Sarah Graham, jewelry designer extraordinaire, honored our store with this unsolicited testimonial. We are flattered and excited to have such a great relationship with her.
“Alara is a gallery we always look forward to visiting, summer or winter. It is fresh, clean and modern, but still manages to pay homage to its old time western town setting. It is so rewarding to see our jewelry so beautifully displayed on natural wood posts and in sleek glass cases. Their welcoming sitting area and witty banners are always entertaining. Alara embraces its environs while providing both cowgirls and fashionistas extraordinary jewelry with western hospitality.”
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Monday, April 28, 2008
InStore's Cool Stores Competition
How exciting! We received an email today from InStore magazine (national jewelry industry publication), letting us know that we made the Top 20 Coolest Small Jewelry Stores in their national competition!
The end of May will bring us news if we place in the top 10.
Fingers and toes crossed...
The end of May will bring us news if we place in the top 10.
Fingers and toes crossed...
Friday, April 18, 2008
kudos from customers
We’ve got so many of these to post—please bear with us, if you’re wondering where yours is!
Starting with most recent first:
Customer, Sally Hart, April 18, 2008:
The jewelry at Alara is unique and affordable. Babs Noelle has a gift for working with her clients to create jewelry that is destined to become heirlooms. In redesigning my jewelry she brought me, a sixty-five year old lady, up to date.
Customer, Patrick Kainz, April 18,2008:
Babs Noelle – artist extraordinaire, a talented visionary who is a blast to work with!
Customer and former employee, Katie Kost, April 18, 2008:
Alara jewelry is not simply a jewelry store in historic downtown Bozeman--it is truly a member of the community. From involvement in Summer Art Walks, the annual Christmas Stroll, Women’s Equal Pay Day, and Thursday night shopping events, to numerous donations to Shakespeare in the Park, The Museum of the Rockies, Equinox Theatre, Thrive and many others, Alara’s involvement and contribution to the Gallatin Valley is tremendous. Babs Noelle’s entrepreneurial and philanthropic spirit is admirable and unwavering. She is a responsible business owner and employer, treating each of her employees and customers with respect and dignity and doing things right because it’s the right thing to do.
Customer and official Alaraholic, Jen Hermesmeyer, April 17, 2008:
To me, what gives a jewelry store a “cool” factor is when it meets the needs of a wide variety of clientele by providing unique and interesting jewelry in a range of prices. Alara is that kind of store – whether you’re looking for a gift, something to spruce up your own collection, or a speciall7-designed piece (with or without a budget!), the owner, Babs Noelle, and her expert staff are able to work with you to help you find or create what it is you’re looking for. Babs seeks out designers worldwide who bring a special quality to their line, which is reflected in the amazing pieces you’ll find in her store. Plus, there’s always a glass of champagne to be had – how much cooler can you get than jewelry and champagne under one roof?
Customer, Doug Stiner, April 17, 2008:
I appreciate Alara on many different levels.
First – as a guy who wants to get something for his wife and is sometimes stumped, Alara makes it easy for me because of the vast choice of unique and interesting pieces – not like the usual jewelry store offerings. They are also displayed in a very artistic and appealing way.
Second – the staff gives excellent advice in helping to choose between such a variety of items without ever being pushy. I always end up with something Nancy, my wife, LOVES. I am very appreciative of the fact that any member of the staff will go the extra mile to help me, and if a problem arises they will bend over backwards to make it right.
The Alara staff works well together and communicates with each other, and it’s also obvious that they enjoy their jobs. It doesn’t matter who I get on the phone they all know what’s going on with a special order or repair or just any situation that may arise.
The staff is professional, knowledgeable and understanding.
I have been extremely satisfied doing business with Alara in the past and will continue to do business with Alara in the future and look forward to having that same level of satisfaction and heck, we’ve all become friends.
Vendor rep, Shaun Simcox, April 17, 2008:
I am a western states sales rep and have exposure to many jewelry stores. Alara is unique not only in its merchandise but the ambience of the store and attitude of the staff is inviting and “fun”. So many jewelry stores are stuffy and formal and Alara makes fine jewelry seem more accessible and enjoyable to shop for. I have a wonderful rapport based on trust and friendship with Babs and the members of her staff. Babs has a knack for recruiting and maintaining wonderful employees. In my travels I am always bragging about Alara, I love what she is doing, her store concept is wonderful and successful.
Customer, Chuck Watson, April 15, 2008:
My wife, Natascha, and I travel extensively throughout the US and abroad. We regularly comment to each other, when seeing jewelry stores in other towns, that Alara is far better--interesting jewelry, high quality, great atmosphere and attentive staff.
Starting with most recent first:
Customer, Sally Hart, April 18, 2008:
The jewelry at Alara is unique and affordable. Babs Noelle has a gift for working with her clients to create jewelry that is destined to become heirlooms. In redesigning my jewelry she brought me, a sixty-five year old lady, up to date.
Customer, Patrick Kainz, April 18,2008:
Babs Noelle – artist extraordinaire, a talented visionary who is a blast to work with!
