Sunday, February 18, 2007

Local Charm handcrafted jewelry store unique to NorthPark

By Minnie Payne

DALLAS — Local Charm, a Dallas jewelry studio featuring handmade jewelry, has only been at North Park Center since Nov. 2006, but is already doing a good business.

The store features the “petting zoo” concept in that customers can actually pull out the drawers where the handcrafted jewelry is located and examine each piece firsthand.

According to manager Shannon Miles, this concept is loved by customers.

“Local Charm has so many unique pieces you can find something for everyone and every occasion,” said Miles.

“The biggest compliment I get is when previous customers bring their friends and family in to show them the store, giving them a store tour and showing them how to open the drawers.”

After graduating from Tulane Law School, founder/owner Andrew Cutliff established his own concession company in New Orleans, featuring smoothies, iced teas and shaved ice. As the company grew to 30 states with 120 different locations, including Major League Baseball and National Football League stadiums, national zoos and aquariums, Cutliff decided to diversify and go into the handmade jewelry business. Rather than the average formal jewelry store atmosphere, they decided on the “petting zoo” fun-type atmosphere. In 2001, the first Local Charm boutique was opened in New Orleans with this concept. It was an immediate success.

Soon Local Charm Jewelry Studios were in Boston, Chicago, Minneapolis, Las Vegas and Dallas.

“We eagerly await two new locations, Denver and a second Boston Boutique,” said regional manager Amy Johnson.

“There will never be more than one or two Local Charms in a market and each store functions as a stand-alone boutique with individual designs, as well as local artisans. To remain unique, Local Charm frequently buys the exclusive rights to or the entire collections from the artisans. A large percentage of the jewelry in the boutiques cannot be found anywhere except at Local Charm.”

The current six jewelry studios feature over three dozen local and national artisan collections, dozens of international artists and more than 200 different genuine gemstones. In addition to local artists, Local Charm also features exclusive lines from European and Asian countries. Every collection is handcrafted from fine materials including, sterling silver, gold, pewter, brass, copper, freshwater pearls, and more. Every Local Charm visit is unique with over 15,000 limited editions and one-of-a-kind pieces.

“We are a very unique store that does wonders for the local community,” said New Orleans sales associate Amanda Royer. “It’s nice when tourists come in, and they can actually take home handcrafted jewelry from the area.”

Stores often feature local artisans on-site. The Dallas location is privileged to have Dallas artisan Maya McFaul, maker of antique Chanel findings with gold tones, at their store on March 10.

Local Charm is always on the lookout for new and unique artisans.

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• Fashion / Beauty

Comments

John Meyer Staff

Cool article, Minnie - interesting business model.

I actually have a friend who creates custom jewelry - I'm going to clue her in on this outfit, maybe she can get something going with them.

2 years, 8 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )