A Family Heirloom

photo by shane darby

Three generations of men work together at Alexander’s Jewelers
By Ellen Orr

In 1955, a Kansas teenager named Marlene Penney walked into a jewelry store and applied for a sales job. That fateful decision was the first in a series of decisions that led to the establishment of Alexander’s Jewelers, a Texarkana legacy brand currently run by three generations of Alexander men. While brothers Van and David now co-own the store, founder Jerry, at 88, continues to work, serving as a mentor to Van’s son, Mitch. The Alexander family’s venture into the jewelry business began almost 70 years ago, when Jerry met Marlene, his bride-to-be.

“As the story goes, my dad’s stepdad went to Kay’s Jewelers and then told my dad, ‘There’s a pretty girl working down there. You need to go see her,’” David relayed. Jerry took his father’s advice, and in 1958, he and Marlene were married. When they learned that they were expecting a child, Jerry took his wife’s place on the Kay’s Jewelers salesfloor—and he was hooked on jewelry. Marlene stayed home while her two children, Van and David, were small. Meanwhile, Jerry climbed the ranks in Kay’s. (Kay’s Jewelers, not to be confused with Kay Jewelers, was a regional chain owned by the SELCO group that closed in the 1980s.) 

In service of promotions, the young family moved throughout Kansas, Oklahoma, and Nebraska before being relocated to Texarkana, Texas, in 1966. A few years later, they were to be moved to New Orleans, but Jerry and Marlene refused, choosing to stay in Texarkana. Jerry left Kay’s and went to work at a family-owned store, Owens Jewelers, established in the 1910s. Herman Owens, Jerry, and Marlene became close friends—and, by 1973, business partners. They expanded their Broad Street store into six total locations throughout Texarkana and Mount Pleasant.

Left to right: 1. Jerry and Marlene were married in 1958. 2. Van and David learned the jewelry trade throughout their youth. 3. Jerry and Marlene officially established Alexander’s Jewelers in 1990. submitted photos

During their childhood and teenage years, Van and David worked alongside their parents, learning the trade.

“On Sunday evenings, when we were young, we would tag merchandise at the kitchen table,” Van recalled. “In high school, during the summers, we did grunt work: running things from store to store, organizing inventory, going to the bank, going to the post office, cleaning toilets. There was an old saying: ‘If you have time to lean, you have time to clean.’”

As a young woman, Marlene Alexander (then Penney) worked in the costume jewelry section at Woolworth as a young woman. Jerry Alexander managed several Kay’s Jewelry stores before going to work for Owens Jewelers on Broad Street in the early 1970s. submitted photos

Van and David each attended college before electing to join the family business. Throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s, their parents instilled key passions and ethos into their sons.

“My mom had a passion for jewelry, and she passed that onto us,” David said. “She wanted everyone to have jewelry. To her, everyone needed jewelry the same way they needed a toothbrush.”

Both Van and David worked in their parents’ stores as teenagers. submitted photos

Jerry’s long-established legacy is in how he treats people. “He’s always said, ‘If you want to take care of yourself, you take care of people,’” David said. “The more you do for them, the more they’re going to do for you—and that’s not why you do it, but that’s the result. He’s such a giver, so positive and inspiring. We try to live up to him, but we never will. We call him Saint Jerry.”

In 1990, after the death of Herman Owens and an amicable splitting from the second generation of Owenses, Alexander’s Jewelers was officially established. The Alexanders consolidated to one location on Mall Drive, where they remain today.

Van and David purchased the business from their parents in 2001, and Marlene and Jerry retired. However, in the mid-2010s, when a bench jeweler took medical leave, Jerry returned to work “temporarily.” Around that time, Marlene began to develop Alzheimer’s. Working on jewelry for a few hours a day proved a healthy outlet for Jerry, who spent every other minute with his wife. Marlene passed away in 2021, at the age of 84. She and Jerry were married for 62 years.

To this day, Jerry can be often be found in the shop repairing jewelry. photo by dr. robin rogers

Jerry has remained working, still coming to the store every day to repair jewelry—but his sons insist that he not stay until closing time. “His production pace is really fast,” Van said. “Sometimes he’ll get everything knocked out in the morning, and we tell him to go home.”

In addition to his hard-earned skill and speed, Jerry brings irreplaceable wisdom to his work. He shares this with his grandson, Mitch, who has inherited his grandfather’s dexterity and mechanical aptitude. “I love that, when [Mitch and Jerry] are in the shop together, Dad’s talking to him,” Van said. Mitch currently spends most of his hours on the salesfloor, but he does hold jeweler certification through The Texas Institute of Jewelry Technology, located in Paris, Texas. One day, he will likely take over Jerry’s responsibilities in the back, having learned the job from the best himself. 

Alongside colleagues Lara Court and Amy Havranek, three generations of Alexander men continue to build upon the foundation laid by Marlene and Jerry.

“David and I say all the time—we didn’t build the platform; Dad did,” Van shared. “We work from that platform, and we make it bigger and better—but building the platform was tough, and it took a lot of sacrifice.”