R. Gregory Jewelers

Nov 24

In their own words

“It’s a good time. When somebody comes in and buys a piece of jewelry, they’re celebrating something, whether it’s themselves, an anniversary or birthday, or they’re buying for their wife, daughter, or husband. It’s always exciting to help people celebrate their lives together.”

-Matt Clendenin

Jason’s Interview with Matt

Jason

We're back on Meet the Jewelers and today we're talking to Matt from R. Gregory Jewelers. How did you get into the industry?

Matt

I did it the old-fashioned way. I married into it. My wife, we've been married seventeen years now. Her father started the store in 1981. We started dating, then got married. I was in emergency services before that. It just so happened, her cousin was the acting manager at the time. He left. I started working part-time, just to be an extra person in the store. My father-in-law started showing me things. A month into it, he pulled me into his office and asked if I wanted to quit what I was doing and work full time. I've been here for fifteen years.

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He passed away, I think it’s been seven years now he's been gone. His whole idea was to push me and my wife out in front of the customers so he could start taking it easy and work in the back in the office.

Jason
What do you think about the jewelry industry?

Matt
I love it. 99% of the time, it's a good time. When somebody comes in and buys a piece of jewelry, they're celebrating something. It's always exciting to help people celebrate their lives together.

Jason
Tell us some proposal stories that you've been a part of.

Matt
One was a good friend of mine. His wife was an x-ray technician and he is a firefighter. He put a plan together to where he had injured his hand and needed x-rays, and she was working. They had set it up, so they start doing the x-rays. One of her friends switched it with an x-ray with him holding the engagement ring. So when she's looking at the film, he's standing there with the ring.

Jason
What do you do that's different from other great jewelers in the area?

Matt
Customer service, almost to a concierge level. We try to go above and beyond and make sure that we're getting exactly what they want. We custom make a lot of engagement rings. The last one we did, it took about eight different models before we found the one they liked. We do whatever it takes to make sure everybody's thrilled at the end.

Jason
Tell us about some transformational experiences you've been a part of?

Matt
I recently had taken a lady's original engagement ring that she was married with. She had a quarter-carat marquise stone. This was a thirtieth anniversary, so she wanted something really nice. We put a two-carat marquise in the center, matched another stone to her existing ring, and made an amazing ring.

We've had people bring in grandmother’s old necklace and transform it. Some people like antique pieces and some people don't. A lot of times we'll get pieces like that and we bring it up to date. We rework it into a newer piece that they can enjoy. The heirloom aspect is still there because it's all their metal, all their stones.

Jason
I know that the entire family did so much for the community. Tell us a few of the charities and causes that are near and dear to the team.

Matt
We do a lot with a local charity called Power Cross. It's a Christian-based sports program for underprivileged boys. They pick the kids up after school, do a quick Bible study with them, and then they go to practice. They have a lot of mentors from the community that get involved.

Jason
Why do you think people trust you so much with their jewelry?

Matt
A lot of it is our reputation. The store has been here since 1981. It's the family aspect. You might see my son and my daughter. I mean, you'll see my son in the office doing his homework. My daughter's fourteen, so we're starting to show her things about the business. She might even run the point of sale and check you out. They know when they're coming in, they're dealing with somebody that's family and they're dealing with somebody that has ownership in the stores.

Jason
What are some top designers that you love?

Matt
Gabriel and Co. is a big one. We do a lot of bridal, as well as fashion pieces, necklaces, earrings. Alwand Vahan is a sterling silver and gold line that we carry, their bracelets are a huge hit. That's two of the biggest ones right now that we're excited about.

Jason
What are some virtues that Rick had that you hold dear?

Matt
Salesmanship. He enjoyed the business. He loved what he did. That's rubbed off on me as well as my wife. We travel to Antwerp once or twice a year to buy our diamonds. Traveling there, the relationships we have with the brokers, the relationships with our customers. A lot of them wind up being good friends after the interactions.

Jason
Tell us about a generational customer of yours.

Matt
One, for instance, is a family in town. A brother and a sister—the brother had two sons and his sister had three sons. We have sold every one of them their engagement rings.

We've had grandmother's not even give their blessing on the engagement if the ring didn't come from us.

Jason
Tell us a moment where you were able to save the day.

Matt
A last-minute engagement. A guy comes in at Christmas, wants the ring in a short timeframe—wants to do it for New Year's Eve. We didn't have exactly what he wanted. Production time at that time of year’s crazy. We made some calls and were able to make it happen.

Jason
Five, ten years from now, what's your vision for R. Gregory Jewelers?

Matt
My vision would be, hopefully, me and my wife are retired somewhere and our kids stay in the business. We hope they will want to continue it. If not, we’d probably close the store and work by appointment only because we’ll still want to be involved. Countless people have my cell phone. I get calls, sometimes at 6:30 in the morning from a customer wanting to come in and look at something. We own our building, so we can do with it whatever we want. It might be that we just go to appointment only, so we can sit back and enjoy life a little bit.

Jason
This is your spot to say whatever you like.

Matt
It’s the customer service side and the relationship. We're here to ask any and every question. No matter what the purchase is, whether it's a $10 watch battery or a $50,000 necklace, that's what we're here for. We're going to be here for a long time. When you shop local, when you shop with a local jeweler, all that money stays in this town to support charities, support the people that work for us. We’d love people to come in and experience that.