S&E Jewelers

Nov 3

In their own words

“I love new customers. Within minutes of meeting them and doing our usual greeting, we offer to clean and check their jewelry while they wait. We see people light up, like, ‘Oh, I don’t have to purchase it from you? You do that for free?’ And now they’re driving sixty miles, not often, but at least two or three times a year, to come here instead of the jeweler they used to go to because the service isn’t how it used to be. It excites us to see customers lighting up like that. That’s the best for me.”

-Jim Neumann

Jason’s Interview with Jim and Natalie

Jason

We're back on Meet the Jewelers and today we're talking to Jim and Natalie Neumann from S&E Jewelers in Buffalo, New York. Tell us the history of S&E Jewelers.

Jim

S&E Jewelers has been around since 1948. It was previously owned by another gentleman, Mr. Starr of the S & E. When he was retiring at 80, he was looking for someone with an ethical background who knew the industry. We met and within five minutes he says "You're the guy I'm looking for." It was a very big honor.

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I didn't really want to be an owner initially, because I worked as a general manager to a previous jewelry store. I'm all about integrity and doing everything I possibly can. Sometimes customers come in for not-so-great situations, not every day is a sunny day, wanting engagement rings or getting married. I was able to help people in really rough situations when there was a loss. So when we had that conversation, he goes "That's the kind of person I want at my store." He was the head of the group of businessmen association of faith-based businesses and always brought in people to talk about integrity and honesty in business.

Jason
Tell us why customers should trust you and S&E Jewelers?

Jim
We continue to have a jeweler in-house. We continue to reach out and basically listen to our customers. Everything's done in honesty and integrity.

Jason
Tell us about some of the jewelry lines that you carry now.

Jim
We've been around as long as Gottlieb & Sons have been in business. They're a wonderful luxury group and yet they still have a nice, reasonable ring for anyone. Imagine Bridal, B&B Jewelry, Sandra Biachi Collection out of California, everyone over there on Olive Street. And that's some of them.

Jason
Are there any specific pieces or trends that you want to highlight?

Jim
We were one of the first ones, other than Le Vian, to embrace the chocolate diamond back in the day when it came out. We're always looking for new innovative pieces. This year, we really love the flexible diamond flex jewelry. IBGoodman is one of the companies that we purchase ours through. The flexible diamond ring, bracelet-type bangle that wraps around the finger with 14 karat gold and titanium. Each section is individually hinged, so it can move, wrap, twist, and flex.

Jason
How were you led onto IBGoodman?

Jim
We've been in a long-time relationship with them. I started out in manufacturing, early in my life, for about thirteen years. IBGoodman was one that we saw at a show and did some things back-and-forth with. They're very good at men's rings and manufacture solid, ten karat, fourteen, two-tone, semi-solid, completely solid. They're extremely versatile and help us when we don't want to do all the custom work ourselves. They've got the ring already, they have the ability to modify it any way we want it. We love that.

Jason
Any other uniqueness about your design and inspiration?

Jim
The customers, they're the design starter. Then, we perfect it based on what we know is feasible and try to envision what they're envisioning, and then put it down on paper. We'll take their thoughts and mix it with our thoughts, start sketching some things out and doing some wax models. We're hoping people will get to spread that experience so it's not just an online experience, but a true experience in the store.

Jason
Tell me a fun proposal experience or story that you were a part of.

Jim
We have a lot of fun, simple ones close to home, but one of the largest ones that we were able to be a part of was one of the weddings on Good Morning America. They interview brides and grooms. If you're willing to get married in New York City on the show, you're a candidate. They whittled it down to one of our locals here in Buffalo and we did the bands for him, and then the engagement and wedding took place right then and there on the show.

Jason
Tell us about some of the causes S&E supports.

Jim
There's the Adult and Young Teen Challenge of Buffalo that helps people that have run into drugs and alcohol, where they're not quite to the place where they need to be in prison, but they're candidates of a program. Children's Hospital that was renovated in Buffalo. We just finished doing a fashion show tied in with the men's clothing and jewelry to kick off a big fundraiser for them.

Jason
Are there any big milestones that you're hoping to achieve five, ten years from now?

Natalie
One of the major milestones after the purchase of Riverside Men's Shop, which is my passion, we put both stores together in one open floor plan. 10,000 square feet, 7,000 of it houses merchandise and displays. You flow from one to the other, much like a department store. That was a milestone for us two-and-a-half years ago.

We had to sell that building, move it next door to the men's store and lease a spot while we searched for the location that would be best. We were able to secure a building that was dead center of Western New York right off the thruway. Because of the large calling for Riverside, we needed to make sure that they were easy access off the main thoroughfare. It's across the street from a very fancy destination restaurant.

Jason
Natalie, you mentioned Riverside as your passion. Tell us the background story and how you're now at S&E with your husband, Jim.

Natalie
My degree’s in men's fashion. I went to the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. I was in men's fashion for the first third of my life and the opportunity when Riverside Men Shop went up for sale just spoke to my heart immediately. It had been in business for 90 years as a fine men's clothing haberdashery. I once worked for their competition, so I knew who the owners were and the further I got into the sale of it, the purchase of it rather, the more I realized that the staff were actually men that had worked for all the other competition. We all kind of come together as a happy family from different haberdasheries that have gone to the wayside now. Riverside is one of three independent men's haberdasheries in the Buffalo area. Hart Schaffner Marx is our primary custom suit.

Jason
How many of your customers come in for jewelry, and how many come in for the merch?

Natalie
In the last two years we have been watching our mailing list and marrying our customers. More than 3,000 now have purchased from both stores.

Jason
Natalie, from your perspective, what are some trends that you see in the jewelry industry?

Natalie
Jim is the jewelry expert and I'm the girl that loves to be bedazzled. I always say that I find men's clothing and he keeps me sparkling. I love the Bubbly Collection from Allison Kaufman. I think the quality of that jewelry from a consumer standpoint is fantastic. Same thing with the Gottlieb company. I have a right-hand ring that Jim sold five times over before I even got one. So that would be my other favorite.

Jim
She's describing a two karate total weight bar-set double-row band that's two rows of graduating diamonds, ten total, so you can imagine how that stands out. Whitetop yellow shank, or all white, or two-tone with rose. Gottlieb just hit it out of the park with that one.

Jason
Who's your favorite type of customer to walk in the door?

Jim
I love new customers. I think that's the best experience.

Jason
Here's your platform now, anything you want Meet the Jewelers to know?

Jim
This is an innovation of men's clothing and ladies’ jewelry. Taking care of both parties, regardless of age. We've got teenagers coming in, we've got people in their eighties. We would love to have the opportunity to share that experience with everyone for the first time.