How to Buy and Grow a Jewelry Store

Art Fish - Prairie Jewelers

When it comes to value, the name of the game is trust.  This is especially true with a jewelry business.  Knowing that the proprietor of the jewelry store knows what is available, what the different items are worth and how to choose just the right piece of jewelry to accomplish your goals all comes down to trust.
This was an interesting interview since my knowledge of jewelry is limited.  Luckily, Art Fish, the new-ish owner of Prairie Jewelers was able to answer all of my questions, and then some.
Listen as Art explains his journey in the jewelry business, from employee on the bottom rung to owner, after purchasing a long standing jewelry store in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin.
Art has an incredible wealth of knowledge and an incredible entrepreneurial journey to share with you.
Enjoy!

Visit Art at: https://www.sunprairiejewelers.com/

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You have found the Authentic Business
Adventures,

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the business program that brings you
the struggle stories and triumphant

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successes of business
owners across the land.

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We're locally underwritten
by the Bank of Sun Prairie.

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My name is James Kademan, entrepreneur,
author, speaker, and helpful coach

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to small business owners
across the country.

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And today we're welcoming/preparing

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to learn from Art,
the new owner of Prairie Jewelers.

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So, Art, how are you doing today?
Good.

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Doing good.
I'm excited to be here.

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Well, I should say more importantly,
my wife is excited that I'm

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here I guess. So tell us, you bought
Prairie Jewelers recently.

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Yeah.
How recently are we talking?

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Two years ago.
I bought it.

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Two years ago.
Okay, so you've been around a little bit.

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Yeah.
So did you own a jewelry store before?

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No, I've never owned a jewelry store.

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I've been in the jewelry business,
though, for 33 years.

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All right, well, that's a while.
That's a while.

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So you know your fancy rocks.
Yeah.

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So what made you buy this?

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Did it just come across your plate?
Did somebody reach out to you?

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Did you knock on the door and say,
Hey, I got a bag of money?

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Pretty much all three of those things.
Oh, really?

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Okay.

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All right.

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Yeah.

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So take you back into the March, right
at the beginning of the pandemic.

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So 2020.
2020.

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Oh, perfect time.
Yeah, everybody loved it.

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Everybody loved it.

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Yeah, see it in two weeks
and we'll save the world.

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Yeah, right.

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I was on my two week hiatus and I thought,
I wonder what Mike's doing.

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Mike Durant, the previous
owner of the store.

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And I came down and saw Mike
and asked him, so how's it going?

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And he goes, you want
to buy a jewelry store?

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So what are we talking about here?

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And so
I knew he was serious because he had been

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talking about retiring
for the last four years or so.

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And so we got down on the nitty
gritty of it all and it felt right.

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My wife was positive.

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She said, you're never going
to get a shot like this.

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Go for it.

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And with the pandemic and COVID, it was
a crazy time, but it just felt right.

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So you knew Mike for a while before?

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Well, a little bit.

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A little bit.
Yeah.

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All right.

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