Wedding Ring Store marries systems, love

After 32 years selling estate jewelry and antiques at his store, The Wooden Skate in Okemos, Gary Durow felt ready for a new challenge. That challenge took a specific direction a few years ago at a Christmastime family gathering.

“When my niece got engaged and said, ‘See my new engagement ring, Uncle Gary!’ I was supposed to get excited that she bought it from a competitor?” said Durow.

Durow had long been aware that some people don’t like antiques and never will. He wanted to get a piece of that other pie, the market for new jewelry.

But rather than open just another jewelry store, Durow came up with his own niche: The Wedding Ring Store.

Although Durow made room for his new store at one end of The Wooden Skate’s large space, it has the feel of a separate store. Outside, the new store has its own storefront and entrance, and inside, a $100,000 remodel has given the new space a modern and elegant feel—very different from the charming but old-world feel of The Wooden Skate.

“I knew the name was great, because who wouldn’t want to buy their wedding and engagement rings from a store that specializes in just that niche?” explained Durow. He’s the first in the state, though not the country, to build a store around this niche.

White metal
Durow loves selling wedding rings. He loves being there at the beginning of a marriage, which is often the beginning of a long-term customer relationship. He also prides himself on making accurate predictions—which he keeps track of on store receipts—about which couples will make it, by watching for “red flags” in a couple’s approach to their purchase.

Durow cites two other reasons behind the new store’s concept: the popularity of white-metal jewelry and his excitement about a new product, the branded diamond known as “Eighternity.”

“Today, white metal—white gold or platinum—is king, especially for wedding and engagement rings. Only five years ago, almost 90 percent used yellow gold mountings.

“The last time white metals were popular was during the late 1940s and early ’50s, so there’s not a lot of it in estate jewelry,” Durow explains.

At the same time, a wholesaler he works with offered Durow the chance to be the exclusive seller in this region for the new “Eighternity” diamond. The Wedding Ring Store is one of only 15 retailers in the country licensed to offer the diamond.

Durow can expound on what makes the 81-faceted, round “Eighternity” diamond uniquely brilliant and worth the average 20-percent markup on branded diamonds. But he is saving up the 5 percent of his sales that Eighternity credits back to him for an advertising campaign beginning this holiday season.

To market
Before launching his new store, Durow did his homework—market research. He hired a marketing expert, Suzanne Bean, who did focus groups on customers who had been through the diamond shopping process.

“Suzanne confirmed what we thought: most of the time, when men buy wedding rings without the woman’s input, the woman is disappointed in it. She also discovered a lot of confusion about branded diamonds,” says Durow.

Bean also worked with him on the marketing plan for the store, writing the jingle and hiring a model to help create a brand for the store.

“It wasn’t inexpensive, but you have to spend money to make money,” he said.

Systematic approach
Based on this research and his own experience, Durow has worked out systems for both his salespeople and the customer.

For the salesperson, his system involves identifying and then tailoring the sales approach to the customer’s personality style.

“For the customer who wants all the scientific details about diamonds, we provide it.”

He loves to have his customers compare two diamonds in his Gemex brilliance meter, a high-tech machine that shows the exact return of light on three different scales—white light, colored light (fire) and scintillation (sparkle).

If the customer is an impulse buyer who doesn’t care about the science, or just wants to get it over with, Durow’s salespeople will tell the customer how to buy without all the details but still safeguard the purchase, for instance, by getting an independent appraisal from a non-competing gemologist.

The third type, Durow explained, is the biggest group—interested only in getting the best deal. To customers in this group, he explains the risks related to common misconceptions about diamond quality and valuation, especially concerning cut.

He may show and explain the current Rappaport Report—the weekly guide to diamond prices considered invaluable by dealers and wholesalers—so the customer understands enough about how diamonds are valued and just enough about carat-weight, clarity, color and cut to make an informed choice.

Durow’s other system, aimed at customers, is a three-step process that helps couples avoid many of the pitfalls of buying diamond wedding rings. The system is explained on his website (www.woodenskate.com).

Durow thinks his “1-2-3 system” is simple enough to make couples feel both comfortable and informed. He also backs it up with generous customer service policies.

The store gives a lifetime, full-price trade-in on diamonds—without forcing the person to buy a more expensive item—and a 90-day, full-price trade-in on the mounting.

“It’s not a function of money—she’s got to love it. Most men don’t understand this, but women do,” says Durow.

Durow says he won’t know exactly how successful the new store is until after the first Christmas season, but so far sales are exceeding his projections. If things go as well as he hopes, Durow plans to franchise this concept in a few years.

“A lot of the 27,000 independent jewelers in America are really struggling. They don’t have a system. We think we’ve got systems that work, and that’s part of what makes a good franchise.”

This article was written by Amy Buttery, Michigan Retailer staff writer.

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