Cheryl Burchell Goldsmiths serves the local population of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, but would like to tap more into the area’s tourist market.
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho-- In 50 Jewelers/50 States, National Jeweler interviews one retailer in each of the 50 U.S. states to find out how they are meeting the challenges of the changing retail environment.
Cheryl Burchell Goldsmiths set up shop in 1999 in Coeur D’Alene, Idaho, a small city that’s best known as a vacation destination, attracting visitors to its vast, picturesque lake.
Owner Cheryl Burchell started her career in the jewelry industry as a bench jeweler and those skills are still at the heart of her business.
National Jeweler spoke with Burchell about surviving a difficult retail environment through her custom work, her signature design, and what keeps her store competitive in the digital age.
Cheryl Burchell founded Cheryl Burchell Goldsmiths in 1999 in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Her store is approximately 3,000 square feet. Burchell employs five people full time and two people part time.
National Jeweler: What’s the biggest challenge your store is facing?
Cheryl Burchell: Getting new walk-ins. Also, imparting the knowledge of how affordable jewelry is from a custom jewelry store. People tend to think that everything is terribly expensive.
It’s a whole knowledge and perception thing. The challenge is just letting customers know that it’s affordable to come into a jewelry store, many things are done without charge and we’ll always take care of you.
It’s really easy for folks to think, “Oh, it’s a nice jewelry store, so I can’t afford it,” when I actually have things in here for $20 and $40 that are silver and not plated like the jewelry they get from the big-box stores, T.J. Maxx and Ross.
NJ: Describe your regional customer.
CB: It’s our local and surrounding area. I would say our local people are working families. We do have many wealthy visitors to the area and those are the people I’m trying to pull in also.
NJ: What’s the gender breakdown?
CB: It always starts out with the female because they’re not afraid to come into a jewelry store.
The reason the Fred Meyer formula works is because their “jewelry store” has no doors so men can sort of wander in and not feel like they’re going to be oppressed. It’s a brilliant deal.
We’re also really working on getting--I hate to say the word--millennials here, and to get them to realize that they can create a relationship with a jewelry store for life.
are middle-aged, but I have a lot of young ones too and they’re the ones who are going to sustain you for the rest of your life as you become that family jeweler for a couple of generations.
Cheryl Burchell
NJ: What’s the top-selling item and brand at your store?
CB: Our top-selling piece is from our brand. It’s our signature piece, which we call the “Heart Like an Awl.” That’s our copyrighted, trademarked signature piece of jewelry. It comes in three different sizes, in a pendant and a ring.
Coeur d’Alene means heart like an awl. There used to be several Native American tribes in the area and the Iroquois were French-speaking and they said, watch out for the lake people, they have a heart like an awl, meaning they were sharp traders.
Everyone used to have an awl in their horse pack or with their leather goods. An awl was sort of like the universal tool of the time.
NJ: What’s the most popular style of engagement ring with your clientele?
CB: It’s still the halo.
Although what I will say is that the John Bagley jewelry that I’ve got in, I’m purposely not buying anything halo (from him) and people are loving the small selection of his jewelry that I do have, which is a cleaner look without all the micro-pave. They’re really gravitating toward that.
You know the younger people can’t really afford a super designer ring but I would say that they’re getting a little simpler; they’re kind of pulling away from the micro-pave.
The round brilliant is still the most popular diamond shape and of course rose gold is coming up with the white gold. I am selling a little more yellow, though, but mostly everything is white with some rose accents.
We’re doing more and more wedding rings for our younger customers. The biggest issue with young people is money so trying to get in-store financing is an issue, which is what the big-box stores offer. We’re working on that. We have that with Wells Fargo but we really need a more industry-friendly credit. That’s a huge thing.
Nobody just goes in and drops $10,000 or $5,000 on a wedding ring unless they’re planners. We’re using more moissanite and colored stones for center stones now because a lot of young ones don’t want diamonds.
But I would say that credit is a big issue.
Here is an example of Cheryl Burchell’s “Heart Like an Awl” pendant
NJ: What’s your social media presence like? What accounts do you have or actively use?
CB: Our biggest is still Facebook. We get the most play off of Facebook. You have to pay everybody (to run social media accounts). If you want anybody to take the garbage out, you have to pay them.
I’m working with a web guy and we’ve got to get a young person to do the Instagram and possibly start doing some Pinterest.
NJ: Are you interested in e-commerce in the future?
CB: Oh yeah, I’m setting my current website up and we’re going to really try to do the e-commerce heavily.
We started our first website 16 years ago. I’ve had three.
The idea with e-commerce is to get me making one-of-a-kind amazing pieces so that I can put them out there across the country. When tourists do come into my store, they love our work but we suffer from not having the kind of jewelers we need in the area. It’s tough to get the work done. I’m doing so much custom.
Ninety percent of what brings in the income here is custom and repair. It’s some bridal but it’s also a lot of second-hand rings and making things out of people’s jewelry that they no longer wear and creating really pretty pieces for them. What’s sustaining this whole industry for the mom-and-pop stores is the custom.
NJ: What’s the best piece of advice you’d offer to other independent jewelry stores?
CB: Stay current and stay kind.
I say “stay current” because there are so many young people whose ideas and perceptions of jewelry are changing very fast and, through publications like yours and what not, we can learn about what people want. We think we know because we’ve been here so long, but what they want and what we think they should have are sometimes two different things.
So, stay current with fun silver, stay current with adjustable chains, stay current with the trending looks. You know everybody wants the morganite, so have a morganite in the dang store so the young ones can see something that’s familiar to them because they’re seeing it all over the internet. It’s kind of what you have to do. I am blown away every day from what I see on Pinterest. I can’t believe what’s out there.
When I say “stay kind,” I mean stay kind to your people. Offer service. Service is the only thing we have. We can’t compete with the internet and we can’t compete with the Costcos of the world on price. We can compete with our personalities and our graciousness and our ability to help people.
NJ: What’s a fun fact about you we can share with our readers?
CB: We’re very friendly. It’s a fun store to come in. We have fun, the music’s going; it’s always different. We’re gem-o-holics here. I’m a pearl-o-holic and a gem-o-holic. So people can always see something new and different here.
We’re going to do more agates and interesting oddball rocks and artists’ kind of jewelry, which is kind of a fun fact because that’s really where I started, drilling holes in seashells as a kid.
Ashley Davisis the senior editor, fashion at National Jeweler, covering all things related to design, style and trends.
