Diamond Center Jewelers in Fayetteville relocating to Dickson