Not every family that gets to play together and work together, but for the owner of Joshua’s Fine Jewelry in Downtown Russellville, Chris George, and son Nathan, store manager, that is their reality. Chris George began Joshua’s in 1994, naming it after his late son, Joshua. When a supplier encouraged him to go out on his own, Chris took the opportunity and has not looked back or slowed down since. The original store was located at Valley Park Centre mall, where business was conducted for 10 years until moving to the heart of Russellville in 2004.
“Since being in this location, we have built a really strong relationship with Downtown Russellville, and I have served on several of the merchant boards,” said Nathan. Such ties to the community led the father-son duo to being large contributors to the founding of Russellville’s famous Art Walk. “Art Walk has been very beneficial to local businesses. Being able to tell a business owner that they are going to have 300 people in their store, on this date, for this amount of time, for three hours, is great,” added Nathan.
Joshua’s is a place that truly sees people through the good, bad, big and small. “We meet people at the happiest and most nervous moments of their lives. But, we are also with people during the harder times in life,” said Nathan.
For Nathan, the people are the most important and certainly come first. “We do business ethically. We make sure our products are not made in unethical ways. That is important to us because I think people have a hard time trusting the jewelry business, and the best way to combat that is to be completely open with everything you do, and I feel like we have done that,” explained Nathan.
It is evident that Chris and Nathan are a team and complement each other. “It is important for us to reach out to my generation because we are graduating college, getting full-time jobs and doing things aside from our parents. It has been helpful for him (Chris) to allow me to make decisions that reflect that. It is beneficial to have two viewpoints, one of tradition and one of technology,” said George.
Joshua’s has taken strides to stay on top of technology. With software that allows customers to customize pendants and rings. “This allows people to see a product being made in front of them. The younger generation wants something that no one else is going to have, the same way celebrities do, and that is what this is about, complete customization,” said Nathan.
This process could potentially be intimidating to a man searching for the perfect engagement ring, but have no fear, Joshua’s is on Pinterest, and if you plan on being engaged, you need to be too. “When a guy comes in and doesn’t know what kind of ring to buy, the first thing I ask is ‘does she have a Pinterest account?’ If she does, we search for rings she likes and create one like it,” said Nathan.
Joshua’s is one of those businesses you would see in an old time, black and white television show. They want to know you by name. They want to serve you like family. Additionally, everyone who works at the store is “family in one way or another.”
So, why should you buy from a local jeweler instead of a chain store? Nathan sums it up in one quote by John Ruskin: “There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man’s lawful prey.” “You get what you pay for, we can match any price that anybody has for like kind goods,” added Nathan.
If you are looking for a comfortable experience, and a place where good business means more than an exchange of money for goods, you can’t do better than buying from the George family.
For more information, please visit their Facebook page listed under “Joshua’s Fine Jewelry,” or call 479-968-3117.
Joshua's Fine Jewelry
