Ellen Hertz in front of her store

Max’s of St. Louis Park, Minnesota opened four years ago and quickly became a hot destination for designer jewelry lovers in the Twin Cities. Max’s carries the work of seven Contemporary Jewelry Design Group members. We talked with Ellen Hertz, Max’s owner, to see what makes her store tick and get her thoughts on what makes shopping fun.

 Q. What is it about the mix of jewelry that you have that you think keeps your customer coming back?

EH: We have the best, and most unique, collection of fabulous jewelry anywhere in the Twin Cities! It is true. We carry high quality artist-made jewelry that is different from what other stores in town are carrying -- different in terms of media, price and style. Our customer is someone who doesn't want to have something just because everyone else has it.  S/He appreciates design and style and is not necessarily depending on a fashion magazine to tell her/him what that should mean.

When I buy for the store, I only buy one -- one of this, one of that, one of something else.  When it sells, it is gone. To be fair though, if a customer was in and saw something s/he liked but didn't purchase, and we later sold it, we would special order it if they wanted it. We want the customer to always be curious about what is new at Max's.  The approach of just buying one of any given piece gives us more freedom to expand the number of artists with whom we work and we have more room to introduce new work from our existing artists throughout the year.

Q. Why does the customer feel at home in your store?

EH: The staff gives people room to breathe and room to look around....a nice hello when they walk in and a question to see if they can help the customer find anything in particular, but no hovering allowed! We always have the tunes going and, of course, we always have chocolate samples.  The layout of the store is such that you can easily see what’s in here, even though we are selling products in three distinct categories (jewelry, home and chocolate.) Things are not piled on top of each other.  So, aesthetically, I think the store is very different from many others.

Q. What are you seeing people buy at Max’s? 

EH: Last year was really interesting. We had more women than I would have thought wanting to buy themselves something special -- a right-hand ring or a great pair of gold hoops. People are not buying as many pieces at a time as they may have done in the past, but they want to spend their money on quality items that will last. We also sell chocolate. Oddly enough, it seems that sometimes it is harder for people to justify their chocolate indulgence than it is their jewelry indulgence. 

Q. What does the staff at Max's focus on to help the customer?

EH: Our staff learns about the artists -- their inspiration, their "back story,” and the ins and outs of the different collections they create.  Different customers want to know different things. Some want to know the material and the price, but some really enjoy knowing about the artist. I think this is because it makes the purchase more "personal."  We really see this at trunk shows. Our really good customers love to come and meet the artist.  We are also quick to let the customer know that (most of) our artists are happy to do something on a custom basis.  So, for example, if we are showing rings to a couple who does not want diamonds, we will still show them some diamond rings and explain that they can be done with sapphires, emeralds or other stones of their choice. I am surprised to hear customers tell us that they have been to a number of stores where the whole custom order thing is a no-no, even with something simple like making a chain longer.  We also give a tin of thank-you chocolates to our customers who make a larger purchase. 

Q. Can you tell us a little bit about the CJDG designers who you carry in your store?

Suzy Landa's work has a real feel of joy and happiness to me.  Her colors are so vibrant and she sets the stones in such a way that really makes them dance.  There's a sense of playfulness to them that really mirrors some of her collection names...Hoopla, Confetti, Popcorn.  I was hoping that people would find her work to be as wearable during the daytime as they would for evening, and they have.  The cross-over from daytime to evening can sometimes be challenging with larger stones, but almost every piece of Suzy's jewelry that we have sold has been purchased as everyday wear, which makes me really happy.

Vicente Agor is the first jewelry artist with whom I ever placed an order!  I was immediately drawn to his display of four or five gold chains of different lengths from his Moroccan Collection.  I remember immediately thinking that it was a highly modern, urban twist on the traditional Chanel look.  Having recently stepped out of the corporate world myself, I not only wanted to wear all of these chains with the more casual way in which I now dress -- with jeans and t-shirts, a black sweater and pants -- but I also envisioned that this was exactly what I would want to be wearing the next time I walked into a boardroom or client presentation.  I loved that the look was clean and sophisticated, and had an element of unusual design to it.  Our customers have reacted similarly, as we have a number of customers who are power players in their professional lives who love and buy his jewelry, and who find that they wear it all of the time for all occasions, work and play. 

 

When I first saw Aaron Henry's work, all I could think of was sophistication.  I loved the use of color in his Celebrations and Seasons Collections, and believed that our customers would react well to his vivid sense of color.  The winter is long here in Minnesota, and people are anxious to break out the spring clothes and colors once it warms up!  As much as people have reacted positively to Aaron's use of color, they went really wild for his more organic designs.

