Jewelry only tip of the iceberg for Alex and Ani

1ST PLACE 
CEO (or equivalent):  Carolyn Rafaelian, founder, creative director and CEO 2013 REVENUE: $230 million 2011 REVENUE: $17.5 million REVENUE GROWTH: 1,218%
1ST PLACE CEO (or equivalent): Carolyn Rafaelian, founder, creative director and CEO 2013 REVENUE: $230 million 2011 REVENUE: $17.5 million REVENUE GROWTH: 1,218%

Jewelry is very personal – besides being a design or color that we find attractive and appealing, it can remind us of a time or a place, represent a cherished memory or person, or symbolize a value or key trait.
No one is more aware of this, it seems, than jewelry retailer and producer Alex and Ani LLC. Headquartered in Cranston, the company has grown its revenue more than tenfold in a short span of time – a success it credits to its core values, people, and a unique and transformative product.
“This isn’t jewelry. It’s a story,” said Wendy Duncan, senior vice president of marketing. “Ten women will have the same piece on and have 10 different stories. It’s a unique way of celebrating yourself. There’s a lot of power in that.”
Founded in 2004 by Carolyn Rafaelian, who now serves as CEO and creative director, Alex and Ani has experienced significant expansion – between 2011 and 2013, its revenue swelled from $17 million to $230 million. With 1,203 employees, it operates 39 retail stores in 18 states and the District of Columbia, with plans to expand its stores, e-commerce and business relationships throughout the country, and, according to Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer Jayne Conway, “opportunistically into international markets. We plan to be a global brand.”
Ultimately, she said, “it starts with the customer, and the demands for the product.”
Alex and Ani specializes in numerous styles of bangles, necklaces, earrings and rings that are manufactured domestically, and made from sustainable materials derived through eco-friendly processes. It offers several collections, one of the most impactful of which, it says, is Charity by Design. Various charms are created with specific nonprofits in mind – for instance, a tiny bike adorns one bangle to support the Pan-Mass Challenge; a miniature lemon dangles off another in an ode to Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation (which is dedicated to eradicating childhood cancer).
A portion of proceeds from all products in the line are donated to their corresponding nonprofits, which include the American Heart Association, the National Autism Association, the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network and The Jimmy Fund. More than 800 store-party tie-ins were held last year around the line, and to date, the company has raised $9 million for more than three dozen charities.
As Conway noted, the line allows the company to reach out to new customers who have relationships with those specific charities and enables them to tell their own “unique story” through the themed jewelry.
“It’s integral to the business – as we give more back to charity, we grow our own revenues and own profitability,” said Conway.
Overall, she stressed that, “Alex and Ani at our heart is really all about giving back to the community, giving back to America, giving back to people.”
Similarly, the company’s “Affinity” licensed products draw in new customers and allow them to further express themselves. The company co-brands pieces with a wide range of organizations, from the National Football League to the United States Olympic Committee and the five branches of the military.
Another key facet that Alex and Ani believes appeals to its customers is its core company belief of “the power of positive energy.” Each piece is “infused” with it, beginning with the positive intention of carefully selected American factories. The meaning of each symbol – representing a certain sentiment, power, intention, or serving as “talismans of protection” – is “meticulously researched.”
“Mixing symbolic pieces with your own alchemy makes Alex and Ani completely and uniquely yours,” the company’s website reads.
Alex and Ani’s approach has certainly attracted attention. Rafaelian, who named the company after her two daughters, has been named Ernst and Young’s New England Entrepreneur of the Year, and SBA Rhode Island Small Business Person of the Year, and was named to JCK’s 2013 Power List. She has also been profiled in Inc., Boston Common, and the Spanish magazine Joya Moda. Likewise, Alex and Ani’s jewelry has been featured in Elle, Cosmopolitan, Redbook and InStyle, among several others national publications.
All this has ultimately established the company as a global brand with very dedicated customers (including A-listers such as Gwyneth Paltrow).
“We have a very unique consumer base that is so passionate and avid about our products, and [passionate about] how we help them to express what’s unique about themselves,” said Duncan.
She emphasized the “power of because,” noting, “when someone says ‘Ooh, I like that bracelet,’ you’ll hear ‘Oh, I got this from (fill in the blank)…because (fill in the blank).’ ”
But ultimately, Alex and Ani has plans to branch out far beyond jewelry. The company already has dabbled in candles, room spritzers, personal-care items, key chains, wine charms, arm wraps “for him,” as well as a book, “The Path of Life: Why I wear my Alex and Ani,” written by former CEO Giovanni Feroce and Cyd McKenna, explaining Rafaelian’s vision and featuring stories from people who have used Alex and Ani products for “protection, good luck, motivation, inner beauty, self-assurance and self-discovery.”
In the fall, the company will release a new leather-goods line called “The Gabriel Collection.” As Conway explained, it is inspired and named for the archangel Gabriel, and takes them out of their “core trend” jewelry to more of the “precious, dainty style.”
The new line is branded with the message, “with the archangel Gabriel as a guiding messenger, the leather reminds our customers to keep focused on the importance of each day, trusting the path all the way.”
Looking ahead to spring 2015, Conway noted that many other products are in the pipeline.
“Alex and Ani is thought of today as a jewelry company,” she said. “The way people think about us is going to expand quite a bit.”

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