Spot the Shop: The Gem Drop Shop brings 'interactive' jewelry to Black Mountain

Erin and Johnny Walker want to build an “interactive experience” for each customer who comes into their store, The Gem Drop Shop.

The store originally opened a little over a year ago on Cherry Street. In May of this year, the Walkers made the decision to move locations to 104 Broadway St.

Erin Walker said this decision was made in part because they wanted to see more traffic coming into the store and in part because they wanted to work with Mountain BizWorks to help grow their business. The Gem Drop Shop needed to be in a location with a least a five-year lease to work with the organization, and their previous location did not offer it. Erin Walker said she knew the owners of the Broadway Street storefront and is “ever so grateful” to have had the opportunity to move.

“It’s been like opening a brand-new store here,” Erin Walker said. “It’s been night and day. A lot more traffic flow, a better way to do stuff in here.”

The Gem Drop Shop specializes in handmade gemstone jewelry. Much of the jewelry is customizable, and the shop can cater to the specific customer. Erin Walker said there is a “DIY bar” where patrons can pick beads and chains, and the Walkers will make the jewelry while they wait. She said these aspects of the shop help create the “interactive experience” they want to foster at the store.

The shop does permanent jewelry as well.

The Walkers also make one-of-a-kind pieces and teach others to do so in the classroom space at the back of the shop. While they currently offer one-on-one classes, Erin Walker said the space will soon be transformed to host larger groups.

She said all of the materials are ethically sourced, and it is important for them to keep it that way.

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“We want to be very, very ethical with how we source our materials,” Erin Walker said. “We have places that we buy from that have direct relationships with mines and miners, and so we are being really conscientious about that.”

Erin Walker said her husband Johnny faced a health situation that moved him away from his job with the city of Asheville and back into the jewelry business they both love.

“This is my dream,” Erin Walker said. “I get to make stuff, I get to interact with people. I am never bored. I am surrounded by beautiful things. I really have the luckiest situation I could imagine.”

While Erin Walker said owning The Gem Drop Shop is her dream, they still face the same challenges of any store when it comes to inventory and figuring out what to keep in stock. She said there is no way to know what customers will like, so they make pieces that make them happy.

Looking toward the future, Erin Walker said she hopes the store can become a destination that patrons want to go to again and again.

“I hope that we get known as a place that people want to come every year,” Erin Walker said. “They want to see what’s new, they want to come like this is a family tradition, and they come to the Gem Drop.”