Nestled into Fergus Falls’ downtown is Cecelia Designs, a jewelry wholesaler that has products on shelves across the country. Dedicated to nature, philanthropy and sustainability, Cecelia Designs plants one tree for every sale.
Cecelia Designs is owned by Fergus Falls native, Kaitlyn Stock. She attended college in Denver for Interior Design and did a brief stint in furniture design before kicking off her company in April 2014. “I knew I wanted to own my own business. I started with interior design, but I knew I wanted to work locally,” Stock explained, sharing that interior design transitioned into making jewelry and selling it at the local farmers market. “I started making jewelry when I was young, maybe 6 years old, and I would sell it at my family Fourth of July celebration,” Stock laughed. “It’s funny how something I enjoyed as a kid came back around.”
From farmers markets she moved on to art shows and craft festivals, visiting with other jewelry vendors and building her network. It was at one of these events that the idea of wholesaling her jewelry was first presented.
In 2017, Cecelia Designs kicked off as a wholesaler, attending market events in Chicago, Atlanta, New York, Texas and Las Vegas, where they met with buyers for boutiques and department stores, presenting what they have to offer their customers. The key to their success was their offering of leather earrings, a trend they adopted at the very beginning, making them the only wholesaler at market offering the product.
In 2018, Cecelia Designs worked with Scheels stores across the country. They currently work with over 750 stores nationwide, the largest of which is Von Maur Inc., a high-end American department store with 36 locations across 16 states.
Cecelia Designs, named after the middle name of its founder, who inherited the middle name from her great-grandmother, operates with a team of nine. In addition to Stock, there are four women who design and assemble jewelry, two who manage shipping, a social media manager and a sales representative. “I really couldn’t do it without my team,” Stock shared, “They are what make this all work.” Cecelia Designs currently works hard, filling anywhere from 20-50 wholesale orders each week.
Their downtown location acts as a workspace for the Cecelia Designs team, but can be visited by appointment. Jewelry is retailed in the area at The Market, Meadow Farm Foods, Neverwinter Clothing Co. & Gifts, The Nines, Indigo, and Dot and Minnies.
