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Now That's Interesting!
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Fremeau Jewelers sells jewelry made of
diamonds, precious colored gems, and metals like platinum and gold.
There are no imitation gems in Fremeau's cases, and the pieces are
classic in design. "We don't tend to go to the trendy styles," Wood
explains. "The vast majority of what we sell was in style long ago
and is still going to be in style 20 years from now."
Mike Archambault, store manager,
making jewelry. Archambault says his relationship with his
boss and coworkers feels more like a family than a business. |
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The store specializes in "better-made" pieces, which Wood says cost more
but last longer. "Our main business is repeat customers," he points out, "and
you can't have repeat customers unless you sell them things that will
last." Wood says his merchandise ranges from $25-sterling silver pendants
to $150,000-diamond rings."
The store no longer sells watches, however. Wood's father, who retired
nine years ago but works in the store every Christmas, started out
as a watchmaker. "Dad
noticed that watches accounted for about 10 percent of sales and about 90 percent
of customer complaints," Wood says, "because they have so many little
moving parts. People would bring them in for repairs, and then they'd
go bang them on something or get water in them and have to bring them
back. Dad didn't appreciate customers telling him it was his fault.
Also, you have to be talented to work on something that small, and
the computer industry has hired all the watchmakers away."
The store also no longer sells china or
crystal. "You have to stock all kinds of patterns," Wood explains. "They
also take up a lot of space, and it's become a more casual lifestyle.
People don't really use fine china and crystal that much anymore." What
people still do, however, is graduate, get married and celebrate birthdays,
anniversaries and holidays the main reasons customers purchase Fremeau
Jewelers' sparkling merchandise.
These joyous occasions fuel the pleasure Wood takes in his work. "We
deal with people in their happiest times," he says. "When people are excited,
you can't help but sort of thrive off that. It's neat to see couples who've been
married 25, 30 or 50 years come in here and act like kids buying an anniversary
present. It's just an enjoyable way to spend your time."
Selling takes up part of Wood's time(there are 10 people on staff); the rest
is spent paying bills and buying gems. He travels to trade shows up to five times
a year, mostly in the United States. "That way," he notes, "if
there are any problems, you can deal with them easily." Wood says he does not "sit
on the bench" and make jewelry anymore. "That's not my forte," he admits. "I
don't have the patience."
Mike Archambault does. As manager of the store, Archambault's time is divided
between making jewelry the staff jointly designs (customers can custom-design
pieces, as well) and selling on the floor. "I love my job," he says. "It's a
vacation. The people I work with are great, and the clientele is top-notch." As
for his boss, Archambault has no complaints. "We're not micro-managed here," he
says. "Kent gives me the ball. I feel like I'm part of the family it's sort of
like brothers. If we need to discuss something, we can do that."
Wood says he doesn't know how to describe his business style. "I
do delegate a lot," he says, adding that Archambault, assistant manager Simon
Woodrup and Jimmy Adams, a former manager who has been at the store for 27 years,
have the authority to get the job done. "It's the people that work here that
make it successful," Wood says. "I can't take credit, except
maybe that I was smart enough to hire them."
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