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Inside
Story
For the Designer in All of Us
Jessitt-Gold creates a one-stop shopping experience to help
designers
Jessitt-Gold Interiors (JGi)
has been in the game for just three years, offering not only window
treatments but also complementary décor and upholstered pieces
exclusively to interior design professionals. In that time, the
Southern California based firm has enjoyed a growth rate of 85 to
100 percent each year, indicating that it has hit a responsive chord
with the audience. One explanation for this precocious success can
be found in the company’s lineage: Its parent is the direct-to-consumer
window treatment cataloger Smith+Noble, from whom JGi learned the
art and necessity of quick turnaround as a distinct competitive
edge.
Brand Manager Gilda Eldridge shares that JGi was the brainchild
of John Hoven, vice president for business development. He observed
that along with Smith+Noble’s do-it-yourself homeowners, sales
agents were increasingly encountering professional designers looking
for unique, fast solutions for their projects. “Designers
were coming to us with their design needs,” recounts Eldridge.
“We listened and took action. As relationships grew, we realized
we had created something special and unusual. We decided to form
a partnership with the designers, offering a one-stop shopping experience
that would help them grow their business.”
“The company wanted to offer world-class customer service,
diverse product lines, quality and quick turnaround, along with
a small boutique feel and mentality. We already knew how to produce
a high-quality product quickly,” she said, “so we started
to develop product specifically for the designers. We held focus
groups on both coasts, analyzed the responses and began to put their
requests in motion. Thanks to them, we have been able to continuously
improve our offering, lead time, levels of service, presentation
and price structure.” Jessitt-Gold was envisioned as a custom
boutique in Soho or London, offering custom window treatments and
unique, customizable home décor. “We thought about
the person and team who would be running this boutique and created
a brand name that evoked a feeling of high design. Jessitt-Gold
is the designer in all of us. For the interior designer, we are
the personal custom workroom, boutique and design house all in one.”
FIRST AND FAST
The proof, of course, must be in the product. And JGi works continually
on two fronts to bring it first to market and fast to customers.
Product Development Manager Cindy O’Reilly and others travel
far and wide to stay abreast of window fashions and develop efficient,
premium quality sourcing. In recent months those quests have taken
them to Shanghai, China, for the world’s finest natural woven
materials and innovative production processes, and to major European
textile trade and trend shows (Proposte in Como, Italy; Heimtextil
and Ambiente in Frankfurt, Germany).
Such journeys are already paying off for JGi members. Global suppliers
are creating new and exclusive natural woven shades, featuring a
wealth of hand-worked details, which are available in the current
line. European taste for wood blinds with exposed operating mechanisms
and metal accents are already incorporated in Jessitt-Gold Interior’s
Paramount and Fusion Blinds—far ahead of the rest of the American
market. And a variety of other hot Euro trends this year—a
resurgence of black and white, abundant use of silhouetting and
shadow motifs, unpredictable material mixes such as wood, metal
and plastic—will be available to JGi members in the near future.
“We come back to the company with ideas and a plan of action
for the following year,” said O’Reilly, “and even
before new products appear in our line we share our experiences,
insights and style predictions with members via a monthly e-mailed
newsletter.”
DELIVERING BENEFITS
Such members-only advantages are another cornerstone of Jessitt-Gold
Interior’s business model. It sells exclusively to interior
designers, who must establish their accreditation through a simple
registration process to qualify for member benefits. Once approved,
free membership provides full access to all products by phone or
online. In addition, members receive the JGi Design Source Book:
this complete resource, introduced earlier this year, includes room-setting
color photographs, product specifications, design considerations,
measuring and installation tips and price lists, all in a convenient
modular binder format. Created with a busy interior designer’s
business needs in mind, pages are easily removable so users can
mix and match them to create a custom client presentation.
Adds Cindy O’Reilly: “Designers look to us for world-class
information . . . they want to be first in their markets with the
latest style and color information. The speed of our turnaround
is most important to them. Their clients want product right away,
yet local workrooms can’t turn around quickly . . . they need
eight to 10 weeks and the customer doesn’t have the patience
to wait that long.”
The latest print and online tools can only take a company so far.
JGi is also state-of-the-art when it comes to good old-fashioned
personal service. Immediately upon approval, members are assigned
their own personal account consultant, a professional who’s
just as proficient in problem solving as they are expert in all
aspects of Jessitt-Gold products. Outreach to the design community
is also ongoing through trade shows and industry events nationwide.
It’s all part of a strategy focused on developing long-term
relationships with the designers. “The b-2-b business requires
commitment and longevity on both sides,” says Gilda Eldridge.
“We are one-stop shopping for the designer . . . instant gratification
for their clients . . . a workroom in a catalog and Web site. We
don’t know of anyone else out there who does this. In addition
to producing a unique high-quality and fashion-forward offering,
our product is priced right and made faster than most custom workrooms.
We source from all over. We belong to trend associations, attend
trade shows and stay abreast of the most current home trends so
that we can deliver the most current product assortments to the
designers.”
MORE TO COME
What’s next for Jessitt-Gold Interiors and its members? On
the very near horizon is a re-launch of the company’s Web
site, jessittgold.com, promising enhanced functionality, increased
searching and transaction speed, and more downloadable tools. The
company is also gauging designer interest in a supplemental service
offering of professional measuring and installation in addition
to sales of their custom window treatments.
It should all add up to nothing but good news for the design community
from a trusted partner who, as Eldridge sums it up, “won’t
try to be the cheapest solution, just the highest quality, highest
fashion and greatest value for the money.”
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