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Cover
Fully Engaged
H. Brandt Jewelers in Natick, Massachusetts, is not only a jewelry store, but a community hangout.
By Joyce Kauf
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| Cherie Dori |
“We are in the business of engagement,” says Stewart Brandt, who with his wife, Gretchen, owns H. Brandt Jewelers in Natick, Massachusetts. “I mean that as a double entendre,” he continues. “We sell bridal and we are engaged in doing what we do best.”
Owning a jewelry store was not the career path originally envisioned by Brandt, who earned a degree in hotel and restaurant administration from the University of New Hampshire. He recalls that in 1978 during a period of unemployment, he was visiting his uncle in New York City, who worked for the then president of A. Jaffe. One of their salesmen needed a driver and Brandt took the job, which afforded him the opportunity to learn about diamonds and wholesale operations. “A new career was born,” he says. He returned to his hometown of Natick and worked for a small family jeweler who decided to sell his store. Evaluating his options, Brandt bought the store in 1989, motivated by the fact that he and his wife thought, “We could build a nice life for us and our children.”
“We learned how hard retail really is,” Brandt points out, noting it is a “lot easier when you just come in and punch a clock.” The couple persevered, starting in a shopping center, which subsequently closed, and then moving to a strip center until they were “almost out of business.” Then the opportunity to move to a new location in Natick Center presented itself. “We decided to give it one more shot,” says Brandt. From the vantage point of today, he describes the move as “very beneficial and successful.”
The store is centrally located in downtown Natick, which is 14 miles west of Boston. Brandt identifies his average customer as 30 years of age plus and predominantly professional. Citing a referral network of almost 30 years, Brandt notes that his customer base also extends to the neighboring residential suburbs of Dover, Sherborn and Framingham.
Rings are his top category, which includes both engagement ring purchases and remodeling of rings. The average center stone is between 1 carat and 1.5 carats, in G, H, I, VS2 to SI2. Brandt has seen the impact of online shopping on his business, noting, “because everyone is getting educated online, everyone wants an E, VVS1 for the price of an H, I2.” Brandt cites a “moderate” business for colored gemstones, including blue sapphires and rubies, as a center stone in an engagement ring, attributing it in part to the fact that it is more common for second and third marriages. Brandt’s top vendor is Cherie Dori, followed by Valina and GelinAbaci in the “bridal world.” His three top criteria for selecting vendors are buy-in, stock balancing and support.
Brandt hoped to expand his bridal business to include same-sex couples, especially after Massachusetts legalized same-sex marriages in 2004. While he still carries the designs of Rony Tennenbaum, which targets that market, Brandt admits that the business has not developed as he hoped. “It is difficult to get the word out there for our store,” he says, explaining that sales might be more significant if he were closer to Boston. “Most of the same-sex couples in and around Natick are already married,” he points out.
Originally built in 1862 as a tobacco-magazine shop, the store boasts the original bricks that span one wall of the 950-square-foot showroom. The ductwork that expands across that wall hides the covers for the chimneys that were part of the original design. The opposite wall, patterned in a warm yellow, contributes to the store’s welcoming ambience. Both walls are adorned with paintings by local artists on a rotating basis in support of the “very active downtown artist community.” At the far end of the store, a sculpture by Jackie Marks, Brandt’s mother-in-law, is suspended from the ceiling. Dominating the center of the store is a hexagon-shaped case atop a wood-carved pedestal. Jewelry is merchandised primarily by category in curved-leg custom display cases.
Brandt is guided by the philosophy to “treat people the way you want to be treated.” In the close-knit community of Natick, that also extends to creating relationships beyond selling. “We are the local hangout where people often come to discuss issues important to the community,” says Brandt.
Brandt cites the need to stand out in a “very dense” retail environment. “Within a two-mile radius, you can buy jewelry from Tiffany & Co. to Target and from chain stores to mom-and-pop stores. But what distinguishes us from the competition is me — and the people that help me. It makes all the difference.”Article from the Rapaport Magazine - April 2017. To subscribe click here.
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