Thank you, Brighton!

My new job at the Kansas Food Bank has been keeping me busy and I have not posted in awhile. But thanks are overdue for what Brighton has done with the "Feed Our Friends" campaign, which involved Brighton retailers all over the country -- including mine here in Wichita -- in an effort to raise money to feed the hungry. Its a big job, what with twice as many people out of work as last year and a 20 percent increase locally in kids qualifying for free lunches at school. Thanks for the help!
Now, to fun stuff... Over the weekend I made my first visit to an official Brighton store when I stopped by the one in Woodland Hills Mall in Tulsa. I figure I outgrew my desire to shop at a mall about 15 years ago and I was really hoping it was a free-standing store. But no... only for Brighton would I deal with a shopping mall. It was quite enchanting to see so many different pieces in one place and the service was great. But truth be told, I'll stick to my hometown Brighton retailer, Aida's: She gave me a discount, a latte and a slice of homemade rum cake for my birthday a week ago. Nothing beats being treated like that!

Brighton scores more wins against knock-offs

Anyone looking to make money copying Brighton's gorgeous and popular look, better take a look at this: The company has won yet another court verdict against companies producing knock-offs. In the end, juries have awarded Brighton judgements valued far beyond the revenues derived from the sales of the knock-offs. Simple cost benefit analysis should tell them, It's not worth it!
Check on the latest news as reported in Market Watch.

A new job for me and a new idea for Brighton

After four months of job hunting, your blogger is going back to work. I start my new life on May 1, as development director for our state's food bank.
No, I didn't get the job I mentioned in an earlier post, the one where I wore Balladry. Instead, it was Pop Garden I wore to the successful interview.
For you fashionistas who love details, I can tell you that this necklace with a magenta silk blouse was just the right touch for feminizing an otherwise banker-boring black suit. (No offense to bankers intended.) I also wore the matching earrings that I recently replaced.
I look forward to this new job because as much as I love Brighton, my first passion is helping people in need. And since Brighton has a passion for that, too (with its initiatives to raise money for women's heart health, breast cancer research, safe drinking water and world peace initiatives) that's just one more reason for me to love them more.
Which gives me an idea: How about a charm bracelet to raise money for feeding the hungry? Brighton already has state charms featuring an apple, a peach, a pineapple, cheese, a potato and cherries! How about it, Brighton execs?

A new temptation for the eyes - and ears!

My email in-box brought news today from Brighton, announcing an upcoming promotion: Buy any necklace and bracelet, get a pair of earrings free! That's about as close to a good sale as you are going to find on new products at the Brighton retailers, considering that earrings run $32 and up, while bracelets start around $45 and necklaces around $52. The free earring deal will be offered from April 24 to May 10 (Mother's Day!)

But what really caught my eye was a pair of earrings shown in the ad that I had never seen before, the ones shown here. A quick cruise of the Brighton website (go to Products, then Jewelry to find the latest releases) and I found the name of these beauties: Bauble. They sell for $38 and complete a set that includes the necklace shown here. Bauble represents the latest example of the incoporation of wood into its pieces. This season has already seen the use of wood in Gretel and Silverwood designs. If you haven't seen it already, I also encourage you to check out a design called Natural Elements, which so far I have only seen on ebay and cannot tell if it is a new design or old. Either way, I must say I like this trend.

Could Little People be a designer's inspiration?

With a host of unpleasant household chores ahead of me today, I found myself willfully distracted by my Brighton ABC charm collection when I assembled this bracelet. I sat staring at it and thinking, "I've seen this somewhere before." The bold plastic colors of the Brighton spacers stirred something primal in me... I am four again, lining up my favorite colorful toys, the Little People, in my mind once again arranging furniture in their home, deck chairs on their yacht, playground equipment by their school, fencing around their barn and luggage on their plane. The memory of pure play is like a drug, and I think, Wait! That's the same high I get from arranging these little charms, spacers and beads. Coincidence? I don't think so. Maybe, just maybe, on some subconcious level a Brighton desiger had Little People on her mind when she came up with these.

I just found what I want for Mother's Day

Diverting myself from such mundane matters as scheduling a plumber and a doctor visit, unpacking suitcases from a recent trip and doing laundry, I found myself wandering once again to www.brighton.com to see what's new. I was suprised and delighted to see a number of newly released ABC charms and spacers. Now I know what I want for Mother's Day! Check out the "Mom" spacer. (There are similar ones that say "Sister" and "Friends." And who can resist that adorable little flower pot charm! There's a bouquet that won't die in a week. Also be sure to check out the new versions of the Daisy Bead in pink and white enamels. Time to call your local stores Brightonistas and put your favorites on hold because I imagine they won't last long once their shipments come in.

