Seven years after opening its first retail store, gorjana has its 50th location—a new Charleston, S.C., boutique—and company officials say they are feeling gratitude about the brand’s growth and excitement for what’s coming next.
“Whether it is store No. 1 or store No. 50, there’s a through line, and that’s our emphasis on our stores being an extension of who we are and our own homes,” says Tanya Obermeyer, gorjana’s COO and its longest-standing employee.
“We have always had the same approach on our store designs and locations—we look for communities we feel we can be a part of and we invite people in,” Obermeyer says.
The Charleston store opened June 23 on King Street, one of the city’s most iconic streets for its history and array of popular shops and restaurants. The 1,350-square-foot store at at 418 King features gorjana’s traditional light wood finishes, a crystal quartz chandelier, and a Lauren Williams tapestry that brings a Southern California vibe into the space.
While the 50th location is an important milestone for co-CEOs Gorjana Reidel and Jason Griffin Reidel and their employees, the gorjana team is looking forward to the next phase of retail growth, already in the works.
“We’re always looking two to three years out and the next 25 stores in the pipeline,” Obermeyer says. “We stop and celebrate these moments, but we also keep our heads down and keep working.”
Based in Laguna Beach, Calif., gorjana has been bicoastal from its start (Griffin Reidel is from upstate New York), filling in key markets between the West and East coasts along the way. “Right now, we’re expanding across the Southeast with our first store in Atlanta in Ponce City Market and our first store in Florida, in Tampa. And there’s more to come,” Obermeyer says. “There’s stores coming soon in Texas and the New York region, penetrating more of what we already have and adding new markets.”
Each store is unique to its location, which takes time to plan and implement, Obermeyer says. Gorjana stores in Charleston, Boston, and Washington, D.C.’s Georgetown neighborhood, for example, are in historic buildings, so the company had to not only honor the local culture but leave certain components of the buildings intact.
In Charleston, that meant keeping a red brick wall along one side of the store because it was integral to the space’s historical character. Although gorjana favors light colors in its interiors, that darker brick adds a special flair to the location, and the store’s interior designers worked to complement and highlight the red brick, Obermeyer says.
The Reidels founded gorjana in 2004, opened their first office in 2007, and established their first store in Laguna Beach in 2016. The husband-and-wife cofounders describe their company as a Southern California brand with a laid-back style that includes fine and costume jewelry.
Top: Jewelry company gorjana just opened its 50th store, at 418 King St. in Charleston, its first location in South Carolina. (Photos courtesy of gorjana)
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