Juwelier Bonaldi, jewellery

As a jeweller, Rosella Bonaldi has quite the keen eye. So she must
have seen something nobody else did when, over 60 years ago, she
opened her store among a row of modern apartments behind which
only green fields grew. However, since then, Bolzano has spread to
the south and new blocks of flats have sprung up like wild mushrooms.
More apartments mean more people, and more residents
mean potential customers. Bonaldi had moved from Bergamo to
try her luck by opening her own business. Fortune must favour
the bold, for it is still alive and kicking – thriving, actually – now
managed by her daughters when she stepped down in 1996. Right
place, right time, even when the gold and precious jewels business
snowballed, she was helped by three sisters in the shop. So while
the shop is still run by women as in the past, it has unfortunately
suffered a change of fortunes, reminiscent of those old Hollywood
movies, due to the dramatic change in how people shop. Bolzano’s
first shopping centre opened ten years ago to much fanfare, which
translated to a 30% drop in business for smaller stores. A trend
compounded by the rise of digitalisation and the resulting change in
how people now favour online shopping compared to visiting brick
and mortar establishments.
The shop’s regular clientele spans three generations – but sisters
Elena and Silvia wanted to reach out to a new target market, especially
online consumers. Since then, they’ve made targeted investments
in their social media presence: their Youtube videos regale
people with details, facts, and trivia about diamonds, what is meant
by “pure gold”, and how to tell the difference between 24 karat
and 14 karat gold, or how to spot fake pearls from a mile away. And
believe it or not, you can also find them on TikTok and Instagram
showcasing their products, while Facebook is reserved for presenting
new products. Different media but all united by the family’s
knowledge and expertise.