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 clients, the store stocks a higher end line of rhodium

Just up the California coast, Cambria Drug and 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.” 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.

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 Twins 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

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