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David Nygaard is running for the Beach District seat of the Virginia Beach City Council.

David Nygaard’s 2018 win of a Virginia Beach City Council seat represented the closest race ever in the city’s history. He won by 163 votes, a margin so slim it triggered a recount. It also represented a new direction after Nygaard had a heart attack two years ago. “I coded in the ambulance and decided, after a time of reflection, that I wanted to have a greater purpose, and I’ve always been passionate about issues and politics,” he says. “I want to spend the last years of my life on social justice.” He had hoped to run for a U.S. Congress seat, but when he didn’t qualify for the primary ballot, he shifted his focus to city council, running as a Democrat, another change. The final straw for his conversion from Republican to Democrat came with President Donald Trump’s tax bill, which Nygaard says hurt small businesses and people who were already struggling economically. He also sought to live a more authentic personal life, and so he publicly came out as gay. It’s just the latest chapter in the life of a jeweler that has taken a roller-coaster route in the past decade. In 2008, Nygaard had already been a public figure in Virginia Beach, running a high profile multi-million dollar business. So when the bank seized his home and his seven jewelry stores, along with his inventory, it was big news in the community. He also went through a difficult divorce at the time. But because he was well regarded, his fall from grace wasn’t as debilitating as it might have been. “Because we did a lot of charitable work in the community, a lot of people supported us,” he recalls. “The local media for the most part was supportive and helpful. And most customers were, too.” “You have to be upfront and own whatever problems you bring to the table,” Nygaard says. “One of the first things we did was work to protect the interests of our clients.” He refused to turn over any inventory belonging to his clients, if it had been paid for or if it was in his possession for repair. “We stood firm when they demanded customers’ items.” He brought those items to the one store he was able to reopen and gave refunds to anyone who was unhappy. “Things we were able to deliver, we delivered,” he says. “We took care of our responsibility and they supported us.” The next thing he did was devise a new business model. “When the inventory was seized, all I had was two software keys of Matrix and some old brass and glass samples, and I used those two pieces to create a new business model. I rebuilt a supply chain, and in some cases, we were able to work on the relationships with the same suppliers to do business again.” Nygaard, who has an MBA and is also a certified gemologist appraiser, rebuilt his local reputation with one custom job after another and specialized in engagement rings, using 3D printing and CAD modeling.

from Modern Jeweler For the high-end independent, opening more doors may be the key to greater profitability. Posted: April 8th, 2009 09:39 AM GMT-05:00 Consolidation. It’s the byword of the 21st century jewelry industry. A drive down certain American highways, however, unveils a different picture. It’s of that trusted downtown jeweler, the mom-and-pop whose market share seemed so threatened as the 20th century came to a close. The billboards and radio ads tell you he’s now in the adjacent town as well. He’s 20 miles up the road, too, or 300 miles down, and across the state line. And he hasn’t just expanded. As you enter the new locations, you’ll see much the same look, brands, and in-store experience that brought you to his original door. And crucially, in the back office you’ll learn his business is defined by that same feeling of community that kept you a customer when Zales came to town. Have a kid in Little League? The new store’s manager may well be his coach. A favorite Friday night restaurant? He may have a cross-promotion going, or offer concierge service. A defining local event, business group, or charity? A treasured summer retreat or alma mater? He may be a sponsor, be on the board, be your neighbor, and if he’s not your fellow alum, he may be taking on students as summer interns. The four multi-door retailers interviewed for this story had different goals, needs, and methods. All agree that the trick to expanding—a mixture of science, intuition, and friendly bankers—is maintaining the flagship’s premise. Think of it as globalism in miniature. The real action takes place in the backyard. Yours must be the store in its niche, no matter what (or where) that niche may be. In the words of Craig Rottenberg, whose family is currently looking at a seventh door for Boston-area Long’s Jewelers, “We’ve evolved into a destination.” For a jeweler, that