By JEFFREY SMITH
Leader staff writer
Legacy Jewelers opened its new store in Cabot last month after being a Jacksonville fixture for decades.
Owner Cathy Miller said the timing was right for the move. The store on South Pine Street has double the floor space, is closer to where her family lives, and she followed the customer market.
Miller said, since the move, the store has been welcomed by the community.
“It was an immediate sense of being home,” Miller said.
She is pleased her customers from Jacksonville, Sherwood and Little Rock are visiting the new location.
Miller worked for Abdin Jewelers for 28 years. When Mike Abdin passed away in 2000, Miller ran the business for 11 years for his wife.
In 2011, Miller bought the store from Abdin’s widow.
Miller said, if the name of the business hadn’t changed to Legacy Jewelers because of its new ownership, this would have been Abdin Jewelers’ 50th year.
“(Mike Abdin) taught me how to engrave and watch and jewelry repair,” Miller said.
“The name seemed to sum it all up. The legacy is, I hope, to honor the Abdin family and have a growing legacy for my daughter and her children to keep alive,” Miller said.
Miller’s daughter, Tracy Garner, has worked at the store with her since 1999.
Miller said is proud of being able to restore or repair family heirlooms that may be 75 to 100 years old. The new generation is privileged to wear them, she added.
Miller also sees jewelry she sold in the 1970s coming into her store for resizing or an update. Customers sometimes update older pieces to give as gifts.
Miller said wants the store to be welcoming. “We want customers to feel like they walked into our living room. We don’t want a museum feel,” she explained.
Garner said, “Jewelry is bought for the celebratory times in a person’s life. It should be fun, a lighthearted time, not haute.”
Legacy Jewelers offers watch and jewelry repair and engraving.
They can custom design a diamond engagement ring and replace stones in costume jewelry.
The store has Case pocket knives, wedding accessories and gifts, officially-licensed sports jewelry, watches and accessories, Seiko watches and clocks and alternative metals jewelry made of titanium or stainless steel.
The staff can order previously-owned Rolex watches. And Legacy Jewelers has a case full of heirloom jewelry.
The store has everything, from sterling silver baby spoons and cups to memorial pieces for crematory remains, Miller said.
“We can take care of customer’s needs from the cradle to the grave,” she said. “We hope to be here for generations to come.”
Legacy Jewelers is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday at 1604 S. Pine Street, Suite A and B. The store’s phone number is 501-941-3003.
