Good as Gold
One woman unearths a gem of a business by letting her customers create (and re-create) their own jewelry.
What: A "design your
own jewelry" store
Who: Lindsay Cain of
Femmegems
Where: New York City
When: Started in November
2002
Nothing can take away the glow a woman gets when she sees that
perfect piece of jewelry-nothing except for an exorbitant price
tag, that is. But when customers come to Lindsay Cain's
Femmegems
store, they're able to bring in pictures of exquisite designer
pieces and replicate them at a fraction of the original cost.
Initially, Cain designed and sold jewelry herself, but this
29-year-old found her niche when she realized that other women not
only liked to design their own jewelry, but also enjoyed emulating
the jeweled adornments they'd see in fancy, high-end department
stores. "They'll come from [the department store] across
the street and design a piece like the one they just saw,"
explains Cain, who offers her patrons a wide selection of
semiprecious gems. "People feel the value they're
getting."
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With her Femmegems idea in mind, Cain went hunting for retail
space in New York City's NoLIta neighborhood. After finding the
perfect location, Cain opened her store's doors in November
2002, and just six weeks later, the store was featured in an
article in the "Style" section of The New York
Times.
The resulting business kept Cain and her staff busy for
weeks-and even garnered attention from buyers at upscale department
store Henri Bendel who asked Cain to open a similar setup in one of
their boutiques. Now with two locations, Cain expects about
$700,000 in sales this year.
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