An Ozark Gem: Mitchum Jewelers

Owner: John Mitchum

Founded: 1965

Address: 729 N. 20th St., Ozark, MO 65721

Phone: (417) 581-2415

Fax: (417) 581-6234

Web site: www.mitchumjewelers.com

E-mail: randy@mitchumjewelers.com

Services/Products: Full retail line of fine and custom jewelry and repair

Employees: 7

Mitchum Jewelers is on the move in Ozark.

The company is building a free-standing store at 2431 W. Jackson Road, just around the corner from its current location in the Diamond Shopping Center, 729 N. 20th St.

“The way Christian County is growing and the way our business is (growing), we kind of feel like the sky is the limit,” Manager Randy Mitchum says.

It’s not a pie in the sky idea; Mitchum and family have a plan, led by a focus on the bridal business.

“Our new store will (more than) double (our) size,” Mitchum says, adding that the $750,000, 2,700-square-foot store should open in July. “That will be nice to have our own parking lot and our own landscaping, up-to-date new fixtures and new showcases.”

The extra space is pegged for displaying bridal pieces.

“I’d like to get someone in here for an engagement ring when they are young and please them so they will continue to do business with us,” Mitchum says. “Normally, we sell a diamond to someone for an engagement ring, they are happy, they come back, they tell someone and that is how our business grows.”

According to Peggy Jo Donahue, director of public affairs for Jewelers of America, Mitchum is following a trend among independent jewelers toward stand-alone stores. Jewelers are consolidating multiple stores, expanding or creating a destination, she says.

“It is really no longer an odd path,” Donahue says. “It is all about making shopping for jewelry more convenient. With a free-standing building you really have control over your own feet. The whole idea of a destination retailer is so popular right now. (Mitchum) is really smart to be going in that direction.”

The jewelry business has been good to the Mitchum family. When Randy’s father, John Mitchum, opened a store on the Ozark square in 1965, he already had family members in the business. What he built became a career for his son in 2001, though neither of them was sure how that would work out at first.

“It’s been better than I thought it was going to be,” Randy Mitchum says. “I thought we wouldn’t get along very well. He kind of thought so, too, but we really hit it off, and we really work well together.”

John Mitchum is focused on the new location and the move, while Randy Mitchum handles the day-to-day management. According to Donahue, the independent jeweler is one of the last bastions of the mom-and-pop shop.

“We are seeing a really promising trend of the younger generation going into the business when mom and dad retire and really enjoying it,” Donahue says. “You are selling products to people at points in their lives when they are celebrating happy events. That’s part of the attraction.”

The younger Mitchum enjoys the annual business trip to Antwerp, Belgium, to acquire new diamonds. He says that while the people he buys from are pretty casual about it, Mitchum doesn’t miss the fact that he’s dealing with billions of dollars in merchandise. There are cameras and guys with big guns out front – like a scene out of a movie.

“It is a little intimidating just for the sheer amount of money that is in front of you,” Mitchum says, adding that those connections put him in a position to find just what he needs. “For example, if I was looking for a one-carat princess cut, which is a square diamond, they would bring me a box full of them and let me sort through them.”

Customers recognize the selection, service and quality of their custom work, which Mitchum attributes to his staff. Mitchum says that is how he keeps customers.

Some customers go back generations. For example, client Angel Hartzell’s parents shopped with Randy Mitchum’s father. Hartzell says that even if she didn’t have two generations of history with them, the service alone would lead her to choose the shop.

“Randy really has his eye out for things that interest me,” Hartzell says. “He calls my husband and lets him know when they have things I would like. He has even held things back behind the counter so I wouldn’t see them until my husband could come in and get them for me. When I had my little girl, they got her something. It’s like they are extended family."

Diamonds Sparkle in 2006

• U.S. retail sales of diamond jewelry increased $2 billion, or 6.1 percent, in 2006 to $35.2 billion.

• Holiday sales in 2006 reached $5.5 billion, a 9 percent increase compared to 2005.

• In 2006, the total retail value for the diamond engagement ring category grew to $6.2 billion, up 8 percent from 2005.

• Diamond engagement rings currently carry an average price of $3,200.

• The U.S. diamond jewelry market represents more than half the world’s total.

Source: Jewelers of America and the Diamond Information Center