Business & Tech
Sugarbeads in Ridgefield to Rebrand as Zoe & Co
The DIY artisan boutique looks to expand its jewelry retail operation with its move downtown.
RIDGEFIELD, CT — When Sugarbeads owner Andie Schoellkopf made the big decision to vacate their cozy digs on Copps Hill Common for a new address on Main Street, it was about more than just attracting additional foot traffic. It was her cue to re-brand.
In its current incarnation, the DIY jewelry studio caters to crafters seeking an outlet for their muse.
"There seems to be a kind of theme with the people who come in who are wanting to create things and they come from backgrounds as varied as landscape architecture, or they may work in an engineering department, or they may be painters or maybe they work with pottery," Schoellkopf said. "Or they may just be a mom who has this creative urge. It's a way for people who are creative to get instant gratification. You're working with color, you're working with texture, you're working with composition."
For those crafty and creative clients, "Sugarbeads" was the perfect moniker. But Schoellkopf felt the name didn't do justice to the business of fine jewelry retailing, which she dabbled in previously and now plans to expand into, big time.
"I can't tell you how many men come in and say, "Can I just buy something for my wife?" Schoellkopf told Patch.
On Sept. 1, she's moving on up to a bigger space in the heart of Ridgefield's downtown and changing the name on the shingle to "Zoe & Co." The operation has a stable of around 20 local artists whose work with precious and semi-precious gems she buys regularly. Schoellkopf is not above buying glass jewelry, but the workmanship must be exceptionally exquisite, she says.
The old Sugarbeads beading and leather-working crafts will still be there, but "arranged in a really gorgeous way, and in a more user-friendly way," Schoellkopf said. "We will have stunning, finished jewelry that we didn't have before."
That new inventory will occupy the front of the store, which will still leave an expanded area in the rear for the DIY studio and accommodate crafters' nights out, as well as children's parties and jewelry-making classes.
Schoellkopf contrasts her new line of wearable art with that of the "very, very fine jewelry" sold by Ridgefield mainstay jeweler Addessi, also located on Main Street.
"You can go in there and spend $10,000 on diamonds and sapphire rings,"she said. "Our price point is going to be much lower, but it's going to be gorgeous!" The combination of jewelry value and quality makes Zoe & Co. unique in Ridgefield, Schoellkopf believes.
If there's a rivalry between the two jewelry stores, it's a more than friendly one. Schoellkopf says it was Wayne Addessi who convinced her to make the move to downtown where their two shops would be the anchor of the revitalized downtown's "jewelry district."
Although the shop is expanding, Schoellkopf says it will remain the mother-daughter operation it has always been.
Zoe & Co will open at 393 Main Street in Ridgefield on Sept. 1.
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