Longtime Washington Jeweler to Close in New Year

Following a two-month liquidation sale, Bevan Bellevue Jewelers of Bellevue,
Wash., will close its doors Jan. 15.  
 
Owner Linda Bevan-Wyatt tells JCK
that the second-generation jewelry store is closing because of a decrease in
sales over the past few years. “The economy has got us. We just don’t have the
sales that we used to have,” Bevan-Wyatt says.
 
The store has seen better days during its 56 years of business. Bevan-Wyatt
says business was booming during the ’80s and early ’90s. “Four years ago, it
started turning,” she says. “We just kept hanging in there. The past two years,
we were extremely low and the last year was really bad, so we made the decision
to just not try another year.”
 
She began a liquidation sale Nov. 15 with merchandise reduced 50
percent to 80 percent. “The holiday season has been excellent now,” she
says. The high-end store has seen success with a bridal department and custom
designs. “We’ve been doing a lot more custom because people are bringing their
stuff in,” she says. In addition, Bevan Bellevue Jewelers offers full-service
repairs, appraisals, and a selection of crystal giftware.
 
Response from customers has been overwhelming, adds the owner. “Some people
have starting crying. There are lots of emotions of people not knowing where to
go now because they’ve trusted us.”
 
Bevan-Wyatt has been involved with the company in some capacity since 1982. Her
father, Gail Bevan, and his brother, Norris, founded the company in 1954.

In that time, she has built many great memories. “We had a wedding in our store
because a couple had something fall through at the last minute and needed a
place to get married,” she says. The store even provided the wedding cake.
 
Over the years, Bevan-Wyatt has watched different generations, from grandparents to grandkids, come into the store. “You build relations with everyone,” she
says. “It’s going to be really hard to turn off the lights and shut the door
and not come back, but we’re thankful for what we have had in the past years.”

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