means branding, the ones you carry and/or the store itself. “I’m a believer,” says Virginia Beach’s David Nygaard, who has grown from four to 40 employees in three years of expansion, “that brands, like politics, all start local.” MOVING ON UP Long’s, in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. David Nygaard, one Virginia Beach door to six in the Hampton Roads market, and currently looking across the state line to North Carolina’s Chowan River area, where Nygaard has a summer property. Bernie Robbins Fine Jewelry, soon to be ten doors in the New Jersey and Philadelphia area. Ware Jewelers, Auburn, Alabama, grown from a college town staple begun by his father on a $5,000 loan 50 years ago, to four doors in the state. They’re hardly the first retailers who’ve tried to expand. “The early eighties saw a lot of attempts,” remembers Fantasy Diamond president Louis Price, “and a lot of failures.” Over-expansion led to financial failures, errors of management or sustaining a correct price point and merchandise balance, and to loss of personal customer service. By the decade’s end, the big chains were very big, and had begun to swallow local markets. “The guys who are succeeding now,” says Price, “are more cautious. They know how to leverage their strengths—the quality of their people and the intimacy they can offer. They also tend to be going upscale as they expand.” For expanders, upscale begins with location: the lifestyle center of the best local mall, revived downtown areas, free-standing doors. “We’re opportunity driven,” says Bernie Robbins’ Harvey Rovinsky, explaining the decision process for his 10th door, in affluent Short Hills, New Jersey—Robbins’ first with exposure to a customer base commuting to New York City rather than Philly or to the Jersey business corridors. “We know who we are: 30-plus customers at the upper financial reaches. That makes location a bit of a science, not reducible to demographics, but certainly benefiting from them.” The Rottenbergs look at numbers, but rely on gut feeling, and a local road map, as much if not more. “We look at population and income, of course, but convenience is big. How many left turns do you have to make, for example. What’s the exposure to highways or traffic arteries?” The decision-making begins with a single imperative: find a new community. Now in two states, Long’s would have no qualms in expanding to Connecticut or Maine. In the Hampton Roads, Virginia area, where demographics vary widely, location begins, says Nygaard, “with an identifiable pool of jewelry purchasers. But that’s not as easy as it sounds. By census data, we’re low salary. But throw in unearned income—retirees transplanting to Williamsburg—and it goes up quickly.” With each expansion, the business model, and final decision, is therefore shaped not with target numbers, brand awareness, or price point, but with market share as the matrix. “Wal-Mart is number one in the country, with a 6.2 market share. Anything above 6.5 for a given door’s locale is great, and we’ve calculated we hit it in ’05 in Virginia Beach,” the largest of Hampton Roads’ seven cities, with a population of 405,000. “Do not,” says Craig Rottenberg, “expect immediate results. Manage the business, but also expectations. Think of it as sending a kid to college, or opening a new restaurant. The ROI’s not going to be there overnight.” As Rovinsky puts it, “This business inhales cash. With 10 doors, it’s always a challenge to be able to reinvest.” GOOD NEIGHBORS Risk and cost can be defrayed by relocating rather than expanding. Long’s didn’t lose a client in two moves from mall locations to single doors across the street. Six months prior, customers were given shopping bags with the new doors’ likenesses and locales. “It’s funny,” says Rottenberg, “but we had new customers in each location who weren’t aware we’d been across the street in the mall for years.” Long’s saw 25 percent price point growth a year after the moves in Peabody, and Burlington, Massachusetts. “Nordstrom is now moving into the market across the street, validating the attractiveness of each market.” Nygaard’s expansion began in 1999 with a relocation of his mother’s former jewelry store to a free-standing door in a high-traffic center. He feels the distinction is neither affordable nor important in expanding. “Varying with the available space, local feel, the traffic flow, free-standing or in a strip mall. A more important question is who are your fellow tenants?” “All our stores,” says Ronnie Ware, “are across from the Williams-Sonoma, the Chicos, Dillards. Or if not, they’ll come. The developer of our Montgomery door put in 36 holes of golf, then homes and shopping. That store kicked in from go.” Luxury is a condition of the leases Ware signs. “Exclusively high-end lifestyle tenants, guaranteed,” he