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Let’s Talk: When to Remodel Your Store | October 14, 2023 (0 comments)
West Bloomfield, MI--Cost is always a major issue for many businesses when undergoing renovations. In fact, for many jewelers, cost tops the priority list for any store renovation.
The top five most important store redesign considerations in order are:
- Cost
- Proper Lighting
- Proper Displays
- Proper Color Scheme
- Least Inconvenience during the renovation.
Many jewelers only have a limited budget, so major renovations can be difficult.
The following are five renovations ideas to complete your remodeled space.
- Paint throughout with a few accent-colored walls.
- New or updated decorative lighting and logo signage.
- An updated ceiling or repaint of the existing ceiling tiles and grids, or drywall.
- New flooring
- Some or all new jewelry cases, which need to look simple and clean to show off the jewelry.
Changing Store Appearance: These changes should be incorporated into a store every three to five years. The three-to-five-year interior design rule mark is when clients are used to the atmosphere and it’s time to show them some creativity. Changing the paint colors on your walls or coming up with a different wall covering from time to time is important because you want your clients to feel that your store has a cutting-edge design. The suggestion doing more drastic changes every five to ten years, which will probably include more construction work.
Where to Start? First, I give my clients a “wish-list” with their goals, desires and needs for your entire space. The wish-list has everything from how many linear square feet of diamonds they need to display, how many square feet of watches they must show, the companies that they are working with and the companies that they want to work with. This gives me an idea of how many jewelry cases are necessary in the space plan, lighting, color scheme, floor style and much more.
Lighting: Great lighting is essential to a remodel. It makes no sense to buy great cases and displays, fill them with beautiful goods and then not light them properly. The most important is specialty lighting, there is nothing worse than the same lighting throughout the store with no special effect. What I recommend is that you use the correct LED light bulb for different areas that need to be emphasized, such as your diamond area.
There are various lighting options currently available, including gorgeous chandeliers to enhance your “wow-factor” and sconces for accent lighting. The other design element that I like about chandeliers is the glitter that they give off to the store. Sconces are a beautiful touch. For example, in the diamond area, you have a beautiful sconce on the wall that coordinates with the interior. Then have a beautiful picture of a bride and have another sconce with another beautiful image of a bride and a groom. It’s an understated elegance. See picture of chandelier.
[Chandelier light, photo credit: Leslie McGwire]
When it comes to lighting, such parameters as energy and cost efficiency should not be underestimated. The recommendations of using LED lighting, which saves a lot on the electrical bill and lasts up to 50,000 hours per bulb. Consider putting chandeliers that are affordable and the specialty lighting that you can see everywhere.
Flooring: I suggest keeping all the patterns of your floors very minimal because your customers should only be focused on your jewelry. It’s a great idea to keeps the same flooring all the way through the store except for carpeting completed behind the jewelry cases, or where the jeweler stands. The best flooring for jewelry stores is porcelain tile, designer vinyl, and carpeting just to name a few. Enhancing the interior, all these options are also super low maintenance. I like to use carpet tiles. In case somebody spills something, it’s easy to just replace a carpet tile, not ripping out the entire carpet. See picture of the vinyl flooring at Hingham Jewelers, which I designed.
[Hingham Jewelers, photo credit: Leslie McGwire]
Interior Designer Before you hire a designer to help you transform your store to a jewelry haven, make sure you do your homework. Do not design your store for the volume you already have, design your store to create the volume you want to achieve. I always ask jewelers to send pictures or video of the jewelry store. This gives the designer and jeweler an ideal image to work towards to their ideal image, along with their color preferences, which sets on the right design path.
That is so important for a designer because you could be thinking one way, and the client thinks the other way. As a designer you must be a great listener. You must listen to everything your client says and then the design project ties all together. A great jewelry store designer can create their client’s ‘dream-come-true.’”
About the Author: Leslie McGwire™ has over 35 years in business development, interior design, equipment, furniture sales and marketing services in retail and jewelry-based businesses. Leslie has won over 25 national design awards, including the prestigious Salon Today and INSTORE Jewelry Store awards. Leslie has a true passion for business, design for the jewelry and retail industries. Visit lesliemcgwire.com for more information.