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Retail
By Women For Women
When it comes to jewelry, the women at boutique jewelry design house Gumuchian know what other women want.
By Amber Michelle
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| The Carousel by Gamuchian |
The story starts in 1979 when Anita Gumuchian, who moved to New York City from Antwerp, realized that there was a need for jewelry in the U.S. with a European flair. She invited her two daughters, Myriam and Patricia, to join her in opening a jewelry design house. Both were in college at the time — Myriam was studying art history at Tufts University and Patricia was at Boston University majoring in Italian studies and art history — but they jumped at the chance to launch a company. When her two daughters agreed to come into the business, Anita — who had been chief financial officer (CFO) of her husband’s diamond and colored gemstone business in Antwerp — launched Gumuchian.
From the beginning, the designing and the business were run by all three women, while the artisans in the workshop were all men. “The end consumer loves that the company is run by women; it makes them feel empowered,” says Myriam, who handles marketing and sales and is co-owner of the firm with her sister Patricia, who does the designing.
Over the years, retailers who put Gumuchian jewelry in their stores kept mentioning that the jewelry “felt right.” One store owner noted that the reason was because the jewelry was “designed by women for women.” That one comment became the company’s tagline and is integral to its marketing. “Over the past several years, a lot more of our customers are women-owned stores,” explains Myriam. “They know how to sell to women, they know what women want because they can relate to the end consumer. They understand jewelry.”
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Partnering with their retailers is important to Myriam because it allows the firm to give the customer a deeper connection to the jewelry. “People want experiences today,” she observes. “Our retailers send their customers to our workshop so they can see how the jewelry is made. Consumers love that.”
Personal appearances have become more and more important in the past several years. Sometimes, Myriam says, women retailers host events in their homes. “I did an event with one of our retailers where I cooked at a party in her home. Then the customers see you, a businesswoman, wife and mother.” Concludes Myriam, “When consumers see more of you as a person, they can relate to you more.”Article from the Rapaport Magazine - October 2016. To subscribe click here.
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