Legendary Retailer Juell Kadet Dies

By Rob Bates | December 08, 2025

Juell Kadet, the much-respected “matriarch” of Chicago-based jewelry chain Rogers & Hollands, died on Nov. 9. She was 96.

Kadet was born into a jewelry family in 1929. Her father, Bernard Friedman, founded Rogers Jewelers in 1945, with partner Herbert Goldstone. While many noted that Juell’s first name perfectly suited her line of work, she was named after her grandfathers, both of whom were named Julius, according to a 1992 interview with the Chicago Tribune.

In 1949, Juell married Alan Kadet, who joined his in-laws’ business. After their three children were grown, Juell began working alongside him, initially doing odd jobs.

“I’d done selling, buying, accounts receivable, window treatments,” she told the Tribune. “Then Alan encouraged me to go into design.”

She eventually started her own line, Juell Kadet Originals. And she became Rogers Jewelers’ executive vice president, helping guide its growth after it acquired Hollands Jewelers in 1979 and mushroomed into an 80-store chain.

Kadet wasn’t just a force behind the scenes: She also appeared in the retailer’s commercials and sung its earwormy jingle.

“If I wasn’t that sure of Rogers’ diamond jewelry,” she said in one ad, which showed her speaking directly to the camera, “I wouldn’t sell it.”

Kadet was one of the first two women admitted to the renowned 24 Karat Club of New York. In 2003, the Women’s Jewelry Association inducted her into its Hall of Fame.

She was also a designer, gourmet cook, and jazz vocalist, who recorded two albums: My Kind of Town and Juell of the Mile. A survivor of breast cancer, Juell founded the Kadet Cancer Research Foundation at UChicago Medicine Ingalls Memorial Hospital, which has raised $1 million to fund oncology research.

Kadet’s grandson Brent Stern currently serves as president of the family business, which is now called Rogers & Hollands/Ashcroft & Oak and has 71 stores.

Alan Kadet died in 2017. Juell Kadet is survived by her three children, Marla Epton, Lori Stern (whose husband, Craig, was previously the company’s president), and Rodger Kadet (its former CEO); six grandchildren—Tracy, Jordan, Nikki, David, Joshua, and Brent—and six great-grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in Kadet’s memory to the Promise of Hope at UChicago Medicine Ingalls Memorial Hospital or the Rita Hayworth Gala at the Alzheimer’s Association.

(Photo from legacy.com)