ModernJeweler.com |

Consolidation. It's the byword of the 21st century jewelry industry. A drive down certain American highways, however, unveils a different picture. It's of that trusted downtown jeweler, the mom-and-pop whose market share seemed so threatened as the 20th century came to a close. The billboards and radio ads tell you he's now in the adjacent town as well. He's 20 miles up the road, too, or 300 miles down, and across the state line.

And he hasn't just expanded. As you enter the new locations, you'll see much the same look, brands, and in-store experience that brought you to his original door.

And crucially, in the back office you'll learn his business is defined by that same feeling of community that kept you a customer when Zales came to town. Have a kid in Little League? The new store's manager may well be his coach. A favorite Friday night restaurant? He may have a cross-promotion going, or offer concierge service. A defining local event, business group, or charity? A treasured summer retreat or alma mater? He may be a sponsor, be on the board, be your neighbor, and if he's not your fellow alum, he may be taking on students as summer interns.

The four multi-door retailers interviewed for this story had different goals, needs, and methods. All agree that the trick to expanding—a mixture of science, intuition, and friendly bankers—is maintaining the flagship's premise. Think of it as globalism in miniature. The real action takes place in the backyard. Yours must be the store in its niche, no matter what (or where) that niche may be.

In the words of Craig Rottenberg, whose family is currently looking at a seventh door for Boston-area Long's Jewelers, "We've evolved into a destination." For a jeweler, that means branding, the ones you carry and/or the store itself. "I'm a believer," says Virginia Beach's David Nygaard, who has grown from four to 40 employees in three years of expansion, "that brands, like politics, all start local."

MOVING ON UP

Long's, in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. David Nygaard, one Virginia Beach door to six in the Hampton Roads market, and currently looking across the state line to North Carolina's Chowan River area, where Nygaard has a summer property. Bernie Robbins Fine Jewelry, soon to be ten doors in the New Jersey and Philadelphia area. Ware Jewelers, Auburn, Alabama, grown from a college town staple begun by his father on a $5,000 loan 50 years ago, to four doors in the state.

They're hardly the first retailers who've tried to expand. "The early eighties saw a lot of attempts," remembers Fantasy Diamond president Louis Price, "and a lot of failures." Over-expansion led to financial failures, errors of management or sustaining a correct price point and merchandise balance, and to loss of personal customer service. By the decade's end, the big chains were very big, and had begun to swallow local markets. "The guys who are succeeding now," says Price, "are more cautious. They know how to leverage their strengths—the quality of their people and the intimacy they can offer. They also tend to be going upscale as they expand."