says. “They require us not to be a credit jeweler. In Spanish Fort [Ware's most distant location, 220 miles from Auburn in a tourist destination], the developer invited us after seeing our Montgomery door, and even stipulated that if we’re not doing $2 million by our fifth year we’re able to get out of the lease. Our first year was over $1 million and we’re 90 percent up already this year.” Space is equally crucial for expanders looking to maintain decor, layout, and shape. Nygaard’s doors tend to be wider than long—a function of general mall shape, but consonant with his thematic look. Interiors keep design consistent from carpet to woodwork to wallpaper to chandeliers. A visitor to any two doors will know they’re in David Nygaard. Two Ware’s doors are identical (“a substantial savings in architectural overhead,” he says) and the three expansions each have a domed ceiling. Four of Robbins’ five biggest doors are all but identical, a streamlining that began with a move of the crucial Philly main line door from Ardmore to Radnor, and continuing with expansions in the Jersey towns of Marlton, Somers Point, and Short Hills. “We spend a lot of money to maintain a uniform luxury experience,” he says. “All our floors have a seating area, a children’s area, a cappuccino area. In Short Hills, we’re establishing a customer vault, where you can store your jewelry, which we’ll clean when you take it out.” For the Rottenbergs, shape is less crucial than size, with doors tending less to the 2,500-foot than 8,000-square-foot plan, though the burgeoning mini-chain has both. Big believers in in-store events, Long’s has had Mini-Coopers and motorcycles in its doors. “Big or small,” he says, “the look and feel is consistent. We’re classy without being stuffy. For us, that translates into open space. No in-store boutiques, though brands are welcome to put in their fixtures. But the sightlines have to be open.” A STORE TO RUN Do you carry branded jewelry? Are bridal diamonds loose or set? What price points can you achieve? Are you a micro-manager or a delegator? A consignment buyer, a memo man, or a believer in owning your merchandise? What do you look for when you hire? Are you year-round or seasonal? What comes first, ads or marketing? And just how close are you to your banker? Auburn’s Ronnie Ware had never owed a cent in his life until he expanded. Rent on the flagship, a downtown fixture, had been locked in at $350 per month half a century earlier. When two strip-mall expansions ran into trouble, he was able to raise over $1 million on close-outs. “We started at 30 percent off, and were down to 70 percent by the end,” says Ware, whose easygoing manner belies the enormous amount of work and risk involved in expanding. “We just kept going as long as it wasn’t cheaper to smelt.” The Rottenbergs bought 128-year-old Long’s as a multi-store affair. They scaled back on doors initially, then began its complex series of relocations, consolidations, and expansions a decade later. “Expansion,” Rottenberg says, “would be impossible without support from vendors and lenders.” Nygaard and Rovinsky have very close relationships with their bankers. Nygaard’s is a customer, a friend, and advisor on business plans. Rovinsky has taken his to Vegas for JCK. “I share financial information with him in the most timely and proactive manner you could imagine.” “For us,” says Ware, “it was our cash strength rather than a business plan that sold us to the banker. It helped us lock in a great rate on five year notes for two of the stores, and eased the line of credit we decided to go with in Montgomery.” That cash strength, coupled with the lessons learned in closing out the two strip-mall locations, led to changes in Ware’s buying, branding, and stock balancing policies. “Some of that merchandise was two or three years old. We’re largely a consignment buyer now. I won’t even take an appointment unless it’s long-term memo.” It’s a strategy enabled by the diamond category. “We’re not a preacher of cut,” says Ware, “though we do stress color. We’re G SI1, average sale. Everything is loose, and we offer a full range of mountings, and a jeweler in each door.” And for branded lines? Ware carries Hearts On Fire but only in two of four doors. “If you’re not doing national advertising, we have forms and policies for how long we’ll carry on consignment. Some vendors have balked, but most folks I’ve bought from in Vegas for years stayed with us, particularly once they see that our stock balancing, which we do for ourselves now, is consistent with their goals.” “I’m not a big believer in branded jewelry,” says Nygaard, who carries Simon G. and Hearts On Fire—brands he feels enhance his store identity. “You can very justifiably choose to go that way, but I don’t want to see the tail wagging the dog in my