Published February 2004

Clines building a legacy
of quality, service

By Kimberly Hilden
SCBJ Assistant Editor

For more than 35 years, Jerry Cline has had a hand in other people’s happy moments, from marriage proposals and wedding vows to birthday celebrations and anniversary parties.

In that time, the owner of Cline Manufacturing Jewelers and Cline Custom Jewelers in Edmonds has come to the conclusion that his is “a business of love.”

“Jewelry brings joy to a lot of people, that’s why it sells. It’s a feel-good commodity,” said Cline, who started in jewelry sales right out of high school at Ben Bridge Jewelers, where his father, Harold, was treasurer.

Snohomish County Business Journal/KIMBERLY HILDEN At Cline Custom Jewelers in Edmonds, customers can select from a variety of rings, necklaces and other jewelry already under glass countertops, or they can design their own pieces, with the help of store manager Andy Cline (right), who joined father Jerry in the family business in 1999.

Cline managed stores for the Seattle-based jeweler before leaving in 1978 to work for a local jewelry manufacturer. Two years later, he decided it was time to start his own business.

“I wanted to do something that was for me instead of somebody else the whole time,” he said.

And when it came to deciding what that “something” was, there really was no question for Cline, who opened Cline Manufacturing Jewelers at N. 200th Street and Aurora Avenue, right across from the Aurora Village in Seattle.

The wholesale jeweler built clientele along the West Coast, primarily in Washington and Oregon, offering a combination of “good service and good-quality products at a good price,” Cline said. And as business grew, so did plans for expansion into the retail sector.

In 1992, Cline bought commercial space in the Greenwood neighborhood of Seattle to house his jewelry manufacturing business as well as Cline Custom Jewelers, offering custom-designed jewelry and repair as well as carrying other high-quality brands.

But the location came with very little parking or foot traffic, so four years ago, the business moved to its current location in a retail complex along Highway 99.

Today, Cline employs five full-time employees, including son Andy, who joined the company in 1999 after graduating from Central Washington University with a degree in business.

It’s Andy who now oversees the retail portion of the business, while Jerry manages the manufacturing side of things.

During the past couple of years, the company has built a presence on the Internet as well as incorporating Digital Goldsmith software into the custom-design process.

With the software set up on an in-store computer, Andy Cline helps clients design a piece of jewelry on the spot. Once a design is selected, it’s sent a just a few feet away, to one of three on-site jewelers.

“Being a manufacturer, being on site, gives us an edge,” Andy Cline said.

So does the family’s longevity in the business, which has led to a strong word-of-mouth referral system, said Jerry Cline, noting that the jewelers “do everything,” from custom design and bead stringing to antique restoration and engraving.

“When you’ve been at it as long as we’ve been, it’s all done by reputation,” he said.

Thanks to that reputation and the foot-traffic friendly location, Cline’s revenues have grown by 30 percent for each of the past two years, Jerry Cline said.

As for the company’s future, he defers to Andy. “Anymore, I’m the ‘behind the scenes’ type of guy,” he said, smiling.

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