By Ashley Daniels<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Grady\u2019s Jewelers has been a much-adored mainstay off Main Street in downtown Conway since 1970, when patriarch Grady Richardson first opened the doors to his family-run store.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over the next five decades, Grady, with the help of his wife Adelle and daughter Dawn, would build on his jewelry inventory, services, and the trust from clients in the community to create a thriving business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been behind the counters of this store since before I could even see over them \u2013 I grew up here!\u201d says Dawn Richardson. \u201cI remember my mom teaching me to count change back to customers at an early age.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dawn began working full-time at the family\u2019s jewelry store in 1998, at the same time she was completing her BS in Art Studio at Coastal Carolina University (CCU). She officially took the reins as owner and manager of the jewelry repair department in the early 2000s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always loved to draw,\u201d says Dawn. \u201cI sketched the state palmetto tree, the riverwalk and bridge combination, an oak tree, and the town clock that I had pendants made from, and we exclusively sell in the store.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her artistic talents also extend to her alma mater. Dawn commissioned the first piece of licensed CCU jewelry to be featured in the LogoArts catalog that produces licensed jewelry for colleges, the NFL, and more. In 2007, because of her achievements, she was honored to be CCU\u2019s Alumni of the Year for the Humanities and Fine Arts College.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dawn shares that the focus of the majority of the work provided at Grady\u2019s Jewelers over the last nearly 55 years has been selling quality jewelry, watches, and gifts (recognized brands like LaFonn, Citizen Watch, Crown Ring, Noam Carver, and more) \u2013 and doing a ton of jewelry repairs in-house. The store also offers ring sizing, stone setting, remounting, re-shanking, LASER welding technology, chain repairs, watch batteries and bands, engraving, and custom jewelry design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI love<\/em> when a piece I have worked on touches someone’s heart,\u201d says Dawn. \u201cTo see someone tear up when they see their sentimental item restored or reworked into something new is the best!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Grady\u2019s takes their work seriously, because they know customers don\u2019t trust just anyone with their precious valuables.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe also try very hard to treat others as we would like to be treated: The Golden Rule,\u201d she says. \u201cWe cannot please everyone \u2013 no one can \u2013 but we try our best each day to serve our guests with beautiful merchandise and quality service. And if we don\u2019t have what someone wants and cannot get it, I will do my best to help them find it \u2013 even if that means sending them elsewhere. I believe in supporting other community businesses whenever possible.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n For the holiday season, Grady\u2019s will be extending their hours to be open on Mondays in December (they are normally closed on Mondays) and open Thursday nights in December up until Christmas beyond their usual 5:30 p.m. closing time until 8 p.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another special event will be on February 20, 2025, when Grady\u2019s will mark 55 years in business! To celebrate the store\u2019s 50th<\/sup> anniversary in 2020, the Conway mayor proclaimed this same date Grady\u2019s Jeweler\u2019s Day in Conway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe have been blessed by the Lord to have wonderful sales reps, customers, and friends who have supported our family business for decades,\u201d says Dawn, who says any spare time she does<\/em> have is spent with her children and granddaughter or watching CCU football and basketball games. \u201cIt has grown over the years into something I\u2019m very proud of, being a part of this great community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Grady\u2019s Jeweler\u2019s is located at 317 Laurel St. in Conway. For more information and updates, visit www.gradysjewelers.com.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Ashley Daniels Grady\u2019s Jewelers has been a much-adored mainstay off Main Street in downtown Conway since 1970, when patriarch Grady Richardson first opened the doors to his family-run store. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":22246,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_gspb_post_css":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","footnotes":""},"essay_type":[76],"essay-category":[],"class_list":["post-22245","essay","type-essay","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","essay_type-sasee-gets-personal"],"blocksy_meta":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sasee.com\/ro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/essay\/22245","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sasee.com\/ro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/essay"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sasee.com\/ro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/essay"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sasee.com\/ro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sasee.com\/ro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22245"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sasee.com\/ro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/essay\/22245\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sasee.com\/ro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sasee.com\/ro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"essay_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sasee.com\/ro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/essay_type?post=22245"},{"taxonomy":"essay-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sasee.com\/ro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/essay-category?post=22245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}