Firth Jewelers

Apr 1

In their own words

“I’m the third generation. The jewelry store was founded in 1946 by my grandfather, Bill Firth Sr. When I first started, I would have lunch with my grandfather. We have a little eating room in the back, and I picked his brain and listened to his stories about when he first began the business. He built the business on the philosophy that every customer felt like they were the most important customer to Firth Jewelers. He did a great job of doing that. I carry on that tradition through another generation.”

-Michael Firth

Jason’s Interview with Michael

Jason

We're back on Meet the Jewelers and today we're talking to Michael Firth from Firth Jewelers in Niagara, New York. Tell us, how did you get into the industry?

Michael

Well, actually I'm third generation. The jewelry store began in 1946 by my grandfather Bill Firth Sr. who used to be an inventor. He didn't have a college degree and he saw people with college degrees making more money than he was, and he had all these inventions with patents. He told them he wanted a raise and they kind of said, "Well, you can't do anything about it. So you're not going to get a raise." He said, "I'll quit and start my own place." They called his bluff and next thing you know, Firth Jewelers was founded.

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Jason
What are the stories you hear from generation to generation?

Michael
It's been a lot of fun to work with people who I'm selling an engagement ring to and their parents bought their engagement ring from my father. And their grandparents bought their engagement ring from my grandfather. I have one of my four daughters involved in the business and hopefully she'll be having the same story with another generation down the road.

Jason
That's remarkable. Four daughters and one of them is in the industry?

Michael
Yes. She's been working in the jewelry store for about six years now and doing a fabulous job, and showing an interest in being the next generation of a Firth in the business.

Jason
What is she focusing on right now?

Michael
She does a lot of the repair work that we get in the store. We have a computer system that we photograph every piece, sketch out exactly what's going on, what needs to be done. We have our local goldsmiths that repair. She oversees all that. She also writes up appraisals, does engraving, kind of a jack-of-all-trades and hopefully that's going to bode well for her into the future.

Jason
Did you always know that you were going to enter into this industry?

Michael
I always had an interest in it. I went to college locally--have a degree in accounting and worked a couple years as a CPA for Ernst & Whinney, which at the time was one of the big eight accounting firms. It gave me that financial background to bring into the business. When I came back to the business, my father sent me to the GIA courses. I got my graduate gemologist degree after a year and a half. That's served me well when it comes to working with customers, buying, identifying, appraising.

Jason
Tell us about your customers.

Michael
We have a wide variety of customers. Our inventory ranges anywhere from $20 stocking stuffers to $50,000 pearls or diamonds. We have young people buying class rings for high school that we get introduced to at that point in their lives, carrying on all the way through to boyfriend and girlfriend gifts into engagement, and then beyond. Our main demographic is probably 25 to 50 years old, but we also have a larger group of seniors. Military Road is the main thoroughfare for commerce in Niagara Falls. As people are driving down the road, they can see that from a distance, so we get young and old alike.

Jason
Tell us about some brands that you really like.

Michael
We carry everyday watches like Caravelle, Bovet, Citizen, Seiko, those kinds of good solid brands that you know you're going to get good service out of. We carry Movado. I carry Natalie K, a designer out of California. We have a collection of jewelry that we call the Grace Collection, which is necklaces, bracelets that have inspirational references. We have a number of different collections of engagement mountings, with and without diamonds. We carry white gold, platinum, yellow gold, rose gold. We do a lot of custom design work as well.

Jason
Tell us about the custom design that you do.

Michael
We'll do CAD design. That's kind of making life a whole lot easier now because people can see on a computer screen a 3D image of what the ring looks like.

Jason
What else separates you?

Michael
The biggest thing that separates us is service. We have a lot of experience at the jewelry store. When you add up all the employees and the years of service that we have, we're close to 200 years of being in the industry. We want to make sure that every time a customer walks in the door, it's a positive experience.

Jason
Where do you see your company five, 10, 15 years from now?

Michael
Maybe more of a presence online. We're just starting to dip our toes into social media. The next generation that's going to come along, my daughter, will probably be critical in order to maintain connection with the customer. We've made ourselves a destination, when people are in Niagara Falls, they come into our store and they get the experience of a fine jeweler.

Jason
Tell us some of the causes and initiatives, and the change you're making.

Michael
I'm a member of the Board of Associates for one of the local hospitals. We try to make sure that we're giving back to the community wherever possible. I've been involved with the American Red Cross for about 10 years.

Jason
That's great. Well, thank you for your initiatives on the ground. And talking about some proposal experiences, tell us a fun experience you were part of?

Michael
We had a young man recently, his fiancé was actually on a mission trip overseas. He came in and bought an engagement ring using a rough cut diamond as opposed to a polished diamond because she was more of a natural girl, earthy and green. He knew when she was coming home from this mission trip in Africa, they were going to be having an eight-hour layover in Paris. He was able to fly to Paris and make sure that he was at the Eiffel Tower during that layover, one of the girls she was traveling with was going to make sure that she was there. He surprised her and gave her the ring right there.

Years before that, we had a gentleman come pick out an engagement ring. He brought his fiancee-to-be in, she had no idea what was going on. We have a back room where if a customer wants privacy we'll bring them back there. He got down on one knee and asked her to marry him right there. She screamed so loud that people out in the showroom could hear it.

Jason
This is your platform. What do you want us to know?

Michael
We have so much experience with customers. Our goal is not just to make a sale, we're looking to try to make a customer. Sometimes that means you have to invest time into a person, educating them, showing them around. We like to build relationships over time.