Chamber Names Small Business of the Year Award Recipient

The Champaign County Chamber of Commerce presented Browne's Fine Jewelry, with the 2005 Small Business of the Year Award at the Chamber breakfast on Thursday, May 12.

Browne's Fine Jewelry opened its doors in 1980 at 115 W. University Ave. in Champaign, as a business named Jewelry Service. Owners Neil and Dalal Browne opened this first store with $10,000 in jewelry equipment and one ounce of gold with the purpose of providing repair, restoration, and appraisals of fine jewelry. Eager to employ their artistic side, the Browne's began offering custom jewelry design: Dalal would carve wax models and Neil would use the wax model to create a gold casting. He would then polish and file the casting and set the diamonds or color gemstones to complete the finished piece.

By the time the store moved to into second location in 1983, sales had grown to $200,000 per year and employed four, including the owners. Over the next decade, the store's sales grew to $500,000 per year. But, by 1996, growth had become stagnant. The Browne's remodeled the store, implemented the name Browne's Fine Jewelry, and began applying principles of management learned through participation in industry-specific training. This allowed the business to pay down debt and remain viable. In 1998, the Browne's sought marketing assistance and the "I want to be your jeweler" campaign was born.

In January 2000, with the assistance of many community partners who believed in their vision, the Browne's redeveloped a blighted building located on the corner of Kirby Avenue and State Street in Champaign. After realizing an 11 percent growth in 2004, the store's sales are now at $1.2 million annually and have assets of $750,000.

Continued education has always been an important aspect of the business' success. In addition to the Browne's training with the Gemological Institute of America in gemology and as a jewelry designer, the store's four employees are pursuing advanced training in the profession.

Browne's Fine Jewelry has made community giving part of its philosophy. The business annually makes four-figure donations to local charities and fundraisers including: American Heart Association, Center for Women in Transition, Crisis Nursery and many others.