stores, or see my associates as clerks writing down the next order. I want to see them selling fine jewelry. For right or wrong, we chose to lead with our identity, the David Nygaard name.” The strategy is consistent with Nygaard’s role in his communities. He’s prominent in everything from the baseball league to the local children’s hospital to regional CEO groups and mentoring programs. It extends to his marketing and advertising strategies—intensely civic-minded, and geared to the community. Diamonds accompanying the birthday cake in restaurants. Planners advising presentation of the engagement ring. Store bags with gift certificates. Dinner at Ruth Chris, gratis with every major purchase. Nygaard has great regard for Audi’s “Key People” strategy, in which dealers provide cars to highly visible locals, and he emulates it in various ways. All of it has grown organically from Nygaard’s initial motivation in expanding. “The first years of the decade saw jewelers losing market share,” he says. “I realized I could survive but not thrive in my current course. From the first change to the last, my goal has been single-minded: Find a platform for a branded in-store experience.” That’s manifest when you enter a Nygaard door, from the tea service to private label diamonds. It’s clearer still in the type of personal service. Nygaard raided mall stores for associates in early expansions, banking on experience. “Some worked out, some didn’t. I created a profile of those that did, and use DISC [a business personality test] to establish two crucial criteria for successful candidates: influential and mature. Of the efficiencies that come with expansion, perhaps the greatest savings for us is in shortening the time to truly season an associate.” He encourages spontaneity above all in sales. “It’s hard to make a mistake if you’re providing a luxury experience.” OFFICE SPACE The four have markedly different sales training, compensation methods, and policies. Long’s, which relies heavily on research for its associate profile, has never paid commission. Rovinsky, who has a Wharton MBA in-house part-time to run sales training, has found that a continually evolving formula for compensation has been the ticket. All four stress that ownership of individual doors is crucial to a manager’s success. “It has to be their door ultimately,” says Nygaard. Rebecca Garnick, Long’s marketing director, puts it aptly. “Think of the doors as children, each with their own personality and path to maturity.” Ware is even more succinct and hands-off. “One of the new associates in our Montgomery door was shocked to learn there was a Mr. Ware.” All hold manager’s meetings on a monthly or weekly basis, and bring associates to shows. After opening his fourth door, Ware hired an auditorium at Auburn to hold a sales training seminar. Expansion brought a change in advertising philosophy, the obvious difference being in print and television versus billboards—a more sensible and affordable vehicle for a multi-door retailer operating along often interlocking traffic arteries. Long’s finds it can reach all its markets with a single ad in Boston Common, and sees efficiency in billboards, TV, and radio. Ware decided to abandon radio with the exception of the local sport radio call-in show. “I get so much more bang for the buck on the highways, where I have dozens going at any one time.” The trend has been more toward marketing and public relations. Both Long’s and Robbins created in-house marketing divisions, and invest in cause or charity marketing, or event driven strategies. “There’s no easy way to quantify the results,” says Rottenberg, “but we have long been prominent sponsors of the Boston Marathon. It’s such an important event, and our participation reaches well past the local doors.” Rovinsky’s most recent coup came when Rolex brought students to his Radnor door to witness marketing in action. A second will come when Atlantic City’s minor league baseball team renames its ballpark Bernie Robbins Stadium. As growth created new marketing and corporate responsibilities for Nygaard’s more conventional budget, he simply amended his managers’ job descriptions. One does human resources, others oversee training, recruiting, and merchandising. “I feel it enables me to offer them a career path, rather than a management or sales job. That is part of the puzzle for creating the branded in-store experience, for it truly is a platform, the base on which everything is built.” It’s a philosophy and strategy shared by Long’s and Robbins, though both are brand believers, for marketing and merchandising. Long’s, with multiple bridal, fashion, and watch lines, regularly hosts in-store events, from David Yurman and Scott Kay to Breitling. Robbins, whose floors are defined by its brands, has regular sales associate training from