Traditional Jewelers: One to watch

Erik Halfacre has some big shoes to fill at Traditional Jewelers, but his mother--CEO Lula Halfacre-knows he's up to the task.

Newport Beach, Calif.--Renowned for its deluxe jewelry and watch selection, as well as exceptional customer service, Traditional Jewelers is a Southern California institution. So is its annual September watch gala, where the company flaunts its finest timepieces, including hard-to-get models from Rolex, A. Lange & Söhne and Patek Philippe.

Last fall's celebration, dubbed the "White Party Gala," was held at Traditional's Newport Beach flagship. The emotional evening, featuring a performance by the University of Southern California (USC) Trojan Marching Band, honored two simultaneous milestones: the company's 30th anniversary and company president Erik Halfacre's 30th birthday.

"I was just six weeks old when my parents moved out to California," says Halfacre, a former Trojan. "I've been cleaning glass and filing in our store ever since I can remember."

Having learned the business under the tutelage of his late father, Marion Halfacre, Erik was well prepared to take on the responsibilities of president, at least according to his mother, Lula Halfacre, chief executive officer and chief financial officer.

"She's handing me the keys to the car, but it's still going to be parked in the garage every night," Halfacre says, joking about the family business dynamics. "'President' is a title that says I'm not just Lula's or Marion's son. It's a way to put me out into the community."

You could say that again. The gala, co-hosted by Riviera magazine, welcomed more than 300 customers, local dignitaries and well-wishers who came to pay their respects to a family business whose roots go back three decades to Jackson, Miss. That's where the Halfacres lived in 1979, before finding an ad offering a jewelry store for sale on the California Riviera. Until Marion's untimely passing in 2007, he and Lula were one of the industry's golden couples.

Erik Halfacre says the legacy of his father--a National Jeweler Retailer Hall of Fame member--permeates every aspect of the business.

"His big thing was integrity, what you do when people aren't watching," he says. "If you don't have the trust of your clients, you might as well close your doors."

Not surprisingly, Traditional is doing quite the opposite. The company opened a second, 800-square-foot location further up the coast, in the celebrity-studded Malibu Country Mart, in August 2008.

"That was probably the worst possible time," Halfacre says. "But it's right next door to Nobu. People who spend $250 on sushi can probably afford a nice watch."

The business has also welcomed a new family member: Marion and Lula's daughter, Natalie, began working full-time in the Malibu location earlier this fall.

Erik Halfacre says that his sister would have to pay her dues at the Gemological Institute of America, as he did when, at age 21, he realized selling jewelry and, especially, watches was his true calling. Prior to that, he attended USC as an undergraduate and worked for the sports agent who was the basis of Jerry Maguire, the hit movie that starred Tom Cruise in the title role.

Halfacre says that when he expressed interest in joining the family business, the first thing his father did was to send him to New York, where he interned at Panerai so he could learn the wholesaling side of the high-end watch business.

"My dad always respected what they did," Halfacre says. "He wanted me to respect it, too."

Those lessons certainly paid off. Traditional is considered one of the nation's finest watch retailers, with a lineup that serves as a veritable who's who of the Swiss industry.

Its selection of jewelry brands, which range from David Yurman to Chopard to Valente, is, likewise, not too shabby.

"Marion would be proud of us and how far we've come," Lula Halfacre said during the evening's festivities. "We are so happy to celebrate 30 years of business, and we look forward to the next 30 years. We love our customers, we love Newport Beach and we really love what we do."

Of course, for Erik Halfacre, celebrating a milestone as big as 30 years--in business and in life--without his father is bittersweet.

"Obviously, the plan was for him to still be here," he says.

Tips

As a retailer of prestige timepieces, Erik Halfacre, president of Traditional Jewelers, knows that offering a wide selection of watches is critical to making sales-even if that means stocking more inventory than seems prudent.

"I've been surgical about which brands and which SKUs I've been throwing money at," Halfacre says. "I've probably been a little more aggressive than my CFO would like me to be. But I don't want to miss a sale. If a customer wants it, he wants it now."


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