Trade Resources

In 1976, Gary Youngberg took a chance. After spending two years teaching himself to make jewelry in his spare time, working mostly with silver, he left the college program where he was studying, took his last $1500 in savings and launched Ames Silversmithing in Ames, Iowa with his fiancee Karen.

My store's on Long Island and the competition around here comes not just from other stores, but from 47th Street "wholesalers" who are only half an hour away. Customers will come in to get a ring re-sized or change a watch battery, but when they're ready to buy a diamond they'll often head for Manhattan. Until recently, to make the sales, I had to carry a huge inventory — hundreds of loose stones, from thirty-five pointers to two carats, in many shapes and qualities, and four watch brands, heavily stocked. Polygon changed those days forever.

My sister Becky, a nurse, was having lunch with her co-worker one day when she pointed out that the woman's ring had a stone missing. "I know," she said. "This is my wedding ring. You see, it has a round diamond in the middle with little matching tanzanites on either side. But one fell off. My jeweler said he could never find a matching stone. It would have to be custom cut and would take four weeks. I was hoping to get it fixed before I leave on vacation tomorrow, but there's no way. "

Reputation still means something in this industry, and folks around here know we have a good one. Our store was founded in 1893. When the customer came in a few months ago looking for a 3 ct., round brilliant H SI1, he said it was our reputation that got his attention. But he also was "shopping around" for the best price. Isn't everybody these days?

Sometimes customers don't take us seriously because our store is almost completely surrounded by fields of corn. We're out past the Chicago suburbs in a town of 2,500 – definitely agriculture country. But it's not just farmers. Plainfield is fast becoming a bedroom community for yuppies. Had a guy come in a few weeks ago who'd been looking all over the area for a ninety-point heart-shape diamond.. I could tell from his expression he didn't expect to find anything in my store.

We're a full-service, independent retailer in downtown Rogers, Arkansas. Like most everyone, we're always looking for new ideas, ways to cut costs, increase sales, whatever. Joining Polygon is part of that process.

When we opened for business in Columbus, Georgia in 1995, we made the classic retail mistakes: two partners with no sales experience (just 20 years of bench work), a difficult location (in a mall competing with three major chains), and a tiny inventory in 4 display cases (just a dozen solitaires and some semi-mounts).

One thing I like about Polygon is their mission to provide the Internet tools retail jewelers need to survive in today's world. Prior to joining Poly in 1999, we used to buy more than 90% of our diamonds from just four suppliers. Today, we buy more than 90% of our diamonds through Polygon. So we’ve gone from dealing with the same four suppliers, to dealing with hundreds.

Tampa/St. Pete is considered to be one of the most cutthroat jewelry markets in the state, and the competition between stores is fierce. The Hess’ have managed to stay ahead of the pack because they’re smart, innovative, fast, and always able to quickly find what their customers need at the right price. Customer satisfaction and the growth of their business are due in large part to their membership on Polygon.