Why I nearly missed my plane

I just got back from a trip to San Diego that took me through the Houston International airport. My son Henry was traveling with me and its a good thing because as we neared our gate, my eye caught site of a sign in the Concourse C walkway that said "Inside: Brighton." I grabbed Henry and pulled him inside a store that would normally hold no interest for me whatsoever, a PGA Golf store full of golf shirts and accessories with broadcasts of hushed-tone sportscasters narrating a pro game on overhead video screens. (Jeez, you might was well take me into an auto parts store.) But there at the back of the store was a hidden treasure trove of Brighton! My eyes darted over the merchandise crammed into this small nook in the back of the store. Not only did they have many of the newest products, they had an older one that I've been on the hunt for: the red braided leather bandit with the silver bar inscribed with the words, "Follow Your Heart." I did and took it up to the counter to pay, where I started chatting up two nice lady clerks about why there was a Brighton section in this PGA store. One explained that it was supposed to be "something for the ladies" when there husbands come in the store. Well, certainly I can't imagine a better incentive. I was becoming engrossed in my conversation with the clerks when my son tugged on my sleeve and said, "Mom! Our flight's boarding!" I had totally forgotten I was in an airport about to catch a flight!

Serial shoplifter plagues Florida Brighton stores

This just in, Brightonistas: An article in today's St. Petersberg (Fla.) Times reports a serial shoplifter striking Brighton stores and selling the items on ebay under the name compassquest.Your blogger plans to explore the hazard of buying hot merchandise on ebay -and how to avoid it - at a future date, but for now, here's a sample of the story by Stephanie Hayes out of St. Petersburg:
The shopkeepers thought nothing of her.
Brighton collectibles, those baubles with a signature silver heart, are a favorite of well-groomed, stylish women. When loyalists buy one piece, they typically buy another.
Like any customer, she knew her stuff. She was wearing it.
"She knew names as well. She was asking me for a specific pair of earrings," said Jodi Schutz, manager of Warren's Gifts in Clearwater.
Later, they noticed the barren racks. They watched the security video. The chill washed over.
"She's right underneath the eye of the camera, and you can just see sparkle," Schutz said. "Silver shining down in her purse."
Thousands worth.
She wore it? She knew the names? She frequented the store? Sounds like a Brightonista - except she's NOT.
Brightonistas DON'T STEAL.
I was relieved (if one can be relieved about any of this) to see that the suspect didn't just shoplift Brighton stores, which says to me this wasn't a Brighton addiction run amuck so much as a thief looking for what she could easily fence. The news story suggests the underlying culprit is likely the bad economy, which has triggered an increase in shop-lifting across the country.

Re-use, recycle and now, re-Brighton!

Diana, a Brightonista from Florida, sent me this photo of a coin purse she made using bags that came with her Brighton purchases. (Is this how Vera Bradley got started, I wonder?) Here's Diana's story:

I used to just throw them and the tins out but all this talk of recycling and being green etc. inspired me. I used the bag from the free umbrella they were giving away last month for the lining and a bag I got when I bought the China Tales bracelet. I glued in a piece of the ribbon drawstring from the bag as a label. Not bad, huh?

Not bad at all, Diana! But its hard to imagine anyone throwing out the tins or the bags. They are so pretty after all. And they seem to have a market of their own on ebay. But I have to say, I like this idea of using the tins and bags as materials for art most of all. Follow these links for some other stories of how Brightonistas used tins and bags to create something new:

One woman used a heart tin as the base of a clay project.

Another describes plans on her blog for using the Brighton tins in a tin crafting class. (She bought extra tins on ebay just for the project.)
And yet another woman has posted sketches she made inspired by the artwork on one of her tins.

And so art begets art... which is just as it should be. Anyone else have projects to share?

Heads up: Cheap knock-offs from China

While searching for something else, I came across this China wholesaler offering the kind of knock-offs one finds sold on the streets of New York. No Brightonista worth her bag heart charm would ever be fooled into thinking these were the real thing. I was going to make a joke about these coming from cheapknockoffs.com, but apparently someone has actually claimed that domain and it takes you to a scam site. Figures.

QVC to feature Brighton on April 14

Mark your calendars, Brightonistas. QVC will be featuring Brighton on its show during two different time slots on April 14. Get your taxes done first, and if you have any money left (or coming back in a refund) tune in. QVC carries a limited selection of Brighton jewelry and purses for purchase at any time on its website, www.qvc.com. Prices there are the full retail price on most products. But as anyone who's ever seen QVC knows, you can get some good deals during their live broadcast promotions. Brighton began its partnership with QVC in late 2007. Founder Jerry Kohl said he wanted to use QVC to introduce a broader audience to Brighton products and to ultimately drive more customers into the retail stores. Your blogger can't speak to the success of that specific strategy other than to report that Brighton did see its highest sales ever in 2008. But I can tell you that many of the discounted QVC products find their way to ebay, and I have gotten a good deal on them there.

