What major goal do you have for your store in 2019, and how do you plan to achieve it?
We’re on the board of our local boutique district, and our biggest goal is to promote local shopping in our area. We realize we absolutely have to focus on our return customers—they keep the doors open. We launched a VIP program and a campaign, and we’re really concentrating on creating experiences for the customers: events with multiple stores and other collaborations. It all leads to an elevated experience for our shoppers. We also want to grow our social media; we’re selling directly off Instagram now, and people are loving that.
—Katya Ananieva, co-owner. She’s Unique, Alexandria, Va., shopshesunique.com
I’m working on trying to engage the local community more. I’m hoping to host more events in the store—we brought in a few new local brands and some artists who do crafts, not jewelry, and I feel like we can introduce them to people in fun ways. And I’d like to do more events with other local businesses. I’d also like to get back to designing jewelry personally. I’d like to refocus and come up with some great new lines!
—Meg Carroll, owner, Meg C Jewelry Gallery, Lexington, Ky., megcgallery.com
I’d like to freshen the sales floor—give it a new look, get new carpeting, buy some new displays, and bulk up our inventory a little more. Then we have the goal we always have, of getting well prepared for our busy periods: Mother’s Day, Easter, and June graduations.
—James K. Smith, owner, Smith Jewelry, Princeton, Ind.
We opened the store recently, so my goal is to let people know we’re here. We’ve done newspaper and radio, and we’ll be looking at some other [outlets]. We’re trying to do anything and everything to become a part of the community—we’re going to events, focusing on local happenings. We need to get the word out that I want you, as someone shopping for jewelry, to sit down and design a piece of jewelry with me!
—Kirk Bertram, co-owner, Bertram’s Jewelry Studio, Tomah, Wis., bertramsjewelrystudio.com