{"id":357,"date":"2022-04-13T06:06:03","date_gmt":"2022-04-13T10:06:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bowmanjewelers.com\/blog\/?p=357"},"modified":"2022-04-13T06:52:27","modified_gmt":"2022-04-13T10:52:27","slug":"southern-jewelry-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bowmanjewelers.com\/blog\/?p=357","title":{"rendered":"SOUTHERN JEWELRY NEWS"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Bowman Jewelers: Not so difficult<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>By Wanda Freeman<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s easy to understand why Bowman Jewelers might forget its own birthday: It doesn\u2019t look its age. When customers visit the retailer in Johnson City, Tenn., they see a storefront chosen in 1999 for its mallinfused high traffic &#8211; not the establishment that started in a barbershop 95 years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI just kind of realized it was 95,\u201d says Linda Bowman O\u2019Dell, third generation co-owner of the store with her brother, Rob Bowman. For this quarter at least, she\u2019s concentrating on noting the milestone with special ads and promotions pushing awareness of the store\u2019s longevity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re saving the huge celebration for our 100th year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And huge it will be &#8211; O\u2019Dell believes the store is not just the oldest jeweler, but the oldest retailer in the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The jeweler\u2019s story began when O\u2019Dell\u2019s grandfather, Robert W. Bowman &#8211; a German immigrant and the youngest in his family &#8211; went to watchmaking school. It was the early 1900s, and wristwatches were a new thing replacing pocket watches. He traveled to Pennsylvania to become a certifi ed horologist before joining other family members in and around eastern Tennessee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-1 is-cropped\"><ul class=\"blocks-gallery-grid\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><a href=\"https:\/\/bowmanjewelers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/staff-at-bowman-jewelers-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"333\" src=\"https:\/\/bowmanjewelers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/staff-at-bowman-jewelers-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"360\" data-full-url=\"https:\/\/bowmanjewelers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/staff-at-bowman-jewelers-1.jpg\" data-link=\"https:\/\/bowmanjewelers.com\/blog\/?attachment_id=360\" class=\"wp-image-360\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bowmanjewelers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/staff-at-bowman-jewelers-1.jpg 500w, https:\/\/bowmanjewelers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/staff-at-bowman-jewelers-1-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"blocks-gallery-item__caption\">(L-R) Kaitlen McBride, Victoria Bowman Duever, Robert W. Bowman III,<br>Linda Bowman O\u2019Dell, Chloe O\u2019Dell.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>In 1927, Bowman began his business by renting a space for his bench in the back of a downtown barber shop. Two years later he opened his own store and employed four other watchmakers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His wife, Janelle Bowman, who always had a passion for gemstones, nudged him to add jewelry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMy grandmother talked him into putting a couple of jewelry cases in, and they started selling pearls and birthstone jewelry. She really couldn\u2019t participate in the business at the time with six children at home,\u201d O\u2019Dell says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But in 1945, Robert died at age 48, and Janelle took over the business. A great aunt came to live with them and help with the house and children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt was quite rare in the 1940s for a woman to take over a business like that,\u201d O\u2019Dell says. \u201cShe stayed active and ran the business and didn\u2019t retire until around 1997, when she was about 86 years old.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\" style=\"flex-basis:100%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-2 is-cropped\"><ul class=\"blocks-gallery-grid\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><a href=\"https:\/\/bowmanjewelers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/image-005-1-252x300.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"252\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/bowmanjewelers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/image-005-1-252x300.png\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"364\" data-link=\"https:\/\/bowmanjewelers.com\/blog\/?attachment_id=364\" class=\"wp-image-364\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bowmanjewelers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/image-005-1-252x300.png 252w, https:\/\/bowmanjewelers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/image-005-1-861x1024.png 861w, https:\/\/bowmanjewelers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/image-005-1-768x914.png 768w, https:\/\/bowmanjewelers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/image-005-1.png 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 252px) 100vw, 252px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"blocks-gallery-item__caption\"><strong>Market Street on Fountain Square. Bowman\u2019s second<br>location, occupied in the 1940s and 50s. Circa 1951.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><a href=\"https:\/\/bowmanjewelers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/MI4T-Enu1KyFcXtu3ZgyYlQXAh01wfW7Eg-scaled.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"645\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/bowmanjewelers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/MI4T-Enu1KyFcXtu3ZgyYlQXAh01wfW7Eg-645x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"369\" data-full-url=\"https:\/\/bowmanjewelers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/MI4T-Enu1KyFcXtu3ZgyYlQXAh01wfW7Eg-scaled.jpg\" data-link=\"https:\/\/bowmanjewelers.com\/blog\/?attachment_id=369\" class=\"wp-image-369\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bowmanjewelers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/MI4T-Enu1KyFcXtu3ZgyYlQXAh01wfW7Eg-645x1024.jpg 645w, https:\/\/bowmanjewelers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/MI4T-Enu1KyFcXtu3ZgyYlQXAh01wfW7Eg-189x300.jpg 189w, https:\/\/bowmanjewelers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/MI4T-Enu1KyFcXtu3ZgyYlQXAh01wfW7Eg-768x1220.jpg 768w, https:\/\/bowmanjewelers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/MI4T-Enu1KyFcXtu3ZgyYlQXAh01wfW7Eg-967x1536.jpg 967w, https:\/\/bowmanjewelers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/MI4T-Enu1KyFcXtu3ZgyYlQXAh01wfW7Eg-1290x2048.jpg 1290w, https:\/\/bowmanjewelers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/MI4T-Enu1KyFcXtu3ZgyYlQXAh01wfW7Eg-scaled.jpg 1612w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 645px) 100vw, 645px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"blocks-gallery-item__caption\"><strong>Janelle Bowman took the helm at the store in<br>1945 after the death of her husband, Robert<\/strong>.