By Christy Marshall
Photography by Mark Gilliland
These women know the drill. The carefully crafted card arrives in the mail inviting each of them to shop—for everything from jackets to jewelry, purses to perfume, stationery to skincare regimens—in the home of a friend.
They go. They gulp. They buy.
But from reading research done at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, Stacy King, Susan Sherman, Elaine Burkhardt and Cabanne Schlafly also know that the market in high-end accessories is undersaturated in St. Louis, that the direct selling business is an $30 billion-plus industry and that with the right stuff, sellers and style, they can propel their new venture, S. King Collection, into a whole new universe.
It’s a long way from burping Tupperware.
To start, there is the merchandise. For the launch at the end of November, the focus is on stunning jewelry—including a signature “Sophia” necklace (a take on Elsa Peretti’s Diamonds by the Yard, substituting semi-precious stones for the hard rocks), pearls the size of gumballs and giant gem necklaces worthy of a night with The Donald. But a secondary emphasis on home décor is evolving and will be expanding as the business grows.
The interior design line is debuting with fur-covered pillows or custom-ordered fur throws from New York furrier Jerry Sorbara, as well as textiles from Istanbul. So it starts out a pashmina but ends up a table runner. There are worse ways to work a scarf. Other items include: votives, feathery placemats, jeweled napkin rings. “There is a lot of stuff that other people have,” King says. “That is not what we want. We would rather have a hole in the category until we find the right thing.” Expected additions to the line will also focus on elegant home entertaining—place cards and place card holders, cocktail napkins, stemware, linens, and hostess gifts.
Unlike current in-home merchandising where purses are stacked on shelves, clothes hang from coatracks, the mirror’s in the bathroom and the accessories are hard to distinguish from the homeowner’s own, S. King Collection has enlisted the talents of interior designer Jimmy Jamieson to create a posh setting that transforms a living room into a couture salon.
A percentage of sales of the S. King Collection will kick back to local charities (for the launch, it’s Women’s Support and Community Services). The products featured will be priced from $30 to $3,000. As King notes: “It’s this eclectic world of luxury that doesn’t mean high price, but good taste.”
For more information: call 314-567-1109 or e-mail Susan Sherman at susan@skingcollection.com.
