Some things are worth slowing down to appreciate. This is one of them.
Day's Jewelers has been named a nominee for the Retail Innovation Award at the 2026 GEM Awards, presented by Jewelers of America. The GEM Awards recognize the designers, retailers, and storytellers actively shaping the future of fine jewelry, and being nominated places Day's Jewelers among an elite group of jewelers from across the country.
We've been serving New England since 1914. Over a century of helping people find the right piece for the right moment: engagements, anniversaries, quiet Tuesday mornings when someone just wants to treat themselves. We've grown from a family-owned shop into a fully employee-owned fine jewelry company with nine locations across Maine and New Hampshire. But our purpose hasn't shifted. We're still a Maine jeweler at heart, built on genuine relationships, honest craftsmanship, and the belief that a great piece of jewelry should feel like it belongs to you.
Innovation gets thrown around a lot. In retail especially, it tends to mean new software, new platforms, faster checkouts. And while we're thoughtful about the tools we use, that's never been where our real focus lives.
Nikia Levesque-Meyer, our Vice President of Marketing, put it plainly: "Our approach to innovation isn't about technology for the sake of it. It's about creating meaningful, lasting experiences, whether that's through the way a piece is discovered, gifted, or worn every day. We believe jewelry should live with you, not just mark a moment."
That's the thread running through everything we do at Day's Jewelers. When a guest walks through our door for the first time, we're not thinking about a transaction. We're thinking about how to make them feel comfortable enough to tell us what they're really looking for. When a longtime customer comes in to restore a piece that belonged to their grandmother, we treat it with the same care we'd give our own. That's the kind of experience we're always trying to create, and it's what we believe earned us this recognition.
Left to right: Nikia Levesque-Meyer, VP of Marketing, Amy Corey, Diamond Buyer
What sets Day's Jewelers apart from most fine jewelry retailers isn't our product selection or our store count. It's the way we're structured and the culture that structure creates.
As a fully employee-owned company, every member of our team has a real stake in this place. That sense of ownership shows up in small ways that customers notice: the extra time taken to explain a setting style, the follow-up call to make sure a repaired piece came back perfectly, the front door held open on a rainy afternoon. These aren't policies. They're just what happens when people genuinely care about where they work.
When we traveled to the GEM Awards ceremony in New York City, we brought twelve team members with us. Together, that group represented 199 years of combined tenure at Day's Jewelers. That's not a typo. In a retail environment where turnover is constant and institutional knowledge is hard to keep, we walked into one of the jewelry industry's biggest nights with a team whose collective experience spans nearly two centuries.
"Longevity like this doesn't happen by accident," Nikia added. "It's the result of a culture where people feel valued, supported, and inspired. That internal strength is what allows us to deliver something truly different externally."
When the same faces show up for you year after year, trust builds naturally. Many of our guests have been shopping with us for decades. Some are now bringing in their kids to pick out their first piece of fine jewelry, or to find an engagement ring, just like their parents did with us years ago. That kind of generational loyalty is something we work hard to deserve.
Day's Jewelers began in Maine and, in many ways, Maine is still the lens through which we see everything. Our collections include locally sourced Maine tourmaline alongside ethically sourced natural diamonds. Our in-house jewelry restoration and custom jewelry design services have been refined over more than 100 years of practice. Our team members live in the communities our stores call home.
Being part of a place, really part of it, keeps you grounded. It reminds you that the people you're serving are neighbors, not just shoppers. And it makes growth feel purposeful, because every change we make is in service of people we actually know.
At the same time, we've never been interested in staying still. The fine jewelry experience has evolved, and we've evolved with it. We've invested in the ways customers discover and connect with jewelry, and we've continued expanding what "service" means at a Day's Jewelers location, so that whether you're shopping in person at one of our Maine or New Hampshire stores or starting your search online, the experience feels considered and personal.
Left to right: Liz Mahoney, VP of Store Operations, Joe Corey, President, Julie Collins, VP of Merchandising
We didn't win the award, but the nomination itself is the milestone. It reflects a century-plus of work done by thousands of team members who showed up and cared, and by guests who trusted us with the moments that mattered most to them, and by communities in Maine and New Hampshire who have supported a local, employee-owned fine jeweler for generations.
Being recognized by Jewelers of America among the top retail innovators in the country tells us that the path we've chosen, the one that prioritizes people over transactions and relationships over reach, is a path worth staying on.
We're grateful. We're proud. And we're just getting started.
Thank you for being part of the Day's Jewelers story.