the likes of Hearts On Fire, as well as galas featuring the work and the personalities of designers like Michael Beaudry, Michael B., and Penny Preville. Most brands are global to all Long’s and Robbins doors, and Rottenberg feels it’s the single greatest efficiency expansion has brought—from pricing to making a large inventory productive across the entire company. “Whether you’re a brand believer or not,” says Rovinsky, “the key to growth, and this really applies to single doors as much as to expansion, is the in-store experience. For us, that means comfort and luxury. Our customers come home to us. And the task, as we’ve grown, has been to achieve a seamless transition of that homecoming.” For Ware, that homecoming can seem as seamless as watching television. “I have eight cameras in each of the stores, and I watch live feed from them all the time,” he says. In the large brick downtown building, business is good. An associate is calling from the sales floor about a 5.1 carat radiant. Ware, who bought the building when the 40-year lease his father signed expired, will be tearing the old flagship down in the next two or three years. “It’s kind of a white elephant. Time for a new look.” And that look? “Not entirely sure,” he says. “But I wouldn’t be surprised if it doesn’t look a whole lot like the Montgomery and Spanish Fort doors.” original story in ModernJeweler

Before the Great Recession had even started, jeweler David Nygaard knew his business wasn't working. Even though he had several bench jewelers on staff to do repairs and custom design, and he himself was a designer, his days had become focused entirely on one goal: To promote the branded lines he kept in stock. Those lines had required a big investment-too big to be profitable, it was turning out-and he struggled everyday to move them at his seven stores in southeastern Virginia. He needed a new way to do business he knew that too. So he decided to try using prototype samples. Known throughout the industry as "brass-and-glass," these samples would allow him to test-drive style variations with his customers, without having to carry live inventory in all of his stores. He first asked two of his vendors to create some samples based on their bestsellers, but they were very skeptical and resisted. So instead, Nygaard himself chose two of his most popular styles and had versions made in silver, each one customized to reflect local customers' preferences (as well as protect him from copyright issues). Each prototype could then be further customized according to a customer's tastes – including the choice of metal, gemstone, side stones, and setting. In this way, the cost of precious metals and gems to make the pieces could be deferred until he actually had an order in hand. "We reduced the number of live versions of those styles to just two or three, and replaced [what we removed] with prototypes in each of our seven stores," he remembers. "I discovered that we were able to save our company about $300,000 in inventory holdings for just those two styles". Even more important to Nygaard was that his customers could now have fun and participate interactively in choosing their jewelry. Prototypes mean they could look over a range of rings (instead of just inspecting one at a time for security reasons) and pick them up and touch them freely. A long- time fan and personal friend of business expert Joe Pine, author of The Experience Economy and Mass Customization, Nygaard had taken to heart Pine's exhortation to retailers to transform their businesses into ones that entertained and delighted customers, giving them an experience they'd never forget." Pine pointed out that in order to transform a product [like jewelry] into a service, one simply needed to customize it for the user," says Nygaard. "To turn a service into an experience, however, one had to 'stage' the service into something memorable, engaging, and educational. Jewelers have a unique opportunity to provide truly transformational experience we have the ability to help clients become who they really want to be with a customized purchase." Nygaard developed more prototypes, and was encouraging his sales team to be open to this new idea "they were as resistant as the suppliers had been"-when the downturn hit. A bank called his loan at the beginning of the recession, and despite his good credit history, Nygaard lost all but one of his seven locations, his live inventory, and his employees. All he had left in his Chesapeake, Virginia, store were his prototype samples-and a license for Gemvision's Matrix CAD System that his bench jewelers had used. And that system would help Nygaard to create a new business, one based primarily on virtual inventory and mass customization. Virtual Reality Nygaard had for years been intrigued by the pioneering work of Greg