 

I knew nothing about raw diamonds when I first saw Todd Reed's work.  I was immediately drawn to the organic nature of it and the juxtaposition of diamonds on heavily oxidized silver.  I liked the "hidden" nature of the diamond in its raw state, as I think it makes you really consider the design of the piece first, before getting carried away with the diamonds, which many customers do.  We have found that, for the vast majority of our customers, we're educating them about raw diamonds.  A lot of what people want to know about is the quality of the diamond -- is it the same as that of a polished diamond?  Of course, there's the "quality" about which we've been taught -- the 4 C's -- and, in the case of a raw diamond, a couple of those are unknowns.  But then there's what I think is the real measure of quality, that doesn't have anything to do with raw or polished -- who gave you the piece, why did they give it to you and what is your relationship to that person?  I've been a bit surprised that many people don't know that diamonds come out of the ground in all colors, so that is a fun conversation to have with customers as well.

 

I’m not telling tales out of school here, and I truly believe that Pamela Froman would laugh and say "that's true!"  I was really skeptical about Pamela's use of multi-colored gold when I was first introduced to her work and just really didn't see it as working for our customer.  After some time passed and I took another look, I was convinced to try it out, but I bought most pieces in a single color of gold.  I did, however, buy one larger necklace that was tri-color gold and, wouldn't you know it, it was the first thing of hers that sold!  When we ran a magazine ad with 3 items from Pamela, we received so many calls.  I think that not only are people drawn to the unusual mixture of gold tones in a single piece that are Pamela's signature, but they are drawn to the highly organic nature of her work.  This year, most of what I bought from Pamela was multi-color.

 

I was drawn to Jeanne Johngren's work initially because of her color combinations -- purple with green in an amethyst/peridot necklace and red with orange in a garnet/citrine combination because that's how I like to mix things up.  For our customers, I saw these as necklaces and earrings that were easy-to-wear and go-anywhere items, and that's the feedback I received.  I was then quickly drawn to her Mandala, Fleur and Quattro Collections because of the beauty and architectural nature of her designs which really speak to my personal aesthetic.  So combining the two, the mixture of color with strong design is something that our customers really appreciate, and the variety in her collection allows us to successfully sell the line to different "personalities" of customers.

 

No doubt about it, I was attracted to Patricia Tschetter's combination of larger onyx pieces with small, delicate gold granulation and/or pearls.  I personally love the unexpected -- the strong material with the delicate and the sharp contrasts in color.  I believed that this line of Patricia's work was for the strong, confident woman who isn't afraid to wear her personality in her clothing and accessories, and I was thrilled that these were the first pieces of Patricia's that we sold.  People are reacting well to the unexpected as they become more confident in understanding that what looks great on them is something that really says a bit about who they are and not just something that a fashion editor told them they should be wearing.

 

 Q. What non-profit efforts do you support in your community?

 EH: We do a lot in the community.  We donate a number of gift baskets. Usually they are chocolate gift baskets, but sometimes we put some wine glasses in and once in a while, we will put in a gift card and/or a piece of jewelry (for silent auctions or for large benefits.)  We have donated to The Special Olympics; American Diabetes Association; Partnership Resources, a local....supports giving jobs to children and adults with developmental disabilities; Groves Academy, a local private school for children who have learning challenges.  Just last month we donated chocolate boxes for the attendees at the launch luncheon for the Minneapolis branch of Dress for Success and jewelry from Max's adorned the models.  We also sell some recycled glass plates that we've linked to several charitable organizations.  These plates (Plates with Purpose) are made in PA and the company making them donates to their local charities and we donate to the Twin Cities chapter in keeping with that intention.  So, donations from the sale of those plates include the local chapters of the following organizations:  Alzheimer's Association, Habitat for Humanity, CASA, Autism Society and to The University of MN Children's Hospital, the St. Louis Park Emergency Program (provides food and clothing to those in need here).  We also have a chocolate that is linked with the World Wildlife Foundation and some decorative candles that are linked to the Honeybee Project at UC Davis.  Finally, we have some jewelry that is linked to Susan G. Komen for the Cure and we had the "Think Pink for Spring" event last year.

 

Max's

www.stylebymax.com

Ellen Hertz, ellen@stylebymax.com
(952) 922-8364

The Shops at Excelsior & Grand

3831 Grand Way, St Louis Park, MN 55416