I'd like to buy a vowel, please

I'm a word person. I love words, sentences, paragraphs, stories, books, even individual letters.
As a child, I loved sorting through noodle letters for words in alphabet soup. As a Brightonista, I have been slowly aquiring letters from the Brighton ABCs collection.
At $7.50 a piece, you just can't jump in and buy a whole alphabet. I started with my initials, p, m, b. Once I got the Oklahoma state charm and the orange and black spacers, I decided I wanted the option of making a bracelet for alma mater, Oklahoma State, so I added o,s,u. Then I realized all I needed was one more m to spell out m-o-m and wear it in a bracelet with the soccer ball my son gave me. (Get it? Soccer Mom!)
It finally hit me today that all I needed to spell my name was 2 ls and a y. So I headed to Aida's, navigated past the construction equipment (see earlier post) to buy my letters. Two years ago when I first longed to spell out my name, five letters and four spacers seemed like a huge investment. Now, I just needed two consonants and a vowel. Y is a vowel, right?
After I built by name, I studied my 10 letters. Ten. That's one more than you get in Scrabble. What else, what else? Hey, look! p-m-s! Too bad Brighton doesn't make a chocolate charm.

Wood you look at that beautiful jewelry!

Whenever an errand takes me me within a mile of a Brighton store, I invariably end up stopping by just to look around and see what's new. Yesterday I stopped by Wild at Heart in east Wichita, just as the shop owner was unpacking her latest shipment of Brighton, which included this butterfly necklace and other pieces from the Gretel collection. The combination of laser engraved wood with silver is yet another successful combination of textures by designers. I've always enjoyed the combinations of silver and leather and natural stone (the Imagine collection being a favorite example) and I am charmed by the inclusion of yet another natural material, wood. While the Gretel pieces have a gentle, almost lace-like feel to them, the Silverwood collection goes the other direction, as a chunky celebration of woods that will immediately appeal to anyone who ever loved to play with wooden blocks. That would include me, obviously, and the reason goes to the heart of why I am a Brightonista. I am a sensory junky: I love to experience abundant colors, textures, shapes and designs in various combinations... and Brighton never disappoints.

Sending the right message at an interview

I have a job interview in 30 minutes. The front page of the newspaper is announcing thousands of more local layoffs. I have just put on a new interview suit (grey) and a cream silk shirt, hoping to send a warm-but-serious-job-candidate message. Now the fun part: Which jewelry? Which piece says warm, nurturing (its a p.r. job on behalf of a children's organization) but also mature, serious, competent? We Brightonistas know that every piece says something different. I'm thinking pearls... but not just pearls. (That says boring.) Ah, perfect: Balladry. Heart, butterfly, bird and pearls. Whimsical, warm and professional. Somewhere there is a woman who designed this for me, for today. Thank you. If today goes well, it may just become my lucky bracelet.

I got a letter from Coldwater Creek's CEO today

A hand-signed letter arrived in the mail today from Daniel Griesemer, CEO of Coldwater Creek. No, it wasn't about my earlier post about the lawsuit with Brighton. (Thank goodness!) It was actually a personal letter of thanks in response to an email I wrote earlier this month to the Coldwater Creek board of directors. I 'd just had a particularly good experience in my local retail store that included a hassle-free return and discount for donating a jacket to Dress for Success.
In my earlier life, I have been that person working in middle management who wonders if the CEO has any idea who I am or how wonderful my team is. So I decided to do that local manager a favor and look up the Coldwater Creek corporate folks and write an email.
I was pleased to find several contact numbers on CWC's web site including an email address for the board of directors. So I wrote an email with no idea what would happen. But sure enough, my email reached the board and my new friend Daniel, the CEO in Sandpoint, Idaho, who says he's also going to pass my email along to the local retailer.
So why, you ask, are you writing about this on a Brighton blog?
Here's why: I appreciate it when a company's leaders make themselves accessible to customers, and Brighton could do better at this. Yes, there is a 1800 number for customer service on the Brighton web site, but no link to any of the corporate people. I guess I will just have to hope Brighton execs are in the habit of googling themselves so that they may find this blog and read all the (mostly) nice things I am saying about them.

Watch out: Timepieces can be addictive

Joni, a Brighton-ista in Colorado, says she's had a love of watches ever since she was old enough to put one on. Her all-time favorite is a 1970s Snoopy watch, where Snoopy is playing tennis, his racket is the minute hand and a tennis ball goes around as the second hand. (I had that watch too!) But now Joni is an avid collector of Brighton watches. I discovered from her post in Facebook that she has 33 (!) watches and most all of the matching bracelets. I asked Joni, Why watches? Many people don't even wear watches anymore. They use cell phones to tell time. Here's what she said:

I would imagine that my passion for watches was simply that most are affordable and a wonderful way to express my individuality in a piece of jewelry. You need many watches for all of your outfits. Since Brighton makes so many wonderful pieces, it is not hard to have a large collection....Of course having a store within 5 minutes certainly contributes to my delinquency. My habit became enhanced after my divorce, kind of a nice outlet huh? I would look for clearances or stores that were no longer going to sell Brighton - my little secret. I would buy up watches, bracelets, whatever I could get the best deal on. Some I even got 2 for one.

Joni said she couldn't name a favorite Brighton watch, but she does have one that holds the most sentimental value for her: It is a heart-shaped Brighton watch with a pink leather band that was a gift from her oldest son: My son had just come back from the Army a couple years ago and we had not spoken for a while, it was his 'peace' offering to me. (I did not want him to enlist) It came with tons of love and that was the most important gift of all.

