B. Rowe & Co. opens storefront in Virginia Beach

The retailer began as a wholesale jewelry business five years ago.

About five years ago, Emily Davis needed to find a nice, nautical-themed bracelet to wear to a military picnic with her husband who served in the Navy. After struggling to find the perfect bracelet to accent her outfit, she decided to make a beaded bracelet to wear to the event. A friend and fellow Navy spouse noticed her unique creation and asked Davis if she could make her one. So, she did — and more acquaintances noticed Davis’ jewelry and suggested she turn the hobby into a business.

In 2018, Davis launched Seaport Sweetheart Designs as a wholesale jewelry business from her home in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Since then, the wholesale brand has grown and is sold in retail shops along the East Coast. Davis realized this spring that she had outgrown her home workspace, so she found a storefront to work from in April. With the larger space, Davis decided to delve into retail in addition to wholesale.

Davis opened B. Rowe & Co. as a retail gift shop in August. The retailer offers Davis’ jewelry and stationery lines as well as other wholesale gifts. The shop is named after her late mother.

“I always knew if I ever had a storefront, in some way, shape or form, I wanted it to be associated with my mother,” says Davis. “My mother could make any gift look like a million dollars — she could make a pack of travel tissues look like a million dollars! I want this store to do the same.”

In honor of her late mother who loved antiques, Davis decorated the store with antiques as well as her mother’s bridal portrait.

Along with launching the store, Davis changed the name of her wholesale business from Seaport Sweetheart Designs to B. Rowe & Co. to align the retail and wholesale businesses better.

“My products haven’t changed, and my attention to detail has not changed,” she says. “It’s just the name. Even the logo is the same. My commitment to quality in this community is the same. The relationships that I formed with retailers, those remain paramount, just as they are with my retail customers.”

Looking ahead to the future of B. Rowe & Co., Davis says she hopes the wholesale side of the business will continue to grow alongside her retail business.

“I want to offer a recognized brand, a brand associated with things that are pretty and things that make you smile,” she says.