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POLISHED BUSINESSWOMEN: Scituate sisters enjoy new, bigger store in Cohasset
By ANDREW LaVALLEE/
The Patriot Ledger
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
King
Jewelers has opened at a new and larger location on Route 3A in
Cohasset. Victoria King, left, and Valerie King are the third
generation of their family to operate the store. (AMELIA KUNHARDT/The
Patriot Ledger)
COHASSET
- King Jewelers Inc. was closed for only 10 days before it reopened at
a new location a mile south on Route 3A. But co-owner Valerie King
couldn't wait: She sold an E.K. Designs Red Sox bracelet on the
sidewalk before the new store was up and running.
King Jewelers' 2,500-square-foot store opened on June 7; it
recently celebrated its grand opening by raising more than $1,000 for
the Salvation Army's Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.
The jewelry retailer bought and developed the nearly
6,000-square-foot building last year for about $1.5 million, King said.
It also houses furniture retailer Dillon and Company, Accord Stationery
and Peridot, a facial spa.
The other businesses were chosen to fill the space because
their upscale products and services complement what King Jewelers
sells, King said.
‘‘That's what we wanted - elegant,'' she said. ‘‘But not so elegant that people are afraid to come in.''
Although the new story is only 300 square feet larger than its
previous home, King said the layout and higher ceilings make it feel
more spacious. The store also added jewelry lines, such as Philip Zahm
and Artistry.
King, 48, owns the business with her sister, Victoria King, 45.
The sisters - both are Scituate residents - represent the third
generation in charge of a store that has seen its share of moving vans.
Their grandfather, Forrest King, opened King Jewelers in Lexington in
1921, then moved it to Front Street in Scituate in the 1950s.
After their father, Forrest King Jr., inherited the business in
the late 1950s, he moved it to Cohasset, at the Cushing Plaza site now
occupied by Shaw's. The sisters became the co-owners after their
father's death in 1985 and moved the store to its previous location in
1990.
The sisters are no longer paying rent, but Valerie said it can
be challenging to manage their jewelry business while also learning how
to be landlords.
In addition to the designer brands the store carries, King
Jewelers launched its own line in late 2003. Called the Royal
Collection, it began with a three-stone diamond ring and grew to
include engagement rings, wedding bands, bracelets and co-branded
items, such as desk clocks by Chelsea Clock Co. Jewelry in the
collection, which is designed in-house, sells for $110 to more than
$14,000, Valerie said.
Eight people, including the two sisters, work at King Jewelers.
Their mother, June, still works at the store and is responsible for
restringing necklaces, customer service and doing ‘‘whatever she
wants,'' Valerie King said.
Now that the boxes are unpacked, Valerie King plans to inject
some color into the Royal Collection, with ruby and sapphire rings
appearing in time for the holidays.
And she has found further inspiration from an unlikely :
source: a set of chandeliers that she obtained and has hung near the
front of the store.
King says their inverted pyramid design will make for a perfect pair of earrings.
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