Julie's In St James-Diversification Key to Increased Revenue

Julie Bergmann, Owner of Julie’s in St. James

By Pat Biancaniello

Part II

Three stores in St. James under the same roof. Each owned by Smithtown residents. Each banking on high quality and exceptional customer service to keep them in business.  

I recently visited three local shops; J. Michaels owned by Cheryl and Michael Jones, Geraci Condello Boutique owned by Madeline Grudens, and Julie’s owned by Julie Bergmann.   My question to them was how did Black Friday and Small Business Saturday affect their business?  They were unanimous in stating that there was no impact.  They all felt that people who shop on Black Friday are mall shoppers, looking for bargains and the ability to visit many stores in a single shopping day.  Their businesses are small and located on a main street in a small town, not the normal Black Friday venue.   All three businesses have developed strategies to cope with the tough economy.  Here are their stories…

If you ask Julie Bergmann, owner of Julie’s in St. James, how business is, she will tell you that she is holding her own.  It is a difficult environment for a small business that does not sell an item considered essential.  Along with the tough economy, Julie has stiff competition from stores like Home Goods.  So how does Julie expect to survive and grow her business? “Diversify”  says Julie.  Unwilling to compromise on quality and already providing the best customer service she can, Julie is branching out into home decorating to supplement the sales she makes in her shop. 

The first step for Julie is to change the image of her store.  Many believe Julie’s is an antique shop.  Julie’s does sell antiques but also sells contemporary items and wants to be known for what she is, a shop that specializes in accessories for homes and gardens.   Julie’s, located at 529 Lake Avenue, is a year round mainstream business.  

With beautiful holiday items and floral arrangements in the shop it seemed logical to Julie to branch out and to get involved in holiday home decorating.  She has been asked to decorate family Christmas trees and fireplace mantles for the holiday season.  This year she has been selected to decorate one of the six homes on the Three Village Christmas House Tour.  

Diversification does not stop with home decorating, Julie has branched out into weddings. She specializes in silk flowers and makes wedding floral arrangements, center pieces, flowers for brides and bridesmaids, church flowers and candles. Julie is hoping that this part of her business will increase as brides refer her to their family and friends.   

Another strategy Julie uses is making her shop as visible as possible.  She does this by keeping her windows attractively decorated.  This helps with the drive by customer who might not know the shop is there but sees the window and makes a stop and hopefully a purchase.

My visit with Julie occurred on Small Business Saturday.  I asked if Black Friday or Small Business Saturday had an impact on her business.  She felt that major shopping events such as those mentioned would not have an impact on her business.  In walked Angela Berner, a resident of Smithtown, who had a daughter taking a sewing lesson in St. James.  She saw the shop, new it was Small Business Saturday, and decided to browse.  Angela works in Huntington’s downtown and is very unhappy that there are so few shopping areas in Smithtown.  The choices of going to the mall or Huntington are not appealing to her.  Angela said, “Main Street in Smithtown is disgraceful and seems to be deteriorating more every day.  The former lumber yard on main street is an eyesore that should be removed.” Angela finished by saying, “ Having shops like Julie’s throughout the town would go a long way in making residents feel like they are part of a community.”

Julie Bergmann is relying on word of mouth to get the message out that there is a place in Smithtown where you can shop for quality items at a moderate cost and feel good about your purchase.  She hopes you agree that place is Julie’s.  

(Part III to follow)