Dodson’s Jewelers finds adaptation, service key to 130 years in business

Spokane was still a rough-and-tumble frontier town when George Dodson opened a jewelry store on Riverside Avenue.

Two years later, the fire of 1889 destroyed most of the city’s downtown. Dodson’s Jewelers survived the flames and went on to become a retail fixture for generations of Spokane residents.

Keeping a family business running for 130 years requires a nimble business acumen. While Dodson, the original owner, sold jewelry to Spokane’s wealthy upper class, his son-in-law and successor had other ideas.

“My grandfather, John Penn Fix, wanted jewelry to be affordable for everyone,” said Penn Fix, Dodson’s fourth-generation owner. “He allowed for credit and payment plans.”

Fix and his wife, co-owner Debra Schultz, said the company is continually adapting. In the era of online shopping, they said, Dodson’s thrives by nurturing relationships with customers, offering quality products and meeting clients’ changing needs.

“If all we did was sell diamonds, we’d probably be out of business,” Fix said.

Dodson’s does sell a lot of diamonds, but the store also attracts customers looking for unique jewelry designs, Schultz said. The couple said they focus on U.S. and European-made jewelry, and also do some original design work. The store also has a large collection of estate jewelry.

“We sell a lot of Edwardian filigree-style diamond rings,” Fix said. “People are intrigued by the estate jewelry. They like to know they are purchasing a piece of jewelry with a story.”

The store also carries some eclectic designs, including sparkling glass beads crocheted into ropes by a Walla Walla artist.

“We hand-pick the jewelry we have here,” Schultz said.

A significant part of Dodson’s sales come from women buying jewelry for themselves, Schultz said. But men still purchase jewelry as gifts for their wives or girlfriends, she added.

At Christmas, Fix makes about 400 calls to regular customers. If the customer’s spouse has expressed interest in a piece of jewelry during the year, sales people keep track of it. As the holidays approach, Fix calls the customers to alert them to gift ideas.

Fix and Schultz also see millennials shopping with their parents. If young adults are picking out a significant piece of jewelry – such as an engagement ring – they often want their parents’ opinion.

Running the family business wasn’t a given for Fix. He taught high school history in the Boston area before joining Dodson’s in 1979. He was 29. His brother, Barney, who retired about five years ago, worked as a restoration carpenter prior to joining the company.

“It allowed us to come back to the business on our own terms,” Fix said.

Fix and Schultz’s 26-year-old daughter, Louise, recently started working for Dodson’s.

The family pride in Dodson’s history is visible in the store’s basement. Old ledgers, payroll records and inventory lists line bookshelves. Catalogs, advertisements and even light fixtures from the three store locations the company has had on Riverside have been carefully preserved.

With retail changing so rapidly, it’s hard to say what the future holds for Dodson’s, Fix said.

“I think anyone coming into the industry needs to be flexible,” he said.

But Dodson’s past five years have been among the best in the company’s history, the couple said.

“Right now, we’re busy charging ahead,” Schultz said.