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More times than not, you’ll find Greg Fakier behind the counter of the family’s jewelry store, working with customers and handling day-to-day operations. The business is a huge part of him, and its newest chapter will mark a turning point in the family’s passion to constantly provide the best to customers.
Fakier Jewelers’ current location near the corner of Main and Gabasse Streets is its third, its origins beginning over 80 years ago several blocks up at a petite shop sharing cement with the former Saadi’s Haberdashery. Fakier’s founder George Fakier, Sr., Greg’s grandfather, eventually moved his business across Main Street and remained in that area for 39 years before relocating to the larger current location, the former Fox Theater, in 1967.
In 1977, George Sr. passed away and shortly after, Greg’s father was diagnosed with cancer, an event that left Greg and his siblings with the decision of whether to join the business or not.
“My brother Glenn and I, we decided we wanted the business,” Greg remembered. “We proceeded to purchase the business and we worked in here with my mother and some great employees along the way. In 1983, my wife and I got married and she was a very integral part of the store going forward. Her family is in the jewelry business and we actually met in a jewelry store. She brought over some hard work, some true faithfulness to the business and some real creativity.”
Following Glenn’s death in 2004, co-owners Greg and siblings George and Susan, along with their mother Lois Morse, Greg’s wife Manon and nephew Adam Courtney, who all work in the store, took the reigns to see the business into the future. That not-so-distant future includes the fourth relocation of the Houma business, this time to a brand-new space all its own.
The new facility, three years in the making, will occupy an empty lot, once the parking space for Dupont’s department store. The one-story building will fit into the look and feel of the downtown area, Greg said, not too modern yet classically updated. There will be entrances from both Main Street and Barrow Street and expanded parking to accommodate more shoppers. Construction began in September, and Greg said the building should be complete within one year. Once moved, the current location will be put up for sale or lease.
“Over the years, we feel like we’ve built a pretty good little brand and it’s time for a renovation,” Greg explained. “It’s hard to operate your business while you are doing a massive renovation. Some of the brands we have, like Rolex and Tag Heuer, demand a little bit of a different look…The net is going to be more expensive than renovating, but we’ll have a brand new building, a little different location and better traffic count.”
Inside the expansive building, a rendering of which will be revealed to Facebook followers in the coming weeks, shoppers will be treated to an all-new retail concept, designed gallery-style to give products more visibility. There will also be special sections for Fakier’s patented diamond cut, Momenti di Luce, and its Rolex selection.
“Because we are building a new store and not renovating this one, we had the luxury to offer Rolex a room of their very own,” Greg explained. “We’re going to have a Rolex gallery, a store within a store. That’s very unique. Not many retailers are able to do that. We’ll be very fortunate to have an area that will feel like a miniature store when you are within the store.”
With the move, Fakier will also introduce several new brands to its selection, including Forevermark, a line of diamonds selected from mines that benefit the communities around the source area. The store will also put the emphasis almost completely on the jewelry, the product that has provided the most stability throughout the 87-year history of the business.
“When we took it over in 1979, the store was probably 60 percent jewelry and 40 percent giftware, china, crystal and silver,” Greg remembered. “Over the years, times changed. It became apparent that china, crystal and silver was not only a tough business, but very demanding. We started slowly letting that side of the business go…Going into the new building, it will be 100 percent jewelry. If there is giftware, it will be very limited. Jewelry is who we are and what we do.”
Although the move will be a change, it’s one the owner is excited about. With change comes new possibilities to offer customers the exceptional service and quality the family has worked tirelessly to provide to the Houma community.
“One of the fortunate things that has kept us in business for so long is that we have good customers, generations of customers,” Greg said. “Literally, it’s the grandfather, the children and now the grandchildren that are doing business with us. The loyalty has been awesome and we’re very appreciative of that…It’s going to be quite special and we’re taking our time with it.”•