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Two of Janelle and Robert\u2019s children &#8211; James J. Bowman and Robert W. Bowman Jr., Rob and Linda\u2019s father &#8211; became involved in the 1950s. One was a watchmaker and the other a jeweler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe were downtown for about 75 years, and we owned a building on Fountain Square that we rented in the 1960s and purchased in the 1980s.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As economic realities changed, the store moved several times in pursuit of higher traffi c. Downtown businesses declined as malls proliferated beginning in the 1970s, and in 1999 Bowman Jewelers moved to a shopping strip in North Johnson City.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The store\u2019s youthful facade belies the retailer\u2019s enduring reputation. Bowman Jewelers has supported and bonded with Eastern Tennessee State University since the 1940s and is the area\u2019s only Independent Jewelers Organization (IJO) member store.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rob (Robert W. Bowman III) is an IJO Master Jeweler, gemologist, and craftsman. Linda is a GIA Gemologist and diamond grader and store manager.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As the store\u2019s buyer, O\u2019Dell has been traveling to Antwerp, Belgium, for some 20 years in connection with IJO. The rewards were quickly apparent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe can buy directly from the cutters. \u2026 It gives more of an advantage to our small store competing with the big-box stores,\u201d she says. \u201cIt started off as just a fun trip, and we made friends and lasting relationships.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Her connections came in handy during the COVID shutdown, such as when O\u2019Dell had a client seeking a fi ve-carat emerald-cut diamond while stores and suppliers everywhere were closed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe were able to reach out and engage with suppliers during one of the most diffi cult times in retail history,\u201d she recalls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-medium is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/bowmanjewelers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/image-006-1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/bowmanjewelers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/image-006-1-300x300.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-363\" width=\"400\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bowmanjewelers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/image-006-1-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/bowmanjewelers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/image-006-1-1024x1024.png 1024w, https:\/\/bowmanjewelers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/image-006-1-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/bowmanjewelers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/image-006-1-768x768.png 768w, https:\/\/bowmanjewelers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/image-006-1.png 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><figcaption><strong>Linda Bowman O\u2019Dell examining diamonds in Antwerp.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>O\u2019Dell earned a nickname in Antwerp &#8211; a good-humored one that she thinks might not be exclusive to her &#8211; La Diffi cile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOne of my friends was teasing me, saying I\u2019m diffi cult and hard to deal with, but I think it\u2019s just another word for \u2018picky,\u2019\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The name is captured in an amusing commercial fi lmed in Antwerp by IJO, with one of O\u2019Dell\u2019s favorite suppliers expressing mock distress over the need to please his diffi cult &#8211; or picky &#8211; customer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>O\u2019Dell leverages her buying trips with commercials offering clients a way to become part of the selection process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe take special orders a few weeks ahead,\u201d she says. Clients make an appointment at the store, where O\u2019Dell shows them sample stones to get an idea of their desires and budgets. They then pay a deposit allowing her to shop for something equal or better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tech-savvy customers can even shop virtually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe can send videos to phones, and call each other when our clocks meet up, they\u2019re not asleep and we\u2019re not asleep,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When considering what sets Bowman Jewelers apart, O\u2019Dell sees a combination of factors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There\u2019s the history of a mature business that has stood witness to trends like the comeback of yellow gold in all types of jewelry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI keep telling people, don\u2019t scrap your yellow gold, it\u2019s coming back!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are the referrals, like the one that brought in a new customer from New York who decided to wait on a purchase until he could see O\u2019Dell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There is the clever advertising that allows \u201cBowman engagement couples\u201d to appear on billboards, social media, and TV ads capturing their proposal moments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But O\u2019Dell\u2019s favorite part of being a jeweler is the relationships built over her nearly 40 years in the business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOver the years, people are like best friends. You know when they\u2019ve been sick or celebrating an anniversary. You send them fl owers; you check in on them. Even if they are not necessarily as active a customer as they once were, you still care about them. You make a point of keeping in touch. I\u2019m still friends with customers who saw my daughter as a baby during the fi rst few years, in the store or in a stroller downtown. \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt is our loyal customers who have kept us here in business 95 years and counting.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bowman Jewelers: Not so difficult By Wanda Freeman It\u2019s easy to understand why Bowman Jewelers might forget its own birthday: It doesn\u2019t look its age. When customers visit the retailer in Johnson City, Tenn., they see a storefront chosen in 1999 for its mallinfused high traffic &#8211; not the establishment that started in a barbershop [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[24,162,169],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bowmanjewelers.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bowmanjewelers.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bowmanjewelers.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bowmanjewelers.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bowmanjewelers.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=357"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/bowmanjewelers.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":372,"href":"https:\/\/bowmanjewelers.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357\/revisions\/372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bowmanjewelers.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bowmanjewelers.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bowmanjewelers.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}