Jeweler Profile

Eaton’s Fine Jewelry: Customers Leave as Friends

The start-up stories for many RJO jewelry businesses go back generations, but for Eaton’s Fine Jewelry in St. Albans, VT, owners Jeff and Vicki Eaton are just the first generation. Their start-up story, though, has a twist.

St. Albans is a small Vermont town—in fact the only one in the county—and its population is about 7,000. Its location is 12 miles from the Canadian border, and the outdoors-focused surroundings attract a wide range of visitors, from attendees to the week-long Maple Festival, which wrapped up just last week, to the amateur cryptozoologists visiting nearby Lake Champlain, hoping to get a glimpse of Champ, the Loch Ness monster cousin that reportedly inhabits its waters.

Jeff started work in the town’s jewelry store in 1991, eventually becoming the store’s bench jeweler. In 2005, Jeff and Vicki got married and within their first year together, the store Jeff was working at decided to close after more than 50 years. The newlyweds decided this might be the time to open their own store, but they kept the idea to themselves throughout the Going-Out-of-Business sale. Two weeks after the store closed, Eaton’s Jewelry opened, with excitement, smiles, and dreams.

Oh, and no inventory.

“We opened our store in 2006 with no inventory at all,” says Vicki. ”We had no money since we had only been married a little over a year. We opened in the same spot two weeks after they closed. Yet, within a month we had full showcases, due to the vendors knowing Jeff, and they gave us Christmas dating. Our strong growth can be attributed to Jeff’s reputation of honesty and integrity. His customers have come to know and trust him for many years. We opened August 1, 2006, and as of today, we now own the building as well.”

Eaton’s offerings are those you might expect from a store servicing a small community: 14K gold chains, diamond earrings, and ”just about any kind of bracelet,” says Vicki.

“Trending is the petite layering gold and silver necklaces, cuff earrings from Ania Haie,” she says. “Also, we do really well with LaFonn.”

It’s not difficult for others to imagine what goes on inside at Eaton’s, since the store seems to live much of its life on Facebook, with posts and photos updated almost daily.

“The staff member who maintains our Facebook posts is Jennifer Williams Thompson,” says Vicki. “We have great customers who love to interact, and Jennifer can really get them going. We love to do videos, and the customers love them! We have sold thousands of dollars worth of jewelry on Facebook.”

The Eatons’ adaptability to challenges, such as COVID, has allowed them to thrive in their small-town setting.

“As far as what we like about this year is a little tough to answer,” says Vicki. “Sales have dropped somewhat this year. However, we have been getting many new customers. Oh, and Jeff had an unexpected quadruple bypass just last month. That has kind of thrown a wrench in the year so far! However he is back and doing great.“

Eatons Fine Jewelry joined RJO in 2016 and will be at the Summer Show in Philadelphia.

“We enjoy visiting with the vendors, getting together with friends, and we love the casualness of the Show. Our favorite part of RJO, by the way, is the ease of bill paying.”

As to how Jeff’s recovery is going? A good indicator may come this fall.

“Jeff has an ‘89 Jeep Wrangler he does off-roading with,” says Vicki. “He trailers it out West for about three weeks in the fall and climbs rocks with it. Sometimes he goes to Utah and sometimes he goes to Texas.”

Eaton's Fine Jewelry is located at 30 North Main St. in St. Albans, VT Phone: (802) 524-4055 Website: www.eatonsjewelry.com