By Pamela Dozois
Contributing Writer
Charlotte Becerra is the owner of Charlotte’s of Santa Ynez, a 500-square-foot “jewelry box” in Santa Ynez that specializes in vintage and new silver and turquoise jewelry in the Western style.
“My friend and I were talking one day and she said that she’d been in the jewelry business for 40 years, specializing in gold, and she had accumulated a safe full of vintage silver jewelry, some Mexican, some Indian. She said that her customers weren’t interested in silver but perhaps my customers would be, as ‘it goes so well with cowboy boots’,” she said.
Becerra’s husband, Ramon, owned the Santa Ynez Saddlery in Buellton, so she put one display case of jewelry in the store. The sales went really well, and she noted with amusement that men typically don’t like to go into jewelry stores but in this case, they didn’t feel threatened.
Both the men and women who shopped there loved the jewelry. “They could pick up something for their horse and something for themselves as well,” she said.
When the saddlery closed in 2017, she thought about opening a boutique. Then a store in Santa Ynez became available, so Becerra decided to open “Charlotte’s of Santa Ynez” in May 2017, a boutique that features not only jewelry but horse accessories as well.
Becerra is no newcomer to the retail industry. She started at the tender age of 8, helping her mother.
“My mother owned three houseware stores. At age 12 I opened my own toy corner in two of her stores, called ‘Charlotte’s Christmas Corner.’ It was great,” she said. “My mother would take me to the industry shows and they usually didn’t allow children in, but I had my own business cards and a checkbook.”
Becerra was born in Sherman Oaks but grew up in the Bay Area. She attended UC Berkeley and majored in Latin American studies but her background was in magazine publishing, direct marketing and circulation.
“When the dot-com bubble burst, so did the publishing industry,” said Becerra. “I moved to Los Angeles and worked for two magazines, Sailing World and Cruising World.
“I also competed in the horse world, working primarily with Peruvian horses. Ramon and I had been friends for 27 years. He had performed at many of the shows I competed in,” Becerra explained. “I was training for an endurance ride with a breeder in Lompoc, and as I hadn’t seen him for a while, I called him up and asked him out to lunch. Our first date was New Year’s Day, 15 years ago. On that date all he kept saying was ‘I thought you were married.’ We started dating and I moved to the valley in 2003.”
Becerra said she had to create a job for herself so she purchased two magazines in 2004. The couple married in 2007. Then in 2008 the economy “fell through the floor” along with the publishing business, once again. That was also the year their daughter, Katherine, was born.
“My focus was that of being a mom and I did some custom publishing projects as well and helped Ramon,” she continued. “We opened Santa Ynez Saddlery in 2011, which ran for six years.”
“Working in my mom’s store taught me there are two important parts to the retail business – one is the buying, not the selling. That means it is my responsibility to provide my customers with a quality product at a fair price,” said Becerra. “The second is knowing your customers. I have a few customers who know everything about what their wives want and some who have to be guided and reminded. I can help husbands pick out just the right pieces of jewelry for their wives, which makes them look like heroes, and that makes me happy. It’s like being a personal shopper. Customers appreciate that I keep them in mind when I see something I feel they would like, either for their collections or for gifts.”
Becerra mainly sells jewelry that is Western, Indian, Mexican, some Thai, and a little Italian. She travels a little for business but mainly works with four dealers.
“The whole culture of the traveling trader still exists,” she said. “They can show up at the door with tubs of jewelry. I also have customers who have inherited jewelry from their relatives and want to sell it, or ladies that wish to exchange a piece of jewelry they rarely wear for something they can wear more often.
“I never know who or what is going to come into my shop. It’s like playing in a big jewelry box. I joke that I have people and horse jewelry – like silver bits and spurs, romal reins and silver headstalls. My shop is the perfect fit for Santa Ynez because there are a lot of horsewomen here. Some days I have so many interesting people visiting the store. I have to say, I have great customers.”
“I play with pretty things all day, so I‘m quite happy running my little boutique. My local customers are my bread and butter and I really appreciate their support. I couldn’t do it without them and I’m glad I am able to provide them with something beautiful they want,” Becerra said.
Charlotte’s of Santa Ynez, at 3551 Sagunto St., is open from 10:30 to 5:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday and Monday.
For more information, call 805-688-0016 or 805-350-1232, email info@CharlottesSY.com or visit www.CharlottesSY.com. She can also be found on Instagram and Facebook @CharlottesSY.
