Bennion Jewelers

May 25

In their own words

“Dad bought the jewelry store from Boyd Park in 1952. When you walk in our store, you will see the original cases from 1862; they’re curved and stained glass. You’re talking 160-year-old furniture. It’s antique and it’s a part of our identity and that’s why we’ve had them for so many years. We have three offices that resemble the old banks in the late-1800’s. And then there are halogen lights illuminating the jewelry so everything pops. Everything’s bright and inviting.”

-Bill Bennion

Jason’s Interview with Bill

Jason

We're back on Meet the Jewelers and today we're talking to Bill from Bennion Jewelers. Tell us, how did you get into the industry?

Bill

Dad bought an existing store in 1952, the oldest jewelry store in the inner mountain area, started in 1862. When Dad bought that company, the Boyd Park company, he bought all of their furniture, their jewelry, display cases, and worked for twenty-two years until 1974. He asked me if I would be willing to come into the business. At the time, I was a tennis pro. He said, "Why don't you come down and learn the jewelry business?" And I did. That was in 1974.

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Jason
Were you waiting for that moment that your Dad would tell you to come take over the business?

Bill
Not really. I was playing tennis, teaching tennis, and I just didn't know what I was doing. I just graduated from college. I was thinking I'd be in sales—my two older brothers, one was a stockbroker and my middle brother was a doctor. I think Dad, by default, had to come to me and I just said, "Sure, let's try it." I didn't have any type of pre-destined decisions to go into the jewelry business. Since then, I've enjoyed it thoroughly. I've had great associations with my customers and my suppliers. Life's great.

Jason
Any other family members in the business right now?

Bill
I hope not. Every now and again, my wife will come down and help me. But every time she does, she sees four or five things that she wants for Christmas, birthday, anniversary, so I try and keep her out of here. The only other person that might be involved would be my oldest son who's in Virginia right now—we're talking about him coming in and being the third generation to learn the jewelry business. I would love that. I've got another four or five years left in me, so there's no immediacy right now.

Jason
Tell us about the clients.

Bill
Our customer base is loyal. We just had an open house. We sent out 800 invitations. I got responses from about 250 of them. We had about 240 people here, so when you talk about loyal customers, we've got a lot.

Jason
What have you been doing right for all these years?

Bill
Our location is really good. We're on one of the main streets and directly across the street from the Mormon temple. We have a lot of tourists come in. Our salespeople are fabulous, they've been in the business for a long time, they're loyal and honest people. Our jewelry is up to date. Our suppliers are great. The fact that we've been in business for sixty-seven years, getting generations two and three coming in, they know us and trust us.

Jason
Tell us about some of those great lines.

Bill
Simon G is wonderful. They've been partners forever. They're great. Ledell is great. It's a wonderful company from California that also does wedding rings. We do a lot of wedding rings. We're located by the University of Utah, so the kids are coming down. We have a good bridal line, but we also deal with a lot of color. There's Steven Royce that we get a lot of tanzanite from. Alwand Vahan is a more exclusive type of silver and gold. We've got quite a few Akoya pearls, the Japanese pearls, but also South Seas and Tahitians. We're a broad jewelry store, not just specializing in wedding rings.

Jason
Can you tell us about your store and what separates it from other stores in the area?

Bill
When Dad bought the store, he bought the cases, so when you walk in our store, you see these original cases from 1862. They're old, curved glass and stained glass. It's our identity. It's original. We have three offices that remind you of old banks in the late 1800s because that's what it was. Everything's bright, inviting.

Jason
Tell us about some of the causes you guys have been involved with throughout the years?

Bill
I've been on a number of boards. The University of Utah has an alumni board. They have an athletic board that I was on. I'm trying to give back to U of U what I can because they paid for my education when I played tennis here. We've been dealing with a lot of the Utah Food Bank, there are a lot of homeless downtown. Salvation Army, the Utah Food Bank, the Fourth Street Clinic has doctors that give the homeless free clinics for their health.

Jason
What are some fun proposal experiences?

Bill
Some of the customers will go to a Jazz game and the Jumbotron will be on this couple, and he'll get engaged right there at the Jazz game. We've had that happen a couple of times. That's been fun. Watching people come in, look at wedding rings, and find something they like and get excited—that's the fun that I get.

Jason
Tell us about some of the full services you offer?

Bill
We can build from start to finish. We do a lot of computer-generated rings and pendants so that they can look at it before we make a wax. Usually, if we're custom-making something, we'll show them a wax and make sure they're happy with it.

Jason
To our audience on Meet the Jewelers, what do you want them to know about your store?

Bill
I want them to know that we're totally honest. They can count on that. Most people don't know what they have. They don't know if it's a diamond or not. You build a base of trust and confidence. That's what we have here at Bennion's.