Selling Jewelry at Hallmark Stores, Gift Stores and Pharmacies

Whether a pick-me-up or an impromptu gift, jewelry is a perennial favorite for customers at Hallmark and drugstore gift shops. “People usually come in for cards, and then the jewelry is what I would call a purchase of opportunity,” said Julie Phillips, manager at Sue’s Hallmark in Ventura, Calif.

Thanks to a recent trend toward delicate, tiny pieces, today’s jewelry is more wearable and financially accessible than ever. At Sue’s Hallmark, customers love casual, trendy pieces from the Rain line, which cost under $20. “They can afford to buy new earrings and update their look every six months,” Phillips explained. The Silver Forest line, which costs a few dollars more, has a devoted following across Hallmark stores for its rewards program: Frequent shoppers get freebies that coordinate with their purchases.

Around holidays like Christmas or Valentine’s Day, Sue’s sees a flurry of last minute gift shoppers. For those

Gift has success with colorful, fair trade jewelry that’s both stylish and sustainably made. The best-selling line, Tagua by Soraya Cedeno, comes from Ecuador; it features chunky, beaded necklaces and bracelets handcrafted from vegetable dyed tagua nuts and leather cords.

Store Manager Dena Crawford arranges pieces on mannequins “so they really pop,” she explained. Amid a 1,500-square-foot retail section full of merchandise, she noted, selling jewelry is “all about the display.”

While some shoppers look for sustainability, others value spirituality. Religious jewelry is the top category at Judy’s Hallmark Shop in Joplin, Mo., where Manager Devin Duncan said her customers don’t follow trends. “We have the most luck with bracelets,” especially those featuring saints, Duncan noted. “The other stuff just doesn’t sell well.” Judy’s Hallmark shoppers are also price conscious, favoring pieces in the $10 range: “$20 for us is high end, pushing it.” clients, the store stocks a higher end line of rhodium plated jewelry; stud earrings, for instance, range from $20 to $100. “These are quality items, and they did really well over the holidays with that special occasion shopper,” explained Phillips.

To keep jewelry sales strong, Phillips and her team scour the nearby L.A. Jewelry Mart, trade shows and local artisan galleries for an eclectic variety of baubles. Recent hits have included zodiac pieces and seasonal themed jewelry, as well as coastal pieces in the coastal store’s beach section. “We have stuff you won’t see elsewhere,” Phillips noted.

Just up the California coast, Cambria Drug and

At many Hallmark stores, the jewelry section is right up front, catching patrons’ eyes as they walk in. That’s the case at Judy’s, as well as at Kurt’s Pharmacy and Hallmark in Twin Falls, Idaho. “People come in for their prescriptions, but the first thing they see is our jewelry display,” said Store Manager

Debbie Thompson

The Silver Forest line is extremely popular with collectors, and Kurt’s also does well with the Howards and rain jewelry brands. Necklaces, especially chains with tiny pendants featuring gemstones or cubic zirconia, are the top selling pieces overall; Silver Forest shoppers will often pair them with matching earrings.

While the delicate look is still going strong, Kurt’s Sales Associate Twila Chapman has seen a trend toward bolder jewelry as the pandemic ebbs. “The little pieces are more of an everyday thing,” she observed. “With our restaurants, schools and universities opening up, and concerts happening for the first time in a couple of years, people are going out and looking to make more of a statement.”

In Bakersfield, Calif., Retailer Carol Rodgers thinks the split maybe generational. At Bobbi’s Hallmark Shop, which she has owned for 35 years, older women gravitate toward larger jewelry; Generation Z opts for daintier pieces that show up well in Instagram close-ups. Rodgers’ in-house guide to youthful tastes is her own granddaughter, Manager Mikayla Yeomans. (The family business also includes Rodger’s Co-Owner, daughter Kim Yeomans, and her other granddaughter, Chelsea Willis, who assists with bookkeeping.)

A few years back, Rogers noticed that Bobbi’s fashion section was failing to attract younger shoppers, and she turned to Mikayla for help. The result is Lovayla Boutique, a store-within-astore that occupies about a third of Bobbi’s 8,500 square feet. Mikayla Yeomans rotates fashion displays on a half-dozen mannequins, and created a separate website and social media accounts for the boutique.

“Our fashion just took off,” marveled Rodgers. Her granddaughter’s “Western boho” sensibility has revitalized sales of clothing, hats, purses and jewelry. Necklaces and bracelets are best-sellers in the jewelry department; top lines include Silver Forest, Rain and Jean Marie. “And when customers try on outfits and wonder how to accessorize, Mikayla always has a suggestion,” Rodgers added. ❖