“For us, this is a new generation business,” said Diamond Vault of Troy owner Randy Cole, who founded the business with his partner Timothy Mayer in 2004. “I’m not the same type as other stores. All of my showcases are in a big, lock-in vault. The customer shops in the vault. We help people not to be taken advantage of. It’s the same philosophy in diamonds. We work very hard for the client.”
Troy, Mich.--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.
Before Randy Cole opened Troy, Michigan store Diamond Vault of Troy with business partner Timothy Mayer in 2004, he spent decades learning the jewelry industry from a different perspective.
“I was in wholesale for 20 years,” said Cole. “It’s hard, but retail is even harder.”
Difficulties aside, in a little over 10 years, Diamond Vault of Troy has established itself as Michigan’s premier engagement ring destination.
The proof is in the reviews, which across The Knot, Google and Yelp, are consistently stellar.
National Jeweler spoke with Cole about the importance of embracing jewelry technology and how reaching millennials also connects you with their older, less-technology-fluent family members.
Established in 2004, Diamond Vault of Troy is 3,530 square feet and employees nine people.
National Jeweler: What’s the biggest challenge your store is facing?
Randy Cole: Synthetic diamonds. It’s become a problem over the last probably 18 months. It’s going to get worse for everyone.
The problem is about detection and disclosing that a stone is synthetic. There are parcels of diamonds being salted with synthetics. If the retailer assumes that the supplier is checking, they could be in trouble.
If you don’t get the right equipment how can you tell? A few years from now, jewelers will be buying diamonds from the public, just like they do now. However, the diamond they buy could be synthetic. Perhaps the person who bought the stone knew it was lab-grown but told the life partner it was a real, natural diamond. Now the life partner is selling and the jeweler is buying, thinking it is real.
When they resell the diamond, it could be a disaster.
NJ: What’s the top-selling category and brand at your store?
RC: Bridal. Frederic Sage, Beverly K, Peter Storm and Precision Set are probably our top brands.
NJ: Who is your regional customer?
RC: We’re 90 percent bridal and bridal really expands over all the ages.
Our customers are the type of customers who are seeking knowledge to understand truth. That’s the best way to put it. They don’t want to be talked down to; they want to be talked to. They want knowledge; they don’t want to be embarrassed. So we educate every single customer before we even show them diamonds.
talk about their needs. We want to understand them; we’re great listeners. I don’t care if I sell what I have or if we have to get something else. It doesn’t matter. I want them to get what they want.
NJ: What about the gender breakdown?
RC: Our bridal clients are probably 5 percent women coming in on their own, 20 percent men coming in on their own and the rest are couples.
NJ: What’s the most popular style of engagement ring with your clientele now?
RC: I would say more on the simple side. That could be a simple solitaire or something that just has diamonds on the top of the shank, with or without a halo.
Round diamonds have always been the queen. Cushion has been extremely strong and then the oval has been strong for us for three years--we were two years ahead of the trend. I think oval is pretty much in demand all over the country right now.
We sell FireMark and FireCushion by Hasenfeld-Stein and it is unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable for a branded diamond.
White gold, 14-karat, is the most popular metal we sell for bridal.
NJ: Which social media accounts are important to your business?
RC: We have been winners with The Knot six years in a row as part of their Best of Weddings awards and we’ve got our sights set on a seventh win. We’re working hard to gain the trust of the people so they’ll vote for us. Hopefully we’ll lock up number seven. There are only six jewelers who have won six times and there are only three who have won six times in a row. If you read our reviews online we have more reviews than any jeweler in the Midwest--straight fives--and we ask every customer to write a review.
There was a time that I would say to customers, “Would you please write a review?” Now when I’m delivering the ring I say, “I look forward to reading your review online.” It’s an assumption and the conversion of request to action is greater. But that review is there forever.
Today everyone thinks of the millennial as the customer--that they need to appeal to this one set of people in this certain age group--but the millennial is involved in all ages, and when the jewelers understand this they’ll have a more prosperous business. When grandma and grandpa want to go back to the jewelry store they bought their diamond from and it’s closed, how are they going to find a new store? They’re going to ask their grandchild. When mom and dad want to go to the jeweler and they’ve lost track of the jeweler, who are they going to go to to find a new one? Their son or their daughter. So that millennial person is into every aspect of the business because they’re the one controlling the search.
I had a woman come in who said, “My daughter told me I had to come and see you.” This customer had been going to a jeweler about 45 minutes west of us. She wasn’t being treated right so she called her daughter and her daughter said, “Here is where you need to go.” Her daughter saw the reviews.
So when the customer came in, we were talking I said, “Why don’t you bring your daughter with you?” She said, “I can’t. She lives in Connecticut.” So the daughter lived in Connecticut, went online and referred her mother over to us. Her mother has become a very good customer because she is treated she way she should be treated at our store.
The dynamics of the business change every single day and if you’re not willing to change, you’re not going to be in business. It’s as simple as that.
Owners Timothy Mayer and Randy Cole
NJ: When did you institute e-commerce?
RC: We’ve had e-commerce since 2008. We do some business through e-commerce. It’s not my main goal. My main goal is to create a presence that will drive someone from the click to the mortar.
NJ: What’s the best piece of advice you’d offer to other independent jewelry stores?
RC: Jewelers are pretty particular people. They’re not going to stand to be short-changed. So if, as a store owner, you treat the person the way you would want to be treated, you will have customers for life and you will gain business during any economic time.
My other piece of advice is, as hard as it is for an independent jeweler to embrace technology, they need to do it and offer more to their customers.
As an example, we have Gemprint here. It’s a machine that shoots a soft laser into the stone and captures the reflective fingerprint of the diamond. That fingerprint gets assigned to every one of our customers and there are 80-some insurance companies that recognize that that print is so important that they’ll get at least a 10 percent discount on their annual premium because it’s there.
We got our new Gemprint machine on Monday and they’ve been working on this new type of equipment for two-and-a-half years. We could not be more excited about it because it takes a picture of the diamond, it has brilliance factor and you have the optical fingerprint. I’m the only one in the state to have the machine.
Most jewelers are not going to spend $25,000 on a machine but the greatest fear of every woman is that her diamond will be switched at one time or another and while you can’t always prevent the switching, I can prove whether it’s their diamond or not.
My other advice to jewelers is find a niche in your market, so that you can nibble away at the competition because it’s an incremental business. How much is one customer worth? That one customer is worth, if you ever watched the movie “Pay It Forward,” that customer is worth three and those three are worth nine and those nine are worth 27. So if you missed the first one, then you’re missing those 27.
NJ: What’s a fun fact about you we can share with our readers?
RC: I like woodworking. I did all the woodworking in the store. I did all the cherrywood work, all the passage doors in cherry, everything. So, for me, it’s not a store it’s an office but the office is more like my home. I sit here and I feel at home. For 12 hours a day you should feel comfortable.
I’ve been doing this since October of 1975 and I’m still excited about the business. Most jewelers might have been doing it for 10 years and they’re tired of the business. Well, then you have to find the part of the business that makes you happy.
Ashley Davisis the senior editor, fashion at National Jeweler, covering all things related to design, style and trends.
