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Dominick and Kim Rodriguez of Romantique Jewelers are the recipients of The Edge Retail Academy’s annual award for retail excellence.
Dominick and Kim Rodriguez are the recipients of the 2023 William “Wag” Wagner award for business excellence. Their store, Romantique Jewelers, has been serving the St. Louis area for 43 years.
St. Louis—Dominick and Kim Rodriguez are the winners of The Edge Retail Academy’s (ERA) William “Wag” Wagner Business Excellence Award for 2023.
Named in honor of William Wagner, who died in 2018, the award is presented annually to the retail jeweler that has achieved the most exceptional business growth in the past 12 months.
“The award has two goals,” said ERA President David Brown.
“One, to acknowledge business excellence from independent retailers and, two, to honor the memory of long-serving ERA Business Advisor William ‘Wag’ Wagner, whose service, loyalty, and advice went well beyond the expectations of our clients, his work colleagues, and our company.”
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Named in honor of William Wagner, who died in 2018, the award is presented annually to the retail jeweler that has achieved the most exceptional business growth in the past 12 months.
“The award has two goals,” said ERA President David Brown.
“One, to acknowledge business excellence from independent retailers and, two, to honor the memory of long-serving ERA Business Advisor William ‘Wag’ Wagner, whose service, loyalty, and advice went well beyond the expectations of our clients, his work colleagues, and our company.”
Dominick and Kim, who own Romantique Jewelers in St. Louis, increased their sales by 16 percent, raised gross profit by 20 percent, and increased their gross margin by more than 3 percent, Brown noted.
Dominick said, “With the help of Robyn Holzrichter, our Edge Retail Academy business advisor, we implemented strategies to get our inventory healthier.
“We decreased our overall inventory by over $100,000 and reduced our aged inventory by over $200,000.”
In addition to the physical award (pictured above), Dominick and Kim received a check for $1,000.
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