Tracy Jewelers

Sep 23

SPOKANE, WA
EST. 1950

In their own words

“We’re a family-owned business. My grandfather started it in 1950, and I’m the third generation owning it. We carry designer lines, which are gorgeous pieces. But we’re doing a lot of in-house design now. We’re using a lot of raw diamonds, rose-cut diamonds, and making turn-of-the-century designs.”

-Sean Tracy

Jason’s Interview With Sean

Jason

Today, we have an opportunity to talk to Sean. Sean, tell us about Tracy Jewelers.

Sean

We're a family-owned business in Spokane Valley, Washington. My grandfather started it in 1950 and we've had a couple different generations owning it. Now, I'm the third.

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Jason
How many other family members are still in the business?

Sean
My aunt is still here and she's been in the business for about fifty years, and we just hired my cousin, Kelly, as a jeweler. She's doing a fantastic job for us, so we're happy to have her on.

If I can get my daughter into it, that'd be great.

Jason
Are you guys in the same location?

Sean
We’re still in the Valley. We've moved the store a couple times, but it's been in its current location for almost ten years.

Jason
Do you guys have a gemologist on staff?

Sean
We do.

Maureen’s the gemologist, she’s my aunt and the graduate gemologist here for twenty years. She set up the EGS lab in the store.

Jason
When somebody enters your store, what does it feel like?

Sean
We like to make sure it's warm. When they first come in, they're greeted right away by at least two people. We’re only a seven-person operation, kind of like family. Make them feel at ease, offer coffee or water.

Jason
Do you guys have any causes you support?

Sean
We try to do something for everybody that requests something, whether it's an appraisal or a free CAD design or something along those lines. There's things that we do that are near and dear to somebody's heart that work here or family members. We pay more attention to cancer funds.

Hospice, we donate to them quite a bit. Anything with the cancer support groups is important to us.

Jason
Can you tell us about a moment where you were able to take a customer, build trust, and deliver a product that blew them away?

Sean
About a month ago, a gentleman came in, he had purchased an engagement ring from us about ten years ago and never gave her the ring. It happened to be one of the companies we use that will take a ring back and do a trade-up. We were able to get him a new ring for the new prospective fiancé. He was extremely happy, got a bigger stone, and a nicer ring. Not something that we do every day, but he was in a bit of a spot.

Jason
Tell me about a really exciting proposal moment.

Sean
We put billboards up around town on occasion. One guy had his wife come meet him at a particular billboard with the picture of the ring on it. He happened to buy her that same ring and he was up on the billboard when she drove up to it—he proposed to her from there. They had brought the family and friends and surprised her.

Jason
Now, what about exciting jewelry that you guys have in your showcase?

Sean
We carry designer lines, which are gorgeous. We're doing a lot of our own in-house design. We're using a lot of the raw diamonds available now. A lot of rose-cut diamonds and more vintage-looking things.

Jason
Is there anything in the family heritage that you still have around from the 1950s?

Sean
We did a box contest for Tracy Jewelers boxes—a drawing to win some in-store credit if you brought in a box from over the years. The oldest box brought in got 500 bucks, it was from 1953.

Jason
What do you think differentiates you in the market?

Sean
We've earned the community’s trust over time, trying to give fair pricing and treat people like family. I've got a great staff, super friendly, and pretty funny too.

We try to stay competitive, but still make sure that everybody here is knowledgeable and can answer any questions. If we don't know the answer, we go to somebody that can find it.

Jason
How did you get to be who you are for this company?

Sean
I started sweeping the floors when I was in grade school. They needed somebody to fix the charm bracelets and glue the pearls. We got busier over the years. We had four watchmakers and one jeweler. As time starts changing, you end up with four jewelers and one watchmaker. They needed somebody and I was just graduating high school and wasn't sure what to do, so my dad said, “Why don’t you jump in here and learn a trade? You’ll provide for yourself and get yourself a trade.” I got trained to do that and have been sticking with it since.

I did leave for a little while to chase a girl to Seattle, but then I smartened up and came back. Here I am.

Jason
Do you have a vision for the next five, ten, twenty years?

Sean
Growing the business. We talked about other locations, but I think we want to concentrate on one and make this one the best. Hopefully I’ll find some other family down the road to come in and continue the journey my grandpa started. I hope that we stay a family-owned business.