 The original French's Jewellery sign, proudly displayed in the store today.
After serving in the Royal Flying Corps in the First World War, H.R. French returned to his hometown and went to work for the local watchmaker, originally established in 1912 under the name Thomas & Bailey. Eventually Mr. French bought the store in 1921 and renamed it French's Jewellery. Wetaskiwin was a railway & agricultural town then, still today trains roll through town on the Alberta corridor just 300 feet from the store. In 1988, Malcolm, the son of H.R Frenchs decided to retire and sold the business to the Anderson family. Although there was discussion of renaming the store, the decision was made to keep the name due to the long history of the business serving the community. The Andersons were some of the core customers at French's Jewellery, both the couple's families called Wetaskiwin home. The Anderson's were married in 1960, and had purchased their wedding bands at French's Jewellery By 2013, after more than a century in the same location, the store had long outgrown its 800 square feet and was sorely in need of expansion and facelift. Fortunately, there was a location right across the street, a building which also held a lot of history for Wetaskiwin locals. Many people knew it as the place where everyone purchased their school supplies. The location at the time had been boarded up for years, and had at one time been a well known hotel in the Gilded Age before a fire shut it down.
Queen's Hotel - 1920's &
where our store currently resides
After months of renovations at the new location, in September of 2013, French's Jewellery unveiled the grand new space to the public. The new location had doubled the sales floor for shoppers and the crucial behind-the-scenes areas for repairs, shipping & receiving, and office space is now six times larger. French's familiar neon clock sign no longer hung at the entrance, but now is found refurbished and installed within, and along the towering antique showcases built in the early 1900's.
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In today's retail landscape, few businesses can date back their history to over 100 years; French's Jewellery is an exception. The owner's family tree is rooted in the Wetaskiwin area going back to the early 1900's. The close knit family who work together in the store and behind the scenes are local to the community. French's Jewellery and it's owners are proud of their amazing clientele, spanning over generations, the team plays a part of the past, present, and future.
For many years, the Anderson's have been a part of Wetaskiwin's business community, with businesses in construction and accounting. Purchasing the business ensured that French's Jewellery remained a part of Wetaskiwin. The three Anderson children worked at the jewellery business while the parents supported the business from behind the scenes.
Fast forward to 1994, the youngest of the Anderson children, Laurelle, married and pursued the inner workings of what it takes to succeed in the industry; incorporating visual display and merchandising into the fabric of the store. French's Jewellery has won numerous awards for their window displays over the years, landing the store on the pages of industry magazines nationally as well as the United States. When French's Jewellery announced the move to a new location, one of the biggest questions from the community was... 'What are you going to do with the old sign?' The neon sign with a double sided clock had been hanging in front of the store since the 1950's. The community could be reassured that in spite of the weather worn condition of the sign, the history of the sign and all the beautiful original cases which graced the inner walls if French's, would all find a home in our new space.
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OUR PROUD ACCOMPLISHMENTS
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