Aug. 27—TUPELO — In the midst of celebrating its 75th anniversary — the diamond anniversary no less — Little's Jewelers also is celebrating the opening of a new store.

Opening sometime next week, the Tupelo location has a new spot at 3850 N. Gloster Street, Suite B. It is located adjacent to First Choice Bank in what had formerly been Lifeway Christian Store.

"We've been happy there all these years at the mall, but your business starts to change and ours is changing and evolving," said owner Carroll Little. "We're doing more special services like repairs and custom design. We've become a destination store, which lends itself to where we're opening. The mall is great, and I wish them well and appreciate the many years we've been there."

Little's opened its Tupelo store in The Mall at Barnes Crossing about 25 years ago. The new location provides about twice as much space, offering more room for the gemologists and jewelers on staff to help customers.

And it's that talented and dedicated staff — which numbers eight in Tupelo — that Carroll considered when contemplating a new location He said the hours they worked were important, and the shorter hours — 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday-Saturday at the new location — are more convenient and desirable.

"We've also grown to the point that we need that extra space," Little said. "When you're doing custom work like design and repairs as well as appraisals, all the lab work that's needed takes more space."

Natural watchmaker

The business has certainly evolved 75 years after it was founded by CK Little, a decorated World War II veteran. He had a keen mechanical mind, which he put to use while he served. That was a perfect fit for a natural watchmaker like himself, and when he returned to the U.S., he moved to New Orleans. There, he began working for Adler's Jewelers, which opened in 1898 and is still in business today.

"He was the best watchmaker they had, and they loved him," Carroll said. "But after a year, he had his car paid for, and he had money in his pocket. He told his boss that he was going home. But he was so good, they sent him repairs to do for a couple of years ."

CK opened a small office in downtown Corinth. It was on the second floor of a dentist's office, which was where his future wife worked.

Little's moved twice more, including in 2017, when it opened in its current Harper Road location.

Carroll graduated from Mississippi State but didn't immediately join his father in the business. He was in California and took a jewelry class at Mission College in San Jose. He resigned his job in 1983 and went to school for two years to become a graduate gemologist and jewelry technician.

Carroll was able to complement his dad's work, and in 1985, Carroll bought out his dad. But CK continued to work at the Corinth store a little while he also golfed. Finally when he was 87, he said he was through and picked up golf full-time.

"My sweet dad was a special guy," Carroll said. "He kept his flame real small, and I was more of an expansionist. He only had one store, but he set a high standard to live up to."

In addition to the Tupelo store, he also opened one in Jackson, Tennessee.

A third generation of the family is working at the stores as well, with Carroll's son, Kenny, joining the staff.

"He's a great jeweler with great skill with what he does, and he and his wife, Stacey, are going to take the business on," Carroll said.

Economic cycles

Small businesses have had much to battle during the past two years, first with the pandemic, and now record inflation. After a steep drop-off in the early months of 2020, the U.S. jewelry market has bounced back, and revenue is expected to reach $59.5 billion this year.

"No business is recession proof, but I think people need their watch repaired and need their jewelry serviced in good times and bad," Carroll said. "The elevation of in-house jewelers and appraisals that we offer is going to help us more toward recession-resistant."

Little's is a member of the Leading Jeweler's Guild, a group of 50 independent jewelers from around the country with 150 stores.

"We do a lot of comparisons, and it gives us the power to buy better," Little said. "And all this information we get out of our meetings helps guide us on what to do. The economy is like a cycle, and sooner or later it goes down. So we want to increase the service in our business. Typically in a mall, a business might have 10% repairs or less. Out of the mall, its 15 to 20 and those numbers matter on a large scale."

dennis.seid@djournal.com