With all the shows that have taken place since the start of the year, February seems like a lifetime ago. That was the month I traveled to Albuquerque, N.M., to help judge the 2013 Saul Bell Design Awards. While there, I took an afternoon to visit jewelry stores. Among them was the Paseo Del Norte street location of Lilly Barrack, a retailer in the area with two stores, as well as a manufacturer that wholesales its Southwest-inspired silver styles at JCK Las Vegas. My fellow Rio Grande judge Phaedra Rayner, vice president of her mother’s eponymous firm, works at the store, and she showed me around their beautiful, airy space.
The first bank of cases you see when you walk into the store.
Floor-to-ceiling windows ensure the store is filled with light.
Most displays feature silver jewelry strewn across granite remnants—less expensive than perfect cuts.
More granite displays
More granite displays
Colorful notebooks and a few traditional jewelry forms complete the in-store jewelry displays.
One long case of sale merchandise is also the only case containing memo goods in store. “It’s closeout items and discontinued inventory from other manufacturers, and it’s also the only place in the store where we have memo goods,” says Phaedra Rayner, vice president of Lilly Barrack in Albuquerque. “We buy all of other stock.”
Gifts like candles are also part of Lilly Barrack’s merchandise.
More candles, as well as frames, and small pieces of porcelain and art, comprise the giftware selection.
More floor-to-ceiling windows in the front of the store facing the Sandia Mountains. It was a cloudy day when I visited, but can you imagine the view on a clear day? Gorgeous.
Store staffers, from left: Jimmy, Phaedra Rayner, and Deborah
From the parking lot, a closer look at the Sandia Mountains. Not a bad backdrop for Lilly Barrack’s business!
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