R. L. Hume Award Company
A Brief Glimpse Inside
In the mid-1960s, my father, a restless fellow with endless energy, armed with the appropriate licenses to do business, two showcases, and enough merchandise to appear he was in business, opened his first showroom, north of town (Kalamazoo), basically in the country. The hand-painted sign hanging to the left of the door announced that you were about to enter The Colonial Jewelry Shop and that you could have quality watch repair performed within.
I remember, when we were slow, often times we would sit out on the stoop of the old colonial residence which housed our business as well as that of a barber shop. We would eat ice cream purchased from the small country store located next door and watch the traffic race by. The second year we were in business, my father had to spend the summer at home recovering from major surgery, and I, barely 15 years old, ended up running the business alone. Many of my friends, distressed at this interruption of my summer vacation, just could not understand that like my father, I could have been no more happy than having the opportunity to wait on the customers who came in. My father had always told me, listen carefully to determine your customer's needs and then show them how you can help.
As we grew over the years, relocating and changing our name a couple of times, Hume's Jewelers found its final home in a shopping center located in Parchment, Michigan. In 1969 we separated The Award Corner from the parent company, Hume's Jewelers, and moved the business to its current location, south of downtown Kalamazoo. Our name was then changed to R. L. Hume Award Company.
