Meet Alex Bellman of Bellman Jewelers in Manchester

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alex Bellman.

Alex, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Bellman Jewelers had very humble beginnings. My father started the company when he was just 18 years old, selling jewelry to his friends and family using a simple briefcase to carry his inventory. The first physical location is located just down the street from where Bellman’s is currently located, the first store was in the basement of an old Victorian home. Within a few short years, the store grew in popularity and we moved to our current 6,000 square foot location at 1650 Elm Street in Manchester, NH. Our staff consists of family and those we consider family. Our customers consistently voted us the best jeweler in New Hampshire through many publications like New Hampshire Magazine, New Hampshire Bride Magazine, Hippo Magazine and The Union Leader. We believe we’ve earn these awards because of our integrity and honesty. We manufacture many of the items we sell which keeps our margins low and pass the savings along to our customers. New Hampshire is one of the few states that does not tax retail purchases. We may not be the largest jewelry store in New Hampshire, but we have more positive reviews than almost any other jeweler in New England.

Has it been a smooth road?
When you’ve been in business this long there are always challenges, we have made a few strategic mistakes along the way, from choosing the wrong marketing partners to over purchasing inventory. However we’ve learned from each mistake, and strive not to make the same mistake twice. We are always looking for ways to improve. For example, we’ve worked with numerous marketing firms over the years, but we found that in the end sometimes it was more difficult to work with someone on the outside the industry. So about 4 years ago, we changed our mind set and brought in a website and graphics designer full time. This has changed our business forever. Having the ability to instantly implement an idea in your head and see it become a reality without misinterpretation is a unbelievable feeling, especially after working with firms who generally require long lead times. On a whim, we can create new landing pages, Facebook, Instagram marketing campaigns, email blasts we can now produce our own radio and TV commercials for half the cost of many marketing firms. I believe this is one of the changes that will help us continue to grow our business.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Bellman Jewelers story. Tell us more about the business.
Bellman Jewelers is a family owned and operated Jewelry store in Manchester, NH. We specialize in high quality jewelry from simple diamond and pearl studs to extravagant custom-made pieces. We also specialize in engagement rings. Engagement and wedding jewelry is our biggest category and is where we really excel. We save our customers money and get them better quality rings that will last a lifetime. We are also known for excellent customer service, our honest, transparent approach and focus on educating our customers,

I am truly most proud of our staff. We will do anything for our customers, whether it’s during work hours or after the store is closed, if a customer needs a last minute birthday gift we will take care of it. This could mean staying late so they can keep the purchase a surprise, or driving an engagement ring two or three hours away because a customer could not get out of work in time to pick it up. I know that we will always go above and beyond for our customers.

I believe what sets us apart from most other companies, is that we truly do care about our customers and because we are a local jeweler, you can walk into the store and feel as though you are the only customer we have. We make sure our customers get exactly what they want, at a price that fits their budget. Lots of stores try and talk customers into spending more because it means more commissions for their sales staff and more profit for the company by selling protection plans and unnecessary warranty programs, this is why we do not sell fake warranty plans and why our staff does not work on commission! This allows us to focus on the customer, sell them only what they need. What really sets us apart from other big box jewelry stores in the ability to manufacture almost any item of jewelry a customer needs and not limiting them to just what’s in the showcase. We are also the only jeweler in New England who offer the lite engagement ring box and it really does make all the difference!

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
In the next 5-10 years, Bellman’s sees changes in our industry, we’ve seen a shift in consumer demand, from purchasing jewelry directly from our store inventory to wanting to design a custom piece of their own. Custom jewelry is a growing sector in the industry and we are prepared to meet our customer’s desires for unique one of a kind custom jewelry. There will always be a place for popular designer brands, but we see the demand for custom made jewelry to increase drastically. Also growing in popularity is consumer self-education and research which we love. The quality of our jewelry is exceptional and consumers are doing that all important research to gain a full appreciation of what they are buying from Bellman’s. We have also created places for consumers to get the information they need, a free diamond education class for engagement customers called CoolSchoolUniversity.com this site allows users to take a few 5 minutes classes on everything they need to know about buying a diamond. The total time it takes to complete in entire course is about one hour. We also created an online TV show called Gems of Knowledge which can be found on Facebook and YouTube to teach consumers about all different aspects of the jewelry industry. I have personally created a Facebook blog called the Truthful Jeweler where I write content that help consumers all over the country learn about the jewelry industry and also talk about the negative things in the industry and what to watch out for. These are also things I believe will put us above our competition.

Contact Info:

• Address: 1650 Elm St Manchester, NH 03101
• Website: www.bellmans.com
• Phone: 603-625-4653
• Email: Alex@bellmans.com
• Instagram: @BellmanJewelers/ @TheTruthfuljeweler
• Facebook: /BellmanJewelers and /Thetruthfuljeweler
• Twitter: @Bellman1
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/bellmans-jewelers-manchester-2
• Other: http://coolschooluniversity.com/

Image Credit:
All the images were supplied by Bellman Jewelers

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