How creative ideas turn into inspired events.
W HEN ZACHARY’S JEWELERS of Annapolis, MD, is ready to have a sale, everyone knows it’s game time. Literally.
Once a year, the team transforms the store into a ‘70s-themed game show venue, with Wheel of Fortune and Name That Tune among featured attractions. The staff wears sparkly jackets reminiscent of ‘70s game-show hosts.
Each company event is a team sport, but the creative effort is led by Evangeline Ross, chief experience creator, and Cheryl King, event planner. King credits Ross with the inspiration for any number of events. “Evangeline comes up with unique and interesting things to do,” King says. “I’m the nuts and bolts of it, making the ideas come to life. And everybody pitches in and is involved.”
Ross says she couldn’t do it without those nuts and bolts. “Cheryl’s role with the company has morphed from back of the house to store merchandiser to event planner. She is incredibly creative, organized and smart,” Ross says.
Before coming to work at Zachary’s, Ross ran a company for Grand Hyatt called Grand Cuisine and organized off-site catering events at Washington D.C. locations. “I would say I have a mental library of many events from my past professional life,” she says. “That being said, we have an incredibly creative team at Zachary’s and most of our events are collaborative. There’s nothing better than brainstorming with a group of creative souls!”
King built a whole series of events around an idea she had for window displays, called Summer of Fun. She wanted to celebrate special, little-known “holidays” like International Donut Day, National Prosecco Day and National Pet Day by giving away donuts, prosecco and pet toys. Each of seven storefront windows was dedicated to its own day. King also rotated out past events and added new ones, celebrating a “holiday” almost weekly.
A Christmas 2019 event was based on the 2003 Will Farrell movie Elf. They wrapped the windows with movie scene images, served comfort food and displayed a life-size cutout of Will Farrell, which became the No. 1 selfie spot in Annapolis.
But King’s favorite event is the Mother’s Day Design Contest. Zachary’s invites all county fifth graders to sketch a piece of jewelry and describe how the jewelry celebrates their mom, grandmother or other caretaker. Typically, they get 200 entries and select three winning pieces that are created in house. The winners present their moms with the finished jewelry during a brunch. “Everyone walks away with something,” King says. “We have loose gemstones to give to the kids.” Zachary’s very first fifth grade winner later became an intern in the store.
Ross says that whether or not jewelry is sold during an event, Zachary’s team believes events are vital to the success of their business as well as their vision statement: “We are ever growing in our culture of happiness which turns customers into friends,” she says.
King’s advice for planning events in a post-pandemic era is: “Laughter is the best medicine. Do something that makes people smile. They want to feel good again.”
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Eileen McClelland is the Managing Editor of INSTORE. She believes that every jewelry store has the power of cool within them.
For Troy Vinson, founder and owner of Troy Vinson Jewelers in Fort Worth, Texas, jewelry was his life. But even for Troy, who started his store way back in 1971, there comes a time to hang up that 10X loupe and enjoy life outside of retail. And, after looking at a couple of contenders, he selected Wilkerson to run his retirement sale. He recommends that other jewelers do their due diligence but believes they will see what he did: “Wilkerson was a standout,” he says. “Look at the results of what Wilkerson has in their portfolio. It’s far greater than anything you’ll be able to do yourself.”
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