Couple shares jewelry passion
Dim the lights, and cue the music. Like the beginning of any good love story, Justin and Sonya Addison’s story begins with music and ends with a diamond — well, several of them actually. The couple, who owns Tucker’s Fine Jewelry and Gift Gallery, met in the Marching Eagle Band at their alma mater, Central
Methodist University in Fayette.
Justin, a sax player, sports enthusiast and English major, sat behind the petite blonde pony-tailed Sonya, a flute player and pre-med major. Fast forward 10 years, and the self-described band geeks, who still get carded regularly, are now successful business owners, with new baby Jake, and, oh yeah, did I mention she’s a doctor, too?
Proprietors Justin and Sonya Addison bought Tucker’s from original owner Robert Tucker in April 2009. Justin knew the economic downturn made it a good time to purchase, but he also realized the next few months would be formidable. Formerly the sports editor for the Fayette Advertiser, Justin was a stranger to the world of retail jewelry, but his wife, Sonya, had worked her way through undergrad and medical school at Tucker’s.
“I’ve been in jewelry since 1998, so it seemed like the natural flow of things,” Sonya said. Justin is the hands-on, day-to-day manager of the store, as Sonya is nearing the end of her residency and will enter a two-year fellowship in endocrinology this summer. Still, Sonya can’t stay away from the store.
Two master jewelers, Lee Morgan and Michael Oetting, round out the four-person team at Tucker’s. “I can change a battery in a watch,” Justin said, “but Lee and Michael are not just professionals; they are some of the best jewelers in mid-Missouri.”
Morgan, like Sonya, worked for the previous owner and said the transition to the new owners has been a positive move. “Things got better,” Morgan said. “New energy, young blood, everything started to pop; and Sonya’s excited about jewelry. It’s been great.”
Oetting, who began working with the Addisons a year and a half ago, had taken a several-year sabbatical from jewelry work. “When I came back to work here at Tucker’s, I fell in love with it all over again,” he said.
The Addisons and their two master jewelers make decisions together, and all of them deal with customers. “The old days where the jeweler is in the back room and the salesman is talking to the customer are over,” Morgan said. “We all interact with the customers; they watch us work on their jewelry, and it never leaves the store.”
Longtime Tucker’s customer Juanita Thomas likes the setup at Tucker’s. “They provide excellent quality jewelry and repair work, and we usually share a laugh,” she said. “You can consult with the craftsmen who do the work and know you will be taken care of.”
That kind of interaction and security are what Paula Stuebben was seeking when she became a customer in 2009. In an offhand conversation with her mother about trying to get her cherished custom wedding ring repaired, Stuebben’s mother mentioned the Addison couple, whom she knew only as customers of her bank.
“My mom had never used the Addisons as jewelers, but her description of how nice they were, what good people they were, convinced me to give them a try,” Stuebben said. She has never regretted it.
Justin and Sonya agree that understanding and acknowledging the emotional side of jewelry is crucial. “Whether it’s a $12 charm or a $10,000 ring, people are emotionally attached to their jewelry,” Justin said.
Sonya does the majority of the appraising, while Justin has mastered engraving. “We can engrave about anything,” he said, pointing to some wine bottles he engraved for Cooper’s Oak Winery.
Justin and Sonya have found similarities between retail jewelry and the medical field. “We diagnose their repair problems, often have to break bad news, walk them through the process and maintain extreme confidentiality,” Sonya said.
And like patients who yearn for the days of house calls, Justin said: “We’re not a faceless corporation. We are very hardworking people — people just like you.”
Methodist University in Fayette.
Justin, a sax player, sports enthusiast and English major, sat behind the petite blonde pony-tailed Sonya, a flute player and pre-med major. Fast forward 10 years, and the self-described band geeks, who still get carded regularly, are now successful business owners, with new baby Jake, and, oh yeah, did I mention she’s a doctor, too?
Proprietors Justin and Sonya Addison bought Tucker’s from original owner Robert Tucker in April 2009. Justin knew the economic downturn made it a good time to purchase, but he also realized the next few months would be formidable. Formerly the sports editor for the Fayette Advertiser, Justin was a stranger to the world of retail jewelry, but his wife, Sonya, had worked her way through undergrad and medical school at Tucker’s.
“I’ve been in jewelry since 1998, so it seemed like the natural flow of things,” Sonya said. Justin is the hands-on, day-to-day manager of the store, as Sonya is nearing the end of her residency and will enter a two-year fellowship in endocrinology this summer. Still, Sonya can’t stay away from the store.
Two master jewelers, Lee Morgan and Michael Oetting, round out the four-person team at Tucker’s. “I can change a battery in a watch,” Justin said, “but Lee and Michael are not just professionals; they are some of the best jewelers in mid-Missouri.”
Morgan, like Sonya, worked for the previous owner and said the transition to the new owners has been a positive move. “Things got better,” Morgan said. “New energy, young blood, everything started to pop; and Sonya’s excited about jewelry. It’s been great.”
Oetting, who began working with the Addisons a year and a half ago, had taken a several-year sabbatical from jewelry work. “When I came back to work here at Tucker’s, I fell in love with it all over again,” he said.
The Addisons and their two master jewelers make decisions together, and all of them deal with customers. “The old days where the jeweler is in the back room and the salesman is talking to the customer are over,” Morgan said. “We all interact with the customers; they watch us work on their jewelry, and it never leaves the store.”
Longtime Tucker’s customer Juanita Thomas likes the setup at Tucker’s. “They provide excellent quality jewelry and repair work, and we usually share a laugh,” she said. “You can consult with the craftsmen who do the work and know you will be taken care of.”
That kind of interaction and security are what Paula Stuebben was seeking when she became a customer in 2009. In an offhand conversation with her mother about trying to get her cherished custom wedding ring repaired, Stuebben’s mother mentioned the Addison couple, whom she knew only as customers of her bank.
“My mom had never used the Addisons as jewelers, but her description of how nice they were, what good people they were, convinced me to give them a try,” Stuebben said. She has never regretted it.
Justin and Sonya agree that understanding and acknowledging the emotional side of jewelry is crucial. “Whether it’s a $12 charm or a $10,000 ring, people are emotionally attached to their jewelry,” Justin said.
Sonya does the majority of the appraising, while Justin has mastered engraving. “We can engrave about anything,” he said, pointing to some wine bottles he engraved for Cooper’s Oak Winery.
Justin and Sonya have found similarities between retail jewelry and the medical field. “We diagnose their repair problems, often have to break bad news, walk them through the process and maintain extreme confidentiality,” Sonya said.
And like patients who yearn for the days of house calls, Justin said: “We’re not a faceless corporation. We are very hardworking people — people just like you.”
