NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — Robert Perry has been in the jewelry business since 1948, and the owner of Perry’s Jewelry and Fine Gifts has decided it is time to retire.
He turns 76 years old this month and plans to retire in January 2011.
“Economics were not the reason to close. I’m just tired,” he said. “I’ve enjoyed every day of it, but there comes a time to stop and smell the roses.”
The future of Perry’s two stores — 4075 N. Shiloh Drive in Fayetteville and 2530 Pinnacle Hills Parkway, Suite 200, in Rogers — is in the hands of Perry’s son, Hoyt.
“It’s still up in the air,” Robert Perry said of his son’s purchase of the business.
Hoyt Perry could not be reached for comment Monday afternoon. A phone number for Hoyt Perry was not available and calls would not go through to the Rogers’ store. His father took a message, which Hoyt Perry did not return.
The jewelry store has been a privately held, family-owned and operated business since opening in 1948 in the former Farmer’s Merchant Bank in downtown Springdale. Robert Perry said he was in the eighth grade and ran errands.
His mother ran a store in Springdale until retiring in 1978. That store closed.
Perry bought the family’s Fayetteville store in Evelyn Hills Shopping Center in 1966. The jeweler moved and was one of the first Northwest Arkansas Mall tenants in 1972. The mall location was open until 1982, when Perry moved to his own building on Shiloh Drive.
The Pinnacle Hills Promenade store opened in July 2006.
Perry spends most of his working time at the Fayetteville store.
If Hoyt Perry does not buy the store, Robert Perry said the locations will remain open until the merchandise is gone or three months, whichever comes first.
Repeat customers have been important to the business, Perry said.
“Don’t think for a minute we don’t appreciate every one of them. They know we’ve been there and done that,” he said.
Warranties will be honored even if the stores close. Perry said he will find a company to handle any warranty issues.