As much as she loves her Brighton watches, Joni said the watch she really wants is one that Brighton doesn't make yet: A sports watch. So many women could benefit from having a cool sports watch - that does not look like a MAN'S watch. I have faith that Brighton will come through for us athletic girls.

While Joni's waiting on that new design, I know what I am going to do: Make sure my five Brighton watches (yes, only five) get fresh batteries so I can start enjoying them again.

Thanks for sharing your story, Joni!

The problem with diamonds: Part 2

Check this out... I wasn't imagining it about the diamond market being kaput. Here is a story from Saturday's Washington Post.
Last fall, recession-wary Americans more concerned about basics than bling began to lose interest in diamonds and other jewelry, and now the sales slump is reverberating around the world.
Retailers are taking a big hit. Tiffany said Monday that its profit dropped more than 75 percent in the fourth quarter. Lynn Jewelers, a downtown Washington presence since 1946, closed its doors last month. Christian Bernard Jewelers, a national chain with several stores in the Washington area, has shut down, as well. They are among 1,000-plus jewelers across the country to go out of business in the past year.
Read the full story here.

Forget diamonds, Brighton is girl's best friend

Brightonistas, I have just learned a very sobering truth about diamonds. They aren't worth near what we pay for them. They retain very little value. This was driven home to me the past month as I tried to sell a diamond ring that, lets just say, no longer held any sentimental value to me.
I tried jewelry buyers around town and the best offer I got was $400 for a ring that cost $1,200 nearly 20 years ago. (I can still see that Kay Jewelry salesman who showed us charts and told us don't worry about the cost, this would be a great investment.) Ha!
A very nice, honest local dealer advised me that the best odds for getting anything close to the retail price of a diamond is to go on ebay. So I posted it for 10 days and the highest bid was $300. I did not let it go for that.
This is a fairly quality diamond, too. Half carat, H color, SI2. I just designed a ring with the exact specifications on http://www.bluenile.com/ and it came out with a pricetag of $2,100.
As I have mentioned, I also auctioned a number of older items from my Brighton collection. Every one of those items sold, all for more than half their original retail value and most for 80 percent or more.
The lesson here is obvious ladies: Brighton jewelry is worth much more than diamonds! (Or at least, its a much better investment per dollar.) From now on, I am putting my money on Brighton.

Charmed by charms, she can't get enough

Lorraine from Castle Rock, Colorado, is a Brightonista who loves pink! Check out this photo she sent me that shows three of the bracelets she built using Brighton's ABC charms. I contacted Lorraine after I saw her post on a Brighton fan site on Facebook, in which she said, "I went today during my lunch hour and built another charm bracelet." I have stopped off for a charm or two before, but never have I had the pleasure of going to my local Brighton store and building an entire bracelet at one time, much less over a lunch hour. How much fun that must be! So I asked Lorraine to send these pictures and tell me about her bracelets and why she chose the charms she did. Here's what she wrote:

Pink is my favorite color, I like rubber ducks, I drink lots of hot tea, I like hearts, R is for my husband name (Ralph) L for my name (Lorraine), I like cupcakes, they call me Princess, I wear tiaras, lady bug is cute, I collect pigs.

Asked which charms she hopes to collect next, Lorraine said:

I want the shamrock but my shop was out if it when I last went, the apple and ballet slipper are what come to mind at the moment. I'm going to take the R and L off and put them on the key fob.

And last I heard, Lorraine had plans to build a black bracelet next.

I think we should all thank Lorraine for her part to improve the national economy with this wonderful display of consumer confidence. You go girl!

Like that's gonna stop me!

Neither wind, nor rain, nor heavy construction equipment will keep this Brightonista from her favorite store. That said, it took me a while today to map out how exactly I was going to get past the orange cones, heavy equipment, closed roads and torn-up concrete to make it to the front door of Aida's, my Brighton haunt of the past 10 years. I had come to share the love, so to speak, from my recent ebay windfall. And I knew Aida's could give me what ebay couldn't: instant gratification!
The number of physical obstacles between me and the store left me wondering whether Aida's was even open. I worried for Aida (both proprietess and friend) and wondered whether her business could withstand both the downfall in the economy and the detour to her store.
Aida is a strikingly upbeat person. When I finally got inside, I found her not unhappy about the construction outside her door but thankful that the work was behind schedule. The street widening had originally been planned for December. THAT would have hurt, she said. I lingered inside for an hour, choosing new charms (have you seen the kitty cat? It has rhinestone eyes and a tiny heart hanging from its collar!) and caressing leather purses, imagining which one I might one day buy. The charms are doing well at Aida's, in downtown Wichita. She now has an entire counter devoted to them and the display is quite enticing. (I walked away with five!) I was just about to leave when another two women walked in, obviously as undeterred as I was. It was then I knew Aida would be okay. Brightonistas, we take care of our own.

