Editor’s note:
I first met Patty several years ago. She is without doubt a very engaging individual. Recently, she received a nice honor and recognition from Danielle Meilhe’s blog “Gem Gosspi”as one of the top five on-line antique jewelry shops. She emailed her friends telling of the award. I suggested that she send me a press release on the award. The following is her story. There is a message contained in it for all of our readers. There is opportunity of doing business all over the world via the Internet. This is just one example.
When Dorothy Gallun began her antique and estate jewelry business in 1950, Al Gore hadn’t invented the Internet yet! Filled with determination, a passion for jewelry and a strong constitution, which serves her well today at 93 years of age, Dorothy founded Dorothy Gallun Antique Jewelry. Now in business with her daughter Patty Gallun Hansen, she still reports to work at the store every day!
The store, Dorothy Gallun Fine Jewelry LLC, she understands. Bricks, mortar, and a foundation, but this Internet thing is mysterious and a bit confusing! It was a whole new world as Patty began their E-Commerce site, created their Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pintrest pages. She opened a secondary store on Etsy (Patty Hansen Gallery) and recently started their Instagram page! Patty smiles as her mom grapples with the idea of having “a store the whole world can see.” The business is located in Cedarburg, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee. “You mean someone from Amsterdam bought a ring from us, because they saw us on the Internet?” Dorothy asks with a look of amazement! “WOW!” she marvels!
But, it keeps getting better and better and maybe a little harder and harder for Patty to explain.
Recently Patty opened their Instagram page and began posting photos of their antique and estate jewelry. Already dozens of other “intagramers” began to “follow” them. It was, however, Danielle Miele, founder of Gem Gossip that made Patty “jump for joy!” A recent recipient of the 20 under 40: The Jewelry Industry’s Bright Young Stars award, Danielle’s Blog Gem Gossip is a highly acclaimed jewelry blog! With mentions in InStyle and People Fashion Edition Magazines as a “Great Site For Jewelry featuring the latest news, fresh ideas on how to style your fave pieces and much more” she is a true friend of jewelers everywhere! With more than 900 Facebook, 5,400 Twitter followers along with a very loyal band of jewelry fashionistas she promotes and inspires the love of jewelry with enthusiasm and the “battle cry” of “Show me your rings,” which her loyal following is only too happy to do.
Back to Patty, Dorothy and Dorothy Gallun Fine Jewelry LLC, last Monday, Patty opened her email to receive her daily email from Gem Gossip to “get all the latest news.” The title at the top of Danielle’s Blog that day was “Top 5 Online Antique Jewelry Shops.” As Patty read the article, hanging on each word, there it was “#4 - Gallun Jewelry—over 50 pages of cute little Victorian rings with reasonable prices.” As Patty puts it: “Oh My God,” what an honor!” Thanking Danielle for the endorsement, Danielle later replied in an email back to Patty, “So glad you saw the blog post...and also thank you for following me on Instagram--that is how I was able to connect with you! I thoroughly enjoyed searching through your items you had for sale on gallunjewelry.com and after seeing the variety, great prices and descriptions of all the jewelry, I knew you deserved to be included on my blog!”
Since that posting, Patty has received numerous requests for information on their jewelry as well as brisk selling! “I can’t thank Danielle and Gem Gossip enough and will do everything possible to continue to merit the confidence she has shown in us!” exclaimed Patty. “It just goes to show that if you do your homework, stay relevant and up to date it pays off! Each month not only do I scour all our trade magazines, but every fashion magazine and blog I can find to stay abreast of the constant changing world of fashion. More and more, I am getting women into our store bringing their new (or old) outfit or formal dress for that special occasion and helping them to chose the right jewelry—and this is way more fun than just selling jewelry, because now you have the opportunity to learn their style, personality and share an experience. It’s kind of like when I was in college and my friends and I would sit around and help pick out just the right outfit for that special night out!” explained Patty. “Only one problem though…how do I explain a BLOG to mom?”
