The specs – Dion Schlager and Jon Askew, our customers, had a 2000 square foot store in an aging mall.  They decided to move and to lease a 6000 square foot stand alone building with many windows and 3 entrances.  This is a building with excellent street visibility, in front of a strong strip center, surrounded by other stores and restaurants.

Client Challenges – Lawrence Diamond Jewelers wanted to grow their business since they are an interesting partnership – a talented jeweler and a strong business person.  Both owners are creative and open to new ideas.  They wanted amenities that they didn’t have now – an area for customers to hang out, complete transparency so that their jewelers and their watch maker were visible from the floor plus areas for custom design on the floor, with a sense of privacy.  They were putting in a Pandora boutique and they wanted some movable cases so that they could reconfigure the floor for events.  Half the space was to be support spaces; half was to be retail.

GRID/3 Solution – We have worked with Lawrence Diamond Jewelers before, but never with the partners who now own the business.  The challenge with a building with 3 entrances is to layout the floor with strong visibility from everywhere, both for the staff, for security, and for the customers so that they can orient themselves within the space.   The large island has 2 work-stations for staff.  The cash / repair / gift wrap has visibility over the entire floor and Jon and Dion each have offices behind the diamond sit-downs with glass walls for visibility.  All the cases were designed as 1 size, to enable exchanging of trim and to make construction cost effective.  We at GRID/3 knew that the finishes were to be visually strong, environmentally friendly and economically feasible.  Low VOC paint and wallpaper emulating wood planks feature strongly.  Jon found the case manufacturer, who did a great job and whose price was fair.

Final Word – All the reviews from customers talk about the friendly staff and owners, the beautiful store and the pleasure they take in buying new merchandise or having custom work or repairs dealt with not only quickly, but well.  Both the staff and the customers love the new space, which bodes well for growth.  As Jon and Dion say, “The secret of change is to focus all your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new.  We opened a year ago in March, 2019, and it’s been a PLEASURE having this space. We will continue to serve the greater Port Huron Area from this location once we close the Outlet Location in the mall. If you haven’t stopped in to check out the NEW store– come see us!”