Well, a belated Happy New Year to all you good folks! Let’s hope 2010 will bring a renewal of spirit and prosperity to us all.
Nancy Brown survived the tumultuous past year with moderate success. With jewelry not always being at the top of people’s gift list these days, I think we did quite well under current economic conditions. I attribute our success to several positive things. Firstly, our Storywheel line and our Nancy Brown Collection of barrels and wheels continued to shine and sparkle at the top of our sales among our many designer lines. Their quality and great price points brought in new satisfied clients along with our forever loyal repeat customers. The Nancy Brown credo of providing something for everyone lives on - sort of like universal health care but more affordable (Ha! Ha!).
We also brought in two new sterling silver lines last year, KIR and GeoArt by Cynthia Gale, which performed admirably and added even more diversity to our well-rounded store. Of course, our own in-house star, Gloria Sawin continues to bring in new innovative designs to compliment her popular reversible rings. Nancy Brown Custom Jeweler always has, and will continue to provide the best in jewelry with fair and affordable pricing from a long list of great designers such as Alex Sepkus, Aaron Henry, Susan Blake, Shaesby, and local Santa Fean Michael Tatom, to name just a few.
The real stars of Nancy Brown, however, and what sparkles most, is our (my) incredible staff who strive to make Nancy Brown the best it can be with emphasis on great service, product knowledge, and dedication to the Nancy Brown legacy. That’s why I feel we’re a notch above the rest, always striving to establish a customer base who want to come back. Our success has always been attributed to repeat sales from a satisfied clientele.
When we lost our precious Nancy, we initially lost the capability to custom design. That is not the case any longer! We now have another shining star in our midst – Ana Granillo-Veske – whose enthusiasm and creativity for design come as naturally as Nancy’s did. Her resumé includes some of the finest jewelry stores in San Francisco and GIA training which has provided her with the knowledge and expertise needed to create great custom designs. But Ana does not do it alone, it is a team effort which includes our floor supervisor, Katy Saul and our lovely salesperson Lita Herrera. Their radiance also brings the kind of enthusiasm that Nancy Brown Custom Jeweler is known for.
Now it should not go without mention that the real backbone of Nancy Brown is the special people who keep us in the public eye with great marketing, advertising and internet exposure - namely, my general manager, Adrienne Rommel and her most knowledgeable assistant Cathy Carr. It truly could not happen without them. The two hardest working women in show business – oh… I’m sorry, I mean the jewelry business.
I am blessed to be surrounded by such dedicated people, they are the best. And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention my studio manager Ken Brito, a fine artist in his own right, who does our repairs, casting, and fabricating when needed. He has been with me for over ten years and gives us the confidence that we can tackle any project or design that comes our way.
Well, again, I would like to thank you all for your patronage and continued support. I will be having bi-lateral knee replacement surgery tomorrow which will put me out of commission for several months. However, as I have just described, the store is in great hands and will be having some great events coming up in the near future. Valentine’s Day and the celebration of Nancy’s birthday in mid March are two events you don’t want to miss, directed by Adrienne and staff. Please stay tune for more updates.
Best Regards,
Russ Tims, Owner