Stopka, owner of JewelSmiths in Pleasant Hill, California, who had long ago given up his investment in live inventory. Instead, Stopka had chosen a digital alternative. He had installed computers throughout his store, on which he could show his customers a range of CAD renderings-renderings that could often be modified right in front of them. No inventory, no unsold items gathering dust. Just customers able to get what they wanted. "Greg's model seemed to address the whole problem of unsold inventory and low stock turn, which is the bane of the industry," says Nygaard. "In addition, I was noticing that even the most successful designer lines I stocked needed slight modifications to satisfy my customers' desires for personalization. Yet most designers are not set up to easily modify their designs. It would take them a long time to make the customized version-and then I was still left with the original live piece, which I still hadn't sold! But I knew that I wasn't capable of customizing jewelry either, because I wasn't CAD – or bench – trained, even though I am a designer and a gemologist." So Nygaard took that Matrix license and set out to learn CAD designing for himself, because he knew that was the key to Stopka's virtual inventory model. "I had essentially viewed CAD as just a way for my bench jewelers to move beyond hand carved waxes [when they did custom work]," says Nygaard. "Learning CAD helped me to see its potential as another very powerful tool-in addition to prototypes-to help create that customizing experience for my clients." It took Nygaard about four months to learn the essentials of CAD and to be able to handle basic ring designs. As his skills increased, he began to amass a library of styles. If he had prototypes that were particularly strong sellers, he created digital versions that he could show to customers and manipulate. And he used his prototypes to help customers learn about styles and proportion. Nygaard recognized early on that people had as much trouble articulating what they wanted as he had trying to predict it with live inventory. Clients also struggled to translate big images on a computer screen to tiny life-size pieces until they saw a similar prototype. "I also redesigned the store by removing unnecessary showcases and adding more comfortable seating and a working desk where I could do custom design directly with clients – like an office-type setting," he says. When he had seven stores, he had spent more time on management and less time on the selling floor. Now Nygaard was back to designing jewelry, working directly with customers one-on-one and liking it. When he sold a customized version of a design, he used a number of subcontractors to "clean up" his self-admitted newbie's efforts in CAD, make the models, cast them, set the stones, add personalized engravings (where needed), and finish them. When the bead bracelet craze took off, Nygaard found another way to offer customers an inexpensive customizing experience: He used his CAD program to create a bead collection that was localized to his area. A popular East Coast historic and seashore destination, Chesapeake [Virginia] and the surrounding region offered lots of opportunities for nautical, flora, fauna, and other motifs that customers could buy as vacation souvenirs. The customized beads, made for him by his subcontractors, fit on all the popular bracelet systems, such as Pandora, Chamilia, and Troll Beads. If customers didn't yet have a bracelet system from a branded line, he could help them there, too. He sourced bracelets as well as other beads, from Silverado Designer Beads by Argenti Oro, a bead line made from Murano glass, silver, and 14k gold. Nygaard liked his new business model, selling his beads and virtual designs, doing some custom CAD work for those customers who required it. But he wanted efficiency, too, and he began to see the flaws in working with only his own designs, which then required many different individual subcontractors to make and finish. "Not every service could do every aspect of a job – and because I don't do any of it beyond the design, my virtual inventory model was turning out to involve a lot of coordination and time." He also wanted to have more of a selection of designs to show his customers, beyond his own creations. He knew there were very successful bench-trained jewelers, like Stopka, who worked efficiently on the complete in-store custom-design experience. But he wanted to explore what was available beyond his doors. What he found took him to the next stage of his business- building journey. Custom en Masse In 2009, two of Nygaard's vendors, [one a manufacturer and distributor of jewelry and jewelry-related products and the other a well known CAD software company] partnered on introducing a mass-customization, virtual-inventory