Gem of a side project becomes a true national brand
What started with a few beads and a dream has mushroomed into a multimillion-dollar luxury jewelry design company that is expanding across Canada. Hillberg & Berk (H& B), which was founded by entrepreneur Rachel Mielke in 2007, had annual sales of more than $5 million in the last fiscal year and has projections of over $10 million this fiscal year.
Not bad for what started as a home-based business, with Mielke making jewelry at her kitchen table in Regina in her “spare” time.
When she founded H&B, which was initially called Urban Pearl Accessories, Mielke was working fulltime as a marketing specialist. She sold her jewelry between meetings on business trips across the country.
Mielke used her own salary to pay her first employee, and she financed Urban Pearl on credit cards.
Now, the company has an ever-growing staff. Last count was 80, but that number is expected to grow to surpass 100 by Christmas.
“Our plan is to open locations across Canada,” Mielke said in a recent interview. “We’re talking to malls and seeing what opportunities are available.”
In July and September, H&B will open kiosks in two Edmonton locations. A brick-and-mortar store is set to open in Saskatoon in November.
After that, plans are to expand into Calgary (where the company already has a wholesale presence), Winnipeg and Toronto.
“We’re excited to be expanding so aggressively and creating so many jobs during a slower economic period,” said Mielke, who is H&B’s CEO and one of four women on the company’s design team. “We’ll be creating up to 75 new jobs over the next 12 months.” Why expand now? “The time just felt right,” Mielke said.
“We were poised to grow. The biggest challenge was the time that it took to grow and build our brand.”
After rebranding her company as Hillberg & Berk, Mielke entered CBC’s Dragons’ Den. She emerged with a $200,000 deal from billionaire philanthropist W. Brett Wilson. She used the cash to fund her first expansion.
Since then, Mielke has worked to grow brand recognition. She even got her jewelry worn by celebrities on the red carpet at the Oscars. Famous people known to wear her designs include Carrie Underwood, Sarah McLachlan, Michelle Obama, Barbara Walters and Celine Dion.
Even the Queen has been photographed repeatedly wearing H&B. H&B was commissioned to create a brooch for the Queen, which was presented to her at Buckingham Palace in October 2013.
About 80 to 90 per cent of the jewelry H& B sells is produced in-house, and all staff members are encouraged to let their creative juices flow and design pieces for Oneof-A-Kind Fridays, which are held once a month.
“We certainly try to foster a culture of creativity,” Mielke said. “Everyone is involved.”
The company also carries the Tacori brand, “because I just love it,” Mielke explained. “I thought it was a great augment with our brand. It was different than what we were doing”
H& B’s handmade designer jewelry features precious and semi-precious-stones and metals. Sparkle-ball earrings and necklaces have become particularly popular. And the company is known for its one-of-a-kind and limitededition pieces. Prices range from $65 to $800.