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Cover
Woman Talk
A women-centric focus drives sales at Alara Jewelry in Bozeman, Montana.
By Joyce Kauf
 | | Rocks that Rock |
“When a woman comes into the store, we inherently speak the same language,” says Babs Noelle, citing the selling advantage of the all-women staff at Alara Jewelry, the store she owns in Bozeman, Montana. “We understand gender-based clues so when a woman says, ‘I want something I can wear all the time,’ we can interpret that so much more accurately.” “Our strength is also in dealing with men,” continued Noelle. “Sometimes when they go to a male salesperson and say they don’t know what to get their wife, it’s like the blind leading the blind. They are just as clueless. We have definitely steered some men away from the wrong decision,” Noelle points out.
“Woman are also in a far stronger position to give women ‘permission’ for a self purchase,” Noelle explains, noting that women customers often come in after receiving a promotion but are reluctant to spend money on themselves — even if they have an independent income. “The idea that they should signify an event with something wonderful and permanent carries more credence when coming from another woman.” While Noelle approaches her business from a woman’s perspective, she initially planned to work in a male-dominated industry. A native of Chicago, she earned three bachelor degrees from Rice University in Houston, Texas, including a bachelor of science in biochemical engineering. When a promised job in the oil industry never materialized because of the slump in the early 1980s, Noelle accepted a $5,000 grant for opening a small business on the condition that she write a 50-page paper about her entrepreneurial experience after one year.
Noelle attributes her career path as “complete happenstance.” Through a friend with contacts in the jewelry industry, she started selling Mexican silver by the gram from a small corner in the hair salon she went to in Houston. By 1985, the business “kept churning away” and Noelle bought into a partnership in a jewelry store in the city. She enrolled in a graduate gemologist (GG) program followed by a Master’s in Jewelry Design at Goldschmiedeschule Pforzheim in southwestern Germany. After she returned, she sold high-end jewelry out of an office, mostly to celebrities and sports stars. “This was pre-internet and there was no way I could spin it into a major coup,” Noelle explains. Twelve years ago, Noelle opened her store in Bozeman, a college town of 40,000 in close proximity to Yellowstone National Park. While she counts locals and tourists among her clientele, Noelle stresses that her selection of jewelry is based on psychographics that cut across demographics, economic status and sexual orientation. “My customers are the true locals or tourists who appreciate design that is atypical and as original as they are.”
“I do not carry a single thing in this store that would constitute the bulk of most jewelry stores’ best sellers,” says Noelle, referring to her trademarked slogan, “No McJewelry Here,” a play on the ubiquitous McDonald’s franchise. All jewelry offered is either by a named designer or created in-house. Noelle favors German and French designers whose work reflects a technical flair, such as Gebrüder Schaffrath, whose designs have a patented mounting, and Oressence, a French designer who has revamped old-world techniques of die striking. Bridal accounts for one-third of her business. Among her top sellers are Todd Reed, Jennifer Dawes and Rebecca Overmann, chosen, she says, for their “rustic characteristic that matches the Western lifestyle.” The median size for a diamond is .75 carats in E, F, G color and SI1 or VS2 clarity, with old Euros and old mines as popular cuts. Following bridal at 14 percent of sales is “anything” with Montana sapphires and/or jewelry set with them. Custom work, which includes bridal and fashion, accounts for another 30 percent, with Montana agates, turquoise, fossilized dinosaur bone and woolly mammoth tooth as popular stones. Noelle’s own designs incorporate rocks from the Yellowstone River in her Rocks that Rock collection. The stones are in a completely natural state except for holes drilled to accommodate the bail and the diamonds, shown left, or sapphires she sets directly into the rocks. The 1,300-square-foot store captures the expansive ambience of its Rocky Mountain location. Jewelry is displayed in étagères set against a brick wall and in square cases in a free-form arrangement in the center of the store. Illumination is provided by a combination of track lighting and round lanterns. “We set ourselves apart through our products, but we also message ourselves differently,” says Noelle. “We embrace a direct line from sex to jewelry. We place ads in men’s bathrooms and we run mood-based ads aimed at women.” She proudly notes that she never turns away any nonprofit and they are the only store in the area to support LGBT efforts. “Much of our success is that as women, we know the particular phrases and adjectives that women use instinctively,” says Noelle. We’re attuned to it — it is our language too.”Article from the Rapaport Magazine - October 2016. To subscribe click here.
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