Mix the warmth of a wood-paneled library with vintage displays and the magic of a modern curiosity shop, and you have the ingredients FoundRae cofounder and creative director Beth Hutchens used to design her newest retail space in Dallas.
Hutchens was drawn to the location partly because of her Southern roots—she grew up in Brownsville, Texas—but also felt drawn to it for its heritage. Her 500-square-foot shop is located inside the Conservatory, a retail destination with 40-foot ceilings that occupies a 1931 building with a well-known history as a drugstore, dry cleaner, and florist. The space was originally intended to be an elevator shaft, which gave Hutchens ideas about what could be created there.
“I immediately imagined a secret library hidden in an old, dilapidated water tower in a forest,” Hutchens says. “I wanted to create a map room within the cocoon of a great library that brought out the richness of the collection in this storybook space.
“I like the idea that libraries feel comfortable and welcoming,” she says. “Visitors can get lost in a sea of inspiration. But I also see the role of a library as sharing, preserving, and protecting history, which is a great metaphor of what the FoundRae collection does.”
Hutchens, who also has a New York store, says she wanted the Dallas store to feel like someone is stepping into a place where finding fine jewelry that matches your personality is paramount.
“We illuminate the personal stories people create. We empower them to be authors of their own story. We preserve the history and lore of symbolism. And we value age-old craftsmanship and the artisans,” Hutchens says.
To bring this metaphor to life, the shop displays not only Hutchens’ fine jewelry but also ephemera, books, and sculptures. She collaborated with the Conservatory and Spacesmith to add custom and vintage wood shadow boxes that she filled with what she calls “menageries”—intricate, curated assemblages of items such as photographs, figurines, torn pages, and stamped wax.
The Conservatory is a New York-based retail chain owned by Brian Bolke, a former Neiman Marcus creative director and cofounder of Dallas’ Forty Five Ten luxury boutique. Bolke conceived the Conservatory as a place where brands with common values can coexist and where “considered luxury” is practiced, allowing companies like FoundRae to tell their stories and connect with shoppers in a unique way.
“More than anything, I value the personal connections we make at our stores,” Hutchens says. “Our flagship in New York is quite large, so to reimagine the customer experience within a smaller footprint was challenging, but I feel like it still has the layers and depth that encourage people to stay for hours.”
Top: Beth Hutchens recently opened a Dallas location for her FoundRae jewelry brand inside the Conservatory. (Photos courtesy of FoundRae)
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