Avery in the News

James Avery Jewelry Store Opens Today in Fountain Plaza

By HEATHER NOLAN, The Enterprise
11/30/2007 - Updated 12/20/2007

Mark M. Hancock/The Enterprise Marty Banda, top, and Pilar Serna, bottom, with National Signs install a sign Thursday at James Avery jewelry store in the Fountain Plaza in Beaumont. Two other jewelry stores already exist in the area near the newest store.

BEAUMONT - Howell Ridout is confident customers will be satisfied with the James Avery jewelry store's "simple" and "easy to understand" collection when it opens for business today.

The Kerrville-based jewelry store at 3050 Dowlen Rd. in Fountain Plaza across from H-E-B Plus is opening in an area with a high concentration of jewelry stores. Namely, Alter's Gem Jewelry across the street, Mathew's Jewelers 0.2 miles north and Nederland Jewelers almost one mile north on Dowlen Road.

"We're really not in the jewelry business per se," Ridout, James Avery's vice president of marketing and development, said. "We're more in the connection and meaning business. Everything we do, we try to keep it simple. A lot of companies try to wow people with glitz. We're not about that at all."

The store carries Christian-themed jewelry, pieces that "represent lifestyles and hobbies" and casual classic wear.

Its focus is sterling silver and gold, but some pieces include gemstones and diamonds.

And with rising gold and silver prices, Ridout said craftsmen are as efficient as possible so prices remain affordable.

Most products are geared toward women, but Ridout said it's not impossible to find "guy jewelry" in the store.

"We're not into really ornate types of design," Ridout said. "It's not about ornamentation, it's about simple beauty."

James Avery will have its grand opening party Thursday, Dec. 13 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Company founder James Avery will be present.

Also, the store will donate 10 percent of its sales from Dec. 13 to Dec. 19 to the Southeast Texas Food Bank.

Brian Alter, owner of Alter's Gem Jewelry at 3155 Dowlen Rd., said he has "no problem" with another jewelry store opening across the street.

"They're providing a product that is very focused," he said.

Ridout said the company has been watching Beaumont in recent years, tracking online and catalog sales as well as sales at other stores from Beaumont customers.

He said the company thinks there is a high number of people in Southeast Texas that might be interested in becoming regular customers at the company's 44th store. Its nearest location is in Houston.

"We're not here to hock jewelry," he said. "We're here to build a relationship."

Vice president of sales Marilyn Price said the biggest difference between James Avery and nearby jewelry stores is that James Avery is not a diamond retailer.

With items ranging from $20 to more than $1,000, she said the store offers "something for just about everyone."

"Some of our best-selling items have been on line for 10, 15, 20 years," she said. "We offer something for every stage of life. Generations of families come in and shop."

With more than 1,000 designs available and 120 new designs released every year, James Avery doesn't custom make jewelry.

"If we got into the custom business, it would distract us from being effective," Ridout said. "We've chosen to have a real powerful line."

The Fountain Plaza location is James Avery's eighth store to open or relocate this year - the most Ridout said the company has put together in a one-year period since it was founded in 1954.

He said the Beaumont store was the last project of the year and the staff worked day and night to make sure it opened before Christmas.

And Southeast Texans are ready for it.

Ridout said people have been coming in the store for a couple of weeks now hoping to get an early start on Christmas shopping.

Gladys Wojcik, owner of Nederland Jewelers at 4010 Dowlen Rd., said the store's presence on Dowlen Road might lure more jewelry-seekers in the area.

"People used to have to go to Houston when they wanted James Avery, so it's good to have it locally," she said. "I don't feel like they add any competition to the area. We all have something different to offer. And Beaumont is big enough to share."