Customer and former employee, Katie Kost, April 18, 2008:
Alara jewelry is not simply a jewelry store in historic downtown Bozeman--it is truly a member of the community. From involvement in Summer Art Walks, the annual Christmas Stroll, Women’s Equal Pay Day, and Thursday night shopping events, to numerous donations to Shakespeare in the Park, The Museum of the Rockies, Equinox Theatre, Thrive and many others, Alara’s involvement and contribution to the Gallatin Valley is tremendous. Babs Noelle’s entrepreneurial and philanthropic spirit is admirable and unwavering. She is a responsible business owner and employer, treating each of her employees and customers with respect and dignity and doing things right because it’s the right thing to do.
Customer and official Alaraholic, Jen Hermesmeyer, April 17, 2008:
To me, what gives a jewelry store a “cool” factor is when it meets the needs of a wide variety of clientele by providing unique and interesting jewelry in a range of prices. Alara is that kind of store – whether you’re looking for a gift, something to spruce up your own collection, or a speciall7-designed piece (with or without a budget!), the owner, Babs Noelle, and her expert staff are able to work with you to help you find or create what it is you’re looking for. Babs seeks out designers worldwide who bring a special quality to their line, which is reflected in the amazing pieces you’ll find in her store. Plus, there’s always a glass of champagne to be had – how much cooler can you get than jewelry and champagne under one roof?
Customer, Doug Stiner, April 17, 2008:
I appreciate Alara on many different levels.
First – as a guy who wants to get something for his wife and is sometimes stumped, Alara makes it easy for me because of the vast choice of unique and interesting pieces – not like the usual jewelry store offerings. They are also displayed in a very artistic and appealing way.
Second – the staff gives excellent advice in helping to choose between such a variety of items without ever being pushy. I always end up with something Nancy, my wife, LOVES. I am very appreciative of the fact that any member of the staff will go the extra mile to help me, and if a problem arises they will bend over backwards to make it right.
The Alara staff works well together and communicates with each other, and it’s also obvious that they enjoy their jobs. It doesn’t matter who I get on the phone they all know what’s going on with a special order or repair or just any situation that may arise.
The staff is professional, knowledgeable and understanding.
I have been extremely satisfied doing business with Alara in the past and will continue to do business with Alara in the future and look forward to having that same level of satisfaction and heck, we’ve all become friends.
Vendor rep, Shaun Simcox, April 17, 2008:
I am a western states sales rep and have exposure to many jewelry stores. Alara is unique not only in its merchandise but the ambience of the store and attitude of the staff is inviting and “fun”. So many jewelry stores are stuffy and formal and Alara makes fine jewelry seem more accessible and enjoyable to shop for. I have a wonderful rapport based on trust and friendship with Babs and the members of her staff. Babs has a knack for recruiting and maintaining wonderful employees. In my travels I am always bragging about Alara, I love what she is doing, her store concept is wonderful and successful.
Customer, Chuck Watson, April 15, 2008:
My wife, Natascha, and I travel extensively throughout the US and abroad. We regularly comment to each other, when seeing jewelry stores in other towns, that Alara is far better--interesting jewelry, high quality, great atmosphere and attentive staff.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
selecting designers for Alara
As the owner of a design-focused gallery, design is a topic near and dear to myself and my entire staff.
Our collective sense of design and aesthetic encompasses a number of very different jewelry styles: neo-classical, organic, curvilinear, geometric, industrial, kinetic, romantic, period (Art Nouveau, Art Deco, Edwardian). But there are certain qualities that must be embodied in a designer line before we will present it with pride in our gallery, regardless of its generalized style.
adherence to classical aesthetics
Aesthetics, simply put, is the “science and math” of beauty. There are certain inarguable rules of proportion, which if stretched or compressed too far, will produce objects that few people will appreciate on a gut level. And the gut is exactly where one responds to art.
It’s very easy to design a piece of jewelry that is odd—just completely ignore every aesthetic rule. Unfortunately, “odd” might be all that would be said about such a piece by most people. It takes far more thought and effort to design jewelry that is mindful of the thousands of years of design that came before, without plagiarizing those previous efforts.
There is a reason why people with no artistic experience or training whatsoever respond as strongly to the designs found in our gallery as do our artist and architect customers. They are looking at pieces that are a refreshing take on classic aesthetics. Not downright weird, not predictably boring, not a regurgitation of something that was interesting in the 80s, and worse than anything, not a new trend that will only become passé and dated-looking later.
function
Of all the arts, jewelry is more similar to architecture than any other. Why? Because like a building, a piece of jewelry does not have meaning without the human body interacting with it. Just as a building with no means to enter it is a failed architecture project, a piece of jewelry that does not function as it should on the human body is likewise without value.
Unlike a painting, jewelry’s beauty is not fully revealed when sitting in a showcase or on an inanimate from.
It follows that a ring that is so thick it cannot be worn comfortably, no matter how compelling-looking on a pedestal, is not really a ring.
The designer jewelry lines we carry must have pieces designed to fulfill their function. Without function, one cannot appreciate their form.
quality
Aesthetics and function cannot endure unless quality materials and craftsmanship are employed to embody them.
The designers whose work we feature have exemplary skill in the jewelry arts, and take tremendous care choosing the materials in which they choose to execute their creations.
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