program. It is a countertop computerized custom-design system, which enables jewelers to work with clients to customize designs on screen from a starting point inventory; those designs were then turned into finished pieces by the distributor typically within eight to 10 days. As soon as he heard about it Nygaard thought it might help to reduce his reliance on subcontractors, while at the same time increasing his selection without expanding inventory. And when he became so engrossed in playing an early version of the program that he missed a connecting fight at an airport, he was hooked. Though he continued to create his own custom designs and use his network of subcontractors, Nygaard was among the first purchasers of a license to use the system. "It provided a nice increase in basic models I could show customers, and they loved being able to make changes on the computer screen and instantly see a realistic rendering of a ring – not a CAD drawing," he remembers. (He later added to his operation another software suite from the same group which enabled him to work with clients to find a diamond, design earrings, engrave wedding bands, and other custom tasks.) Around the same time as he purchased the software license, he also began working closely with another vendor, Overnight Mountings. Overnight was just at the beginning of its own exploration in providing prototype services, in which it creates designs, supplies silver models, and creates finished pieces for jewelers. Nygaard also ultimately incorporated prototype programs from Unique Settings of New York and Gabriel & Co. He now had an abundance of designs to show customers – without the need for additional subcontractors. His mass customization model was complete. Mass Success Nygaard puts all of the elements of that model to good use. When a customer comes in, Nygaard does what every good jeweler should: He listens. As the customer begins explaining interests and needs, the jeweler formulates a plan. With some clients, their specific requests will indicate to Nygaard that they need the "from scratch" custom experience, and they get to work on an original design, which he'll complete in CAD and send to his subcontractors. Turnaround time for this method is usually three to four weeks. Other customers may begin describing wants and needs that the jeweler knows he can fulfill quickly with that design software, his own virtual designs, or one of his prototype sample lines. Then it's a matter of figuring out which to start with: prototypes or on screen design. "Many women-though not all want to dig through case after case of styles, so I'll ask my customer if that's [her preference],"Nygaard says. "If she expresses interest, I take her over to the prototypes." Depending on the style interests she has shared, he selects from among his various sample lines to help her begin her search. "Each supplier's line has a different look, so it's great to have all of them," he says. "And the more styles you have to show a customer, the more likely you'll sell one." For customers in a hurry, he can turn around the customized designs he gets from his vendors in as little as one to two weeks. On the other hand, many men (though again, not all) love the idea of designing something using computerized technology. So after establishing that interest, Nygaard will take those customers over to his computer and they get to work designing something via the software. "But regardless of that, most people still want to hold the jewelry – and I have enough prototype styles now that I can usually show them something similar to what we're designing on screen." His new strategy of virtual inventory and mass customization has worked. "We have actually grown our business today in the Chesapeake store location above that store's highest point in 2006-7. Our sales volume is up 20 percent compared to that high point, and our margins, which were always good, have increased, too. "The jeweler does have some live inventory, he points out, which he eventually recovered from the bank that called his loan-but he uses that exclusively for those (usually male) customers who run in at the last minute and need something instantly for a special occasion. "I've [also] broken down some of the old inventory, as the price of gold has risen, or I needed the gems," he says. "But I can tell you that when it's gone, I won't be buying more." Nygaard has experienced enough success to hire two full-time and one part-time employee, all of whom are completely sold on his new selling model. "My new store manager hadn't worked in the jewelry industry before, so she wasn't tarnished with the pre-conceived idea that you could only sell live inventory. She was completely open to learning my custom systems. "As Shakespeare once said: "Oh brave new world that has such people in't!"