It wasn't exactly a Cindarella moment

Speaking of used shoes. ... I have been forced to come to terms with the fact that these shoes do not fit, will not fit, no matter how much I love them. These are the Whitney-style shoes that coordinate with the extremely popular Crystal Heart jewelry. I wanted them from the moment their sparkle captured my eye at Aida's, my local Brighton retailer. I believe they were $160 originally, and I just couldn't manage that at the time. So I waited til the end of the season. I was thrilled when I finally saw them on sale, and not so thrilled when I saw there were none left in my size. Like Cinderella's stepsisters, I ignored the obvious in favor of oblivious optimism: I tried on the 9 narrow, declared them good enough, and bought them. Two wearings (or should I say, trippings) later, I surrendered and put them away. And today they are on ebay, along with a diamond ring and a pearl ring, two family heirlooms. Let the record show that I did not hesitate to auction family heirloom jewelry, but these shoes I put up for sale last.

Did someone say road trip? Outlets await!

I'm not one for long-distance driving but I may reconsider. Turns out that San Marcos, Texas (a good 600-mile, 9-hour drive away) has the closest Brighton outlet store to my home in Kansas. What? You didn't know Brighton even had outlets stores? That's not too surprising. You can't find them by searching Brighton's official website. The steeply discounted outlets are listed among the other stores in the store locator, but not identified as outlets. I'd never heard of them until I heard rumor of their existance on Facebooks' Brighton fan site. One Facebook post taunted me with the promise of good deals at an outlet in New York:
"My friend Laura and I make a quarterly pilgrimage to the Brighton Outlet at the Woodbury Commons in NY... OMG...$20 dollar watches...$22 necklaces...a $49 dollar bag that is $275 in the new catalog...it's dangerous! We spent 2 hours in the store."
A silver-plated El Dorado!
Unfortunately, Facebook members offered little other specific info on where such retail wonders might be hidden. After some Internet sluething, here's what I found out:
There are six Brighton outlet stores, none of them close to me. Two in New York, one in Virginia, one in California, one planned for Florida, and the aforementioned outlet in Texas. All of them are located at outlet malls in tourism hotspots:
Fashion Outlets Niagra Falls, Niagra Falls, New York
www.fashionoutletsniagra.com
Woodbury Common Premium Outlet, near New York City
St. Augustine Premium Outlets in St. Augustine, Florida (due to open later this year)
www.premiumoutlets.com
Prime Outlets, San Marcos, Texas
Prime Outlets, Williamsburg, Virginia
www.primeoutlets.com
Cabazon Outlets, near Palm Springs, Calif.
www.cabaszonoutlets.com
You cannot call these stores directly, but if you want more information it turns out Brighton does maintain an outlet information line: 1 (888) 323-5118. So tell me, Brightonistas... How far will you go for a great deal?

She's in a collector state of mind

Leslie, a Brightonista from Baltimore, likes the hunt: Her pursuit of Brighton's state charm bracelets started when she spotted the Colorado bracelet in Denver. She wasn't immediately sure if she wanted it. "It was a toss up between that and a different one and that little green backpack charm was the deciding factor. That’s what got me hooked! The charms were so adorable and had such intricate detail," she says. When she learned that Brighton had made 11 state bracelets (see them here), she decided she wanted them all. But how to get them? Each state's bracelet is only carried by retailers in that specific state. "I put out requests to any and all of my friends that I knew were traveling," Leslie says. And with the help of five friends, she got them all! Here's how she did it, in her own words:

My CA bracelet was picked up by my husband's co-worker while he and his wife were vacationing there. My HI was picked up by a guy my husband and I used to be stationed with in CA. My IL was picked up while I was on a trip in St Louis. A friend lived in IL just across the state line and on our way to dinner we stopped to pick it up. My GA was actually purchased off of eBay. I didn’t know anyone heading that way. My AZ, FL & NV were picked up by a co-worker on 3 separate trips while they were traveling for work. My TX was picked up by another co-worker while she visited her family. My DC was picked up during a visit to my local Brighton shop.

And her New York bracelet? "I'm originally from NY and my BFF gave it to me on my birthday," she says. The NY bracelet is her favorite. (Mine, too!)

Leslie said she had mixed emotions once she had the entire collection.

"I was so excited once I got them all but it was also kind of sad too. It was as if the thrill of the hunt was over," she says. "Not to worry though, Brighton has plenty of other beautiful items to chase after and now I'm hooked on the charms. ... Since it doesn’t look like there are going to be any additional state bracelets, I’d like to collect charms for the states in which I have either lived or have visited." Leslie is in the military so that is going to be a lot of states. Good luck, Leslie!

Hard lessons learned on ebay

As I said before, I occasionally sell off some of my existing Brighton collection to pay for new acquisitions. This week I had 10 listings on ebay. The auctions are over and the final totals are in: I made $290, which would have more than covered the new Brighton items I just bought. Would have, if I had not decided to forgo self-discipline in favor of a new purse. Now I am in the red for about $100.
I suspect I would be closer to breaking even if I already knew the hard ebay lesson I learned this weekend: If you have multiple pieces from a collection, sell them separately and not as a set. I sold two sets (necklace, earrings, bracelet) and neither brought what I had hoped. One set went for $53 and the other for $62. Monitoring other auctions, I noticed that the individual pieces in each of these sets were commanding $30 to $40 on average, which means each of my sets might have brought $100 if sold separately. That's closer to what I was hoping for.
I'm guessing higher demand must exist for individual pieces because the majority of bidders are not looking to buy full sets, but to fill out incomplete retired sets.
That said, if you happen to buying, you will probably get a better deal bidding on a set than buying several pieces separately.
Live and learn, Brightonistas. Live and learn.

