Nellie Seddigh eats breakfast at Tiffany’s almost every day. As the new director of the Beverly Hills store of Tiffany & Co., she oversees all operations for the jewelry store.

Although jewelry is the chain’s best-known product line, Tiffany & Co. also offers stationary and writing instruments, china and flatware, leather goods and it even serves breakfast.

“I want to create a more pleasant shopping experience,” said Seddigh about her new role, which includes conferring with an architect on how to expand the Beverly Hills store’s selling space to accommodate more people. That remodel is planned to take place next year.

“Right now people crowd around displays and not everyone can see,” she said.

About 1,500 people visit the store each work week, according to Seddigh, and 2,500 during the weekend. They include tourists and destination shoppers alike, she said. “Many people come from afar just to visit our store,” she said.

Prices run the gamut from $20 for playing cards and stationery items, to designer jewelry in the million-dollar range.

The Tiffany name drew her to the jewelry business. “I was attracted to the company because of its reputation. It’s been in business over 160 years.”

But she was also drawn, she admits, to the jewelry, ever since her parents gave her a small sapphire ring on her 16th birthday.

Before her promotion, Seddigh was operations manager at the company, a role she took on in 1991. She has held various operational positions since she first joined the company in 1986, including sales administration, profit planning, merchandise control and human resources.

Prior to joining Tiffany, Seddigh was a jewelry salesperson at Granat Bros. in San Francisco.

Chris Denina