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‘Old West’ Jewelry Store Celebrates 127 Years in Business

Published

7 years ago

October 18, 2016

INSTORE Staff

Many things have changed — but a few haven’t.

Today, Nacol’s Jewelry in Wichita Falls, TX, operates in a completely different business environment — and even a different city — than it did when it opened in 1889.

Still, a few things haven’t changed, the Times Record News reports.

Samuel Joseph Nacol launched the business in Eunice, LA, and sold jewelry as well as a variety of general goods throughout the town.

“They would go on street corners and other families’ houses. It’s been fun watching how business has evolved from literally just a guy with a cart to a full-blown e-commerce and retail business,” said Jeff Nacol Turnbo, a great-grandson of Samuel Joseph Nacol.

In those days, merchandise on offer ranged from jewelry to hats to guns — after all, it was the Old West, Jeff Nacol Turnbo notes. Nowadays the focus is on jewelry.

The business moved to Wichita Falls in the 1950s, and today the store serves many customers who have been coming in for decades — along with their children and grandchildren.

Robbi Long, operations manager for the store, says some aspects have stayed the same over the decades, including the fact that the business is “all about the customer.”

“That’s why it makes it family — you treat that person the way you want to be treated,” Long told the Times Record News. “It’s not just hurry up and sell them something.”

Read more at the Times Record News

When There’s No Succession Plan, Call Wilkerson

Bob Wesley, owner of Robert C. Wesley Jewelers in Scottsdale, Ariz., was a third-generation jeweler. When it was time to enjoy life on the other side of the counter, he weighed his options. His lease was nearing renewal time and with no succession plan, he decided it was time to call Wilkerson. There was plenty of inventory to sell and at first, says Wesley, he thought he might try to manage a sale himself. But he’s glad he didn’t. “There’s no way I could have done this as well as Wilkerson,” he says. Wilkerson took responsibility for the entire event, with every detail — from advertising to accounting — done, dusted and managed by the Wilkerson team. “It’s the complete package,” he says of the Wilkerson method of helping jewelers to easily go on to the next phase of their lives. “There’s no way any retailer can duplicate what they’ve done.”