National Jeweler, James Avery, Hosts Event to Benefit
Hughes Spalding Children’s Hospital
Atlanta Jewelry Retailer Celebrates More Than 50 Years in Business
By Giving Back to Children’s Hospital
KERRVILLE, Texas – November 1, 2005 — James
Avery Craftsman, a family-owned jeweler based in the Texas
Hill Country, announced it will celebrate its more than 50
years in business and more than 17 years in business in Atlanta
with a reception to benefit The Hughes Spalding Children’s
Hospital. The event will be held at the jeweler’s Mansell
Crossing retail store in Alpharetta on Thursday, November
3 from 4-7 p.m. The company will donate 100 percent of the
evening’s jewelry sales to The Hughes Spalding Children’s
Hospital.
James Avery differs from many other high quality jewelers
in that the company designs, creates, markets and sells its
own jewelry line from its headquarters in Kerrville and five
jewelry workshops located throughout Texas. With annual sales
at approximately $85 million, the company employs more than
1,300 people nationally. Whether the focus is on designing
the retail store architecture or the latest piece of jewelry,
everyone at James Avery works diligently to maintain fine
detailing and simple design that is true to the original spirit
of the company. The company was ranked as one of the nation’s
top 50 jewelers in 2004 by National Jeweler Magazine.
“More than 17 years ago, we opened our first location
in Atlanta," said Dr. Chris Avery, president and chief
operating officer. "This event is our way of thanking
the Atlanta community for supporting us throughout the years
and we’d like to give back to the city’s children.”
Avery gave up his medical practice to lead James Avery in
1991 and has since made children’s hospitals a focus
for the company’s charitable donations.
James Avery jewelry includes high quality, hand-crafted
designs in silver, 14- and 18-karat gold and gemstones. In
November, the Atlanta stores will debut new holiday jewelry
in classic and contemporary designs, including Athena and
Fountain Chandelier Ear Posts, an Aegean Weave Link Bracelet,
Pearl and Onyx Necklace and Ear Posts and a Vintage Onyx Ring.
"We are so thankful to James Avery for their generous
donation to the Hughes Spalding Children’s Hospital,"
said Kirk Wilks, vice president of public affairs at Hughes
Spalding Children’s Hospital. “This extraordinary
donation will be used for needed hospital renovations and
to fund care for underserved and uninsured children throughout
the city.”
James Avery operates three retail locations in the Atlanta
area: Ashford Place on Dunwoody Road, The Mall of Georgia
in Buford and Mansell Crossing in Alpharetta.
About James Avery
James Avery, a family-owned jeweler in the Texas Hill Country,
offers high quality, hand-crafted jewelry in sterling silver,
white, 14- and 18-karat gold and gemstones. Based in Kerrville,
Texas, James Avery maintains 1,100 designs and 14,000 separate
combinations of jewelry designs, materials, and sizes in the
active product line. Each piece is originated by skilled men
and women who hand-craft jewelry in the James Avery design
studio on the Kerrville campus. Each is then crafted at one
of five hill country workshops. By the end of 2005, James
Avery will operate 39 stores in Texas, Georgia, Oklahoma and
Colorado. Two more locations are slated in McAllen and Garland,
Texas before the 2005 holiday season begins. James Avery jewelry
is available at retail stores, through mail order and on the
internet at www.jamesavery.com.