Make Friends with other Brightonistas

Brightonistas, I have added a new feature to this blog that allows you to stay connected with me and with each other. It is similar to Facebook and interacts with Facebook. It is a product from Google that is still in Beta testing so it might not be perfect. I would love to see your smiling faces on this page. Just sign up as a follower under the Brightonista Follower section on the lefthand sidebar of this page (right below About Me.)

Make a mama proud: Design for Brighton!

I met Rhonda Gruss Spayd through Facebook's Brighton group pages. Turns out her daughter Lisa is a designer for Brighton, a woman who may have already touched your life with her talents. According to mom, Lisa is the artist behind Brighton's Flutter collection! For the record, I have both Flutter bracelets, both sets of earrings, the necklace and the anklet and I will NEVER sell them. In fact, I just grew my Flutter collection, snapping up the Flutter flower earrings yesterday! Mom says her flower garden served as a source of inspiration for Lisa. Here's the story in Rhonda's own words:

Her name is Lisa Spayd Sendre. ... After graduation she got a job for American Greetings designing cards. She was the first one to design the cards that are 3-D and they were selling very well for the Co. Then her then boyfriend got a job in California and she wanted to follow him. When they got to CA, she went online to find a job and applied to Brighton. Out of thousands of applicants she got the job. She has been working there for about 4 or 5 years and loves what she does. ... Lisa's designs have sold very well. Her first design was the Flutter collection and one of the recent was the Contempo Collection and she has done purses, reading glasses, and jewelery. She has done lots of straw purses also. She has taken lots of ideas from my garden. I love to garden and some of the things she has done are flowers. ... Brighton is a great company to work for. They are like one big family and that includes all the employees from the factory workers to the designers.

Look for Lisa's latest design, Silverwood, to be one of this season's biggest hits. Its a texture-rich combination of varied colors of woods and silver, presented as circles, spheres and asymetic squares. Thank you Rhonda for introducing us to your daughter. Lisa, I am really glad you moved to California!

We owe it all to Jerry and Laura

Like many of you, I was familiar with the basic story of Brighton Collectibles that appears on the official website. But I didn't really get a sense of the founders as people until I read this wonderful piece by Cheryl Hall of the Dallas Morning News. It is absolutely worth reading in full, but here's an excerpt:

Brighton was a $28 million men's belts manufacturer just starting a women's belt line in 1991 when Jerry Kohl hired Laura Young to teach his salesmen how to sell to ladies' stores.
Young had spent 10 years in marketing and sales with Ginnie Johansen Designs, a Dallas accessories company, so she knew the ropes. Brighton's ladies' belt business went from $200,000 at 300 stores to $1.75 million at 1,200 stores during her first year on the job.
She and Kohl decided to add shoes, handbags and jewelry.
"At the time, we didn't know anything about making jewelry, and we surely didn't know anything about making shoes," Young says. "So we developed the first Brighton handbags in 1993. Our signature logo was a heart." ... Brighton has added jewelry and footwear, along with a range of other products, and 2008 revenue topped $300 million – the highest ever.

Imagine that: Brighton started as a men's belt store, which I guess explains why they carry men's products today. I had not really understood that. Here is a photo of Jerry and Laura I found on another blog site. (Nice belt Jerry!) Now you can recognize them if you ever see them in your local store. If you do, be sure to say thank you!

Behold, Coldwater Creek's smoking shoe

Maybe you already knew this Brightonistas, but it was news to me: In December a U.S. District Court jury in San Diego told Coldwater Creek to pay Brighton $6.7 million for it willful violation of Brighton's intellectual property rights. Specifically, Coldwater Creek was accused of copying the Brighton heart trademark and copying Brighton's look. Coldwater Creek said it was not guilty and planned to appeal. I hadn't learned of the lawsuit until today when I came across the news online, but it was no secret to me that Coldwater Creek was producing Brighton knock-offs. Just take a look at these shoes: The one on the left is a pre-owned Brighton shoe I purchased on ebay and the one on the right was purchased from Coldwater Creek's website. I admit it! I bought it specifically because it had the Brighton look, for the same reason I have purchased CWC's handbags. And I can testify that many people mistook my CWC items for Brighton. (Your compulsively honest blogger corrected them, but also told them where to get the look-alikes.) I had always wondered why Brighton allowed this blatant rip-off of its look. But apparently, it was Coldwater Creek that sued first in 2006, alleging injury of its reputation after a Brighton dealer in Beverly Hills wrote a letter to Coldwater Creek accusing them of producing cheap knock-offs. I can guess why Brighton didn't sue first: Coldwater Creek is the Goliath in this dispute, with $1.024 billion in sales last year, according to its SEC filings. Brighton is privately held so its exact sales numbers aren't reported to the SEC, but company officials said sales were about $300 million last year. Now that I know all this I feel pretty guilty for buying the CWC knock-offs. And as one of Coldwater Creek's better customers (I'm designated a "One Creek" customer) I am pretty disappointed in the them for not admitting the obvious. Message to CWC: You do so many things right, you don't need to copy Brighton.

