São Paulo – The entrepreneurial talent arose early in Marina Gheler’s life. The owner of a semi-jewel and accessory brand that goes by her name, with five shops in the cities of Taubaté and São José dos Campos, in the interior of the state of São Paulo, she started… let’s say… working at around five years of age, selling her parent’s clothes, at her own initiative, at a stall in front of her house. That was when she was not taking her mother’s costume jewellery apart and making it into exclusive necklaces and bracelets, redesigned according to her taste before her “clients” arrived. Now, Marina is getting ready to advance in the area in two different fronts: creation of franchises and greater exports, focussing, among other markets, on the Arab countries.
“We are still growing, and have just celebrated our fifth anniversary,” explained Marina. “But we have already sold, in Brazil, to the states of Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul, Rondônia and São Paulo,” she said. For 2012, the plan is to inaugurate three shops in the franchise system, the first in May, in São Paulo, at Shopping Pátio Paulista, in Bela Vista neighbourhood.
Abroad, the company has clients in Qatar, the United States, Italy and Portugal. According to the entrepreneur, the objective is to have 30% of Marina Gheler revenues connected to exports in the medium run. “At the moment, this share is still very small, and our focus is on consolidation of the franchises, but we have a sales representative in Qatar and do plan to invest in the international market.” To Marina, the Arabs “interest much” and are among the brand’s main targets.
Marina Gheler works with items like earrings, necklaces, bracelets, rings and other kinds of accessories. “We produce 80% of our entire line,” she said, “and the rest is outsourced.” According to the businesswoman, the brand objective is to offer items that, somehow, escape commonplace. In the same way she did in her childhood, when she took apart her mother’s costume jewellery to resell. “It made her furious, and I did it on my own behalf,” she recalls.
In this respect, she says that her talent for entrepreneurship is truly the main fuel for expansion of her business. “At 21 years of age, I was promoted to regional manager of a German dentistry product company,” explained Marina. “At 22, I had already opened my first brand shop,” she recalls, adding that it all started with an investment of 100 Brazilian reals (around US$ 60) for the purchase of raw material to make costume jewellery. And, yes, she is ready for higher flights.
Contact
Marina Gheler
Telephone: (+55 12) 3622-4455
Site: www.marinagheler.com.br
*Translated by Mark Ament
