with his business partner Karen Bell. After 11 months in business the co-owners of Lily & Co. took home Best Jeweler of the Island Award from The Breeze, a local community newspaper.
Since the store’s opening in 2006, the business partners have brought home the award each year. Locally the store co-owners have also garnered awards for their creative ads using Lily, a 5-year-old Labradoodle and the store’s namesake, with industry recognition coming from JCK magazine in 2006-2009 when the store was voted one of the top-10 Designer Retailer Jewelers.
Schuyler attributes the award-winning successes to a culmination of his many years in the gem and jewelry industry combined with Bell’s networking savvy. He also stressed that their charitable efforts, ranging from national groups such as the American Cancer Society to many local groups including the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation (an organization dedicated to the preservation of natural resources and wildlife habitat on and around Southwest Florida’s barrier islands), have been a leading factor in quickly establishing their store as a "jewelry gallery" in the Sanibel, Florida, market. "Community outreach really has been a major part of our visibility in the community," says Schuyler.
As if to celebrate their awards, Bell and Schuyler broke ground on an 800-square-feet expansion project in early September. The extra space will allow the business owners to add 11 jewelry showcases, which will make room for new lines of men’s jewelry, women’s jewelry and accessories as well as new children’s jewelry collections.
The grand reopening that will showcase a grand total of 1,600 square feet of retail space is scheduled for November 28, the Saturday after Black Friday. The store owners have already booked their first event for the soon-to-be newly expanded store with a TAG Heuer watch and Porsche car event on December 4.
Senior Editor Jennifer Heebner contributed to this story.
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