Meeting Brightonistas on Facebook

I met Suze from Sanpoint, Idaho today through Facebook, which has two groups dedicated to Brighton fans. Suze is a true Brightonista! "I LOVE Brighton!!! I have over 25 complete sets, 7 watches, 4 pairs of sunglasses, a wallet, a handbag and so on..." she wrote in a post on Facebook's Fans of Brighton group page. When I read that I had to find out more, so I wrote her, asking about her collections. Here's Suze's reply:

"I LOVE Brighton soooooooooooo much! I started collecting it around 10 years ago. My first collection was the Live Love Laugh necklace, earrings and bracelet. ... I own the following complete sets (necklace, earrings and bracelet) - Romance, Voler, Blaire Heart, Picadilly, Waterlilly, Portabello, Cote D'Azur (pink and blue sets), Garden of Eden, Let It Snow, Holiday Joy, Forget Me Not, Stitch In Time, La Vie En Rose, Candy Kiss, Clarity, Tuscan Etched Heart, Winter Wonderland (bracelet only - there were no earrings or necklace) Flutter Butterfly, Kriss Kross (bracelet), Spring Fever, Orchard, Ice Diamond, Vienna Hearts, Lucia, Flora Pearl, Moonlight Gaze, Laurel Myth, Snow Diva, Geneva Pearl and Blue Bell. I also have a great handbag, wallet, several sunglasses, hair clips, belts, ornaments, charms and other misc. stuff. The only thing I haven't really gotten into is the shoes."

Oh Suze, no shoes?!!

I love that Suze has both the pink AND blue Cote D'Azur sets. (Blue is shown here). So do I! My mother taught me long ago that choosing is overrated.

And then there were three...

It's spring break here and my 7th grade son Henry has just brought me the mail. "Brighton. Of course," he deadpans, handing me a small package. I explain, though he's not real interested, that it is something I had to buy twice, a replacement set of some of my favorite earrings, the white and blue ones that belong to the Pop Garden collection. (I have the bracelet, both sets of coordinating necklaces, both sets of earrings and even the matching pony tail holder.) One of my original set went missing some time ago. "Uh oh, I hope it wasn't something I lost," Henry says. When I get the package open, then the tin, Henry says, "Yep it is." If you have, or have had, a son this age you know that expressing shock or anger at a moment like this is a waste of energy. I just looked at him and asked, Why do you think you lost it? "Cause I was playing with them. They hook together so well." He's referring to the french wires. I see now my son has made Barrel Monkeys out of my favorite Pop Garden earrings. I suggest he look for my missing earring near wherever he last played with them. He begins digging through sofa cushions and calls out his discoveries: "A sock. More socks. Another sock. The original TV remote. A piece of candy corn." But no earring. Do any of the socks match? I call out. "No," he says. So now I have three matching earrings and four mismatched socks. Henry asks, somewhat nervously, if I lost "that big round thing" that he says is "so much fun to toss." He's talking about my 2-inch-wide Serendipity bangle. "Uh no. That's a lot harder to lose." Note to self: Put the jewelry straight into the jewelry box when I take it off. And buy son Barrel of Monkeys.

Waiting is the hardest part

One day and about nine hours to go. I am waiting eagerly to see how much money my old Brighton jewelry will bring on ebay. Bids so far total $109.59 for about 10 items, but I know the final total could be more than twice that because serious bidders wait until the last minute to jump in rather than drive prices up early. I have watched bids more than double in the final minute of an auction. Fortunately that did not happen yesterday on the like-new Brighton sandals. I was the only bidder and got them for $29.99, the opening price. Now I just need to wait for them to ship. Brightonistas do not like to wait.

New release is blooming temptation

Every season Brighton releases dozens of new designs including at least one that will drop your jaw. Look for Fun Flower to be this season's big hit. With 10 charms that include an adorable watering can that opens and a delightful bee, this bracelet retails for $72, making it one of Brighton's pricier offerings in the bracelet category. I got a look at this in person today but chose to wait rather than buy. That may turn out to be a mistake. These will probably fly out of the stores if ebay traffic is a predictor: With three days left in the auction, ebayers have already bid the bracelet up to $68, which means it will likely sell for significantly more than the retail price. That happens when Brightonistas with no access to local retailers are forced to satisfy insatiable appetites online. I hestitated for three reasons: 1) I won't know what I can afford until the ebay auctions on my older Brighton pieces conclude. 2) I can't stand the earrings that go with this and I have a weakness for the oft-maligned "matchy, matchy" look. 3) The Brighton website says the piece "cross pollinates nicely with the Beehave collection." Beehave collection? No sign of that yet on Brighton's site or ebay. I can't wait; I love bees!

Do these shoes look used to you?

