b'2021 RETAILER HALL OF FAMEMARIE HELENE REINHOLD bringing in a sense of personal expression, and introducing theirIts a trait great leaders possess, and one thats practically a pre-clients to jewelry designers.requisite if youre going to run a small business. In the 1990s, Reinhold Jewelers was also an early advocate ofAt different points in her life, Marie Helene has witnessed her Monica Rich Kosann. fortunes ebb and flow, both personally and professionally. Kosann, who runs her eponymous company alongside husband There was, of course, having to rebuild the business from scratch Rod Kosann, says she met Marie Helene in a small ballroom at thefollowing her divorce from Henry Reinhold.Couture show, then dedicated to companies selling giftware likeIn the early 90s, Marie Helene opened Daughters Fine Jewelers, hers. (Kosann, who is also a photographer, started in the industry bya chain of stores that sold less expensive product, but, ultimately, selling sterling silver picture cases.)the chain didnt make it.It wasnt jewelry, but Reinhold invested anyway, spending a fewReinhold Jewelers stores also weathered the Great Recession thousand dollars to start carrying Monica Rich Kosann pictureof 2007-2009 and Hurricane Maria in 2017, the deadly Category 5 cases because she liked the story. storm that leveled Puerto Rico. She just loved the whole story-tellingMildred Marcano, the director of part of my brand, says Kosann.Reinhold Jewelers who oversees marketing Reinhold became a mentor to bothand buying for all stores, said Marie Helene Monica and Rod, giving them advice as theycontinued to pay her employees in the expanded. Today, they consider her family.weeks following Maria when everything Monica jokes that Marie Helene and Rod,was shut down. who spend hours talking on the phone, areIn 2019, Marie Helene lost her beloved besties.husband, David Morrow, to cancer. The retailer is also their first appoint- Over their three decades together, ment at Couture every year9 a.m. onMorrow helped her grow the business and opening day, like clockwork. The couplebecame a fixture at jewelry trade shows thinks of this annual visit as an amulet ofalongside his wife. In an email to National sorts, giving them good luck and settingJeweler at the time of his death, Marie positive intentions for the tiring days ahead.Helene described Morrow as the king of You can see everyone respects her, ev- our hearts. eryone adores her, Monica says. If youreThen came 2020. Everything in Puerto a new jewelry designer, I would imagineRico shut down, and Reinhold Jewelers, she would be on your wish list to come intoagain, paid its staff even though its stores your booth to look at your jewelry.Marie Helene poses on the red carpet with longtime friend Davidwere closed.Shes a legend.Yurman at the 2014 Gem Awards, the year she was honored withIt was a hard year for everyone but Marie The annual appointment is the kickoff tothe Gem Award for Lifetime Achievement. (Photo credit: JoeHelene kept going, with determination. Schildhorn/BFANYC.com) some of Marie Helenes favorite days on theMarcano describes Marie Helene as the kind calendar.of boss who comes into work every day and contributes just as much Anyone who knows the retailer knows she loves the Coutureas her employees do. show, and it loves her back. Her many industry accolades includeThe director, who will soon be celebrating her 16th anniversary receiving the inaugural Couture Human Spirit Award in 2010 for herwith Reinhold Jewelers, is one of quite a few Grupo Reinhold em-exceptional generosity of mind and spirit.ployees whove been with the company a decade or more, another She will not, however, play favorites with her Couture memories.testament to Marie Helenes leadership skills. My favorite Couture memory will be made at the show thisShes a good boss, Marcano says. But shes also very tough. She August, Marie Helene declares. I say this tongue-in-cheek, butlikes everything to be perfect. You have to take on the jewelry, the also with complete sincerity. While there are so many wonderfuldesigner, the showcases, the pieces.memories, I find myself constantly looking forward, not back. You have to love what you do because in retail, you never stop.Among those many wonderful memories was the time sheIn January, Marie Helene celebrated her 80th birthday. This accidentally went clubbing with Stephen Webster and Christinamilestone, coupled with the pandemic, have the longtime jeweler in Aguilera, though the retailer offers no further details on that night.a reflective mood. What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, she says.When asked for her thoughts on being inducted into the National Jeweler Retailer Hall of Fame, she says: I have had the HER RESILIENCEprivilege to wake up every morning, pursuing my passion, feeling When asked to describe their mother, the adjectives come easilyconnected to others who dream like I do, and giving back to my to daughters Regan and Yael, who mentions this oneresilient. Shecommunity in small and large ways. Each of those fills me with knows failure, but she also understands what it is to pick yourself uppride in its own right. and keep going.Receiving an award like the Retailer Hall of Fame is an affirma-Failure is just an option to learn and grow for her, Yael says. Itstion that others recognize and share my vision, that what I have cre-not a stopping point.ated is meaningful to others, and that it will live long beyond me.28 RETAILER HALL OF FAME \x14\x13\x14\x12'