For some 20 years, Trey Bailey has wanted to expand his family jewelry business to Charlotte. And for 20 years, he resisted, knowing the mutual respect and friendship his father, Clyde Bailey Jr., had for his mentor, Charles Smith, owner of Morrison Smith jewelers.
So Bailey’s added a Cary store to ones in Rocky Mount, Raleigh and Greenville, N.C., while Morrison Smith carried on its tradition in Charlotte.
When Trey Bailey, Bailey’s CEO, heard that Charles’ son Chuck and his wife Pam Smith, the most recent owners of Morrison Smith, had moved to Florida with an eye toward retiring, he reached out.
“I said, ‘If you guys are ready to do it now, we're ready to do it now,’” says Bailey, who didn’t have to explain what “it” was. “It was a perfect marriage. We are aligned with being old-school jewelers with real craftsmanship.”
The Smiths invited Bailey and his wife, Marci, to their Key West home to hash out a deal. Bailey’s would retain all 17 Morrison Smith staff members as well as their jewelry collection.
The agreement was finalized in March, but it wasn’t until December that a Bailey’s sign went up on Providence Road. The store’s glass doors will say Bailey’s Morrison Smith for years to come, Bailey says.
“So people who've been shopping for decades with Morrison Smith still see the familiarity of that name and that trust on the window,” Bailey says. “It's important to us to continue their legacy. We've been in business for 77 years. They've been in business for 73 years. They set a phenomenal foundation of trust and friendships with customers. We're taking the best of Morrison Smith and the best of Bailey's and merging them together.”
People from Charlotte might be surprised to know Bailey's tradition goes back further than Morrison Smith. Ann Bailey, known as “Mama Ann,” founded the jewelry store in Rocky Mount in 1948 with her husband Clyde Sr., a watchmaker.
Story has it, Trey says, his grandparents were working repairing watches at a pawn shop when the owner got mad about something and fired off his guns at the ceiling. They knew it was time to go. Clyde Sr. bought a beauty parlor in downtown Rocky Mount and converted half of it into a jewelry shop.
Clyde Sr. died when Ann was 36, but she kept the business going, working seven days a week while raising two children. She turned the business over to her son, Clyde Jr., in 1978. Ann, who turned 100 in June, is in the North Carolina Women Business Owners Hall of Fame.
Trey and Marci, who met at gemology school in Carlsbad, Calif., are the third generation husband-wife team to run Bailey’s. With each transition, the business has evolved. The same is true for Morrison Smith, which was opened by Ken Morrison in 1954 and sold to Charles Smith in 1988.
Bailey’s Charlotte store now carries five times more jewelry, including a broader selection of engagement rings and high-end jewelry. They escort clients several times a year to meet designers and dealers in New York and L.A. On Marci’s suggestion, they’ve created a new private space in the store for hosting trunk shows, mother-daughter teas and diamond consultations.
Bailey’s also comes with its own highly successful “Bailey Box” marketing campaign. Its story dates back to the 1980s when a woman at a Christmas party told Clyde Jr. and his wife Jane, “Every woman wants a Bailey Box under the tree.”
Since 2008, Bailey’s has held promotions where they leave Bailey Boxes around town, on park benches or at lunch spots, surprising people with merchandise or gift cards. Sometimes they record the emotional reactions on video. They got an email from a woman in Raleigh who found a Bailey Box on the last day of her chemotherapy treatment.
“We've gotten some very heartwarming stories from it,” Bailey says.
They stashed boxes around Charlotte leading up to the opening on Providence, with plans to do it from time to time going forward.
Bailey’s local presence is growing on Instagram as well. Marci, a jewelry designer, buyer and marketer, posts videos introducing jewelry. This kind of personal approach is just one way Bailey’s keeps its small-town rapport with customers.
Trey Bailey says he has cousins and friends in Charlotte, and now, luckily, a store that will keep him coming back. He’s starting to get used to the idea by now. What might take some time to adjust to is seeing customers back out onto Providence Road.
“It freaks me out, but boy, have I learned the regulars don't even blink,” Bailey says. “One lady told me, ‘Honey, I've been backing out of this parking lot for 40 years.’”