I love Brighton shoes. I've owned Brighton sandals, loafers, heels, mules and cowboy boots -- and rarely have I paid full price. Even in the best of times, I am not a person who can justify spending $150 or more on shoes. So I watch... and wait. My local retailers usually drop the price on Brighton's to 50 percent. I've bought a few pairs this way, but even so, $75 feels steep to me. Sometimes, if I wait long enough, the price goes to 75 percent discount - but usually by then, my size is gone. The best deals for shoes are on ebay, especially if you can get past the idea of wearing used shoes. I know, sounds icky. But guess what? Many of the women who have no problem spending $150 on shoes tend to buy a lot of them, take good care of them and not wear them very often. These are what typically end up on ebay. The best sellers make it easy to determine whether their "gently used" or "worn once" shoes are in good shape by showing photos of the shoe beds and soles, as well as tops. You can definitely tell the condition of a shoe by looking at the bed and sole. And for the occasional scuff mark, a black Sharpie can do the trick (on a black shoe, of course.) Today I was browsing for sandals. Each year I try to find a pair of Brighton sandals that can be my go-to, show-off-a-great-pedicure shoes in warm weather. I decided to place a bid on this pair for $29.99. So far, no one else has bid. Photos to the box accompanying the shoes indicate the original price was $150, later marked down to $75. I may be able to get them for half of that. Stay tuned.

The trouble with ebay

As I said, when I am strapped for cash I sell old pieces of Brighton on ebay in order to pay for newer pieces. Right now I have two more days until the auctions close on the 10 items I am selling. That means two more days to spend the money I have not yet made. Thankfully ebay makes this easy: Right now, I'm behind by $100. It's Kismet: Or should I say, its the Kismet heart necklace and matching bangle bracelet I decided I could not live without. These are hard to find. (Believe me, I've checked.) Which means that should I have regrets in the morning -- or by fall -- I can surely get back what I have paid for them. Of course, we know where that money will go. (Hey, I challenge you to find a safer investment these days.)

Charmed, I'm sure

About the time the economy crashed -- my own, as well as the nation's -- Brighton expanded its ABC Charm offerings, enabling me to build my collection $10 at a time. Charms were first introduced a few years ago with colorful initials, charms and spacer beads intended to be worn a few at a time. I didn't really get interested in them until the introduction of the slider bracelets, which can hold about a dozen sliders, spacers and charms at a time. They look great (check out my design for Valentine's Day at left) but do the math: The bare bracelet costs about $25, then add 12 charms at a cost of roughly $10 a piece. Actual price varies from $5-$25 each. The total adds up to nearly $150. But hey, I'm spending $10 a pop so it doesn't seem that bad -- except of course when I suddenly want every new charm that comes out. What do you mean, you sold out of the bumble bee? I gotta have that one! No soccer ball?! But that's what my son is getting me for Christmas! Ah forget it, I'm not even trying to collect them all. (Thankfully, they aren't all that good. Like that ugly Kansas state charm. Hey, PLEASE, how about a sunflower charm instead?) But in these tight money times, charm collecting allows even a broke Brightonista a way to stay in the game. I mean, its only $10 right? Still, the best thing about the charms isn't the price but the creativity they allow. Get enough beads, sliders and charms (today's count: 42) and you can create countless combinations. Even big girls like to string beads.

Someone should pay me

I don't have a 401k plan, I have a Brighton collection. So far, Brighton hasn't made me any money but they have made plenty off of me. Not only do I buy it, I happily sell it others at every opportunity. Like my necklace? I won't just say thank you. I will tell you the name of the design, the four places you can get it in town and where to look online if that doesn't work. (Really, I should just learn to say thank you.) I can't help but eavesdrop when I see a man in a Brighton store shopping for his wife. If he is looking at a necklace, I show him the matching earrings or suggest the bracelet. Why do I do this? Just trying to share the love, I guess. (I'm the same way with Volkswagen Beetles.) Now mind you, I am not some shill. I was once a hardened newspaper reporter; cynicism and criticism are in my blood. But never have I regretted a dime spent on Brighton jewelry. In 10 years, I've never had a piece break or tarnish. How many things can you say that about?

Live it, love it, blog it

Count me among America's unemployed, looking for new ways to turn old obsessions into a source of income: Today I decided to start a blog dedicated to my love of all things Brighton. If you don't know what Brighton is, you don't really belong here. This site is dedicated to the diehards who cherish this jewelry which draws its value not from precious metals or gems, but from the consistently beautiful varied designs produced by Brighton's creative team. I have been collecting Brighton since 1999, when I first encountered the gorgeous silver-toned jewelry adorned with hearts (always) and flowers (sometimes.) I am a hearts and flowers kinda girl, and designs like Orchard (left) took my breath away. Soon every birthday, Christmas and Valentine's Day was an excuse to buy myself more Brighton. Not that I need an excuse. Sometimes I just need a pick-me-up after a bad day. Or a way to celebrate after a good one.

No money for jewelry? No matter. On ebay, I can sell off my old Brighton for the cash to buy new. Amazingly, pre-owned Brighton can bring 50 to 75 percent of its original retail value -- and sometimes more than 100 percent if its a popular retired piece. I have 10 pieces of Brighton listed on Ebay right now. The auctions close on Friday. Check back and I will tell you how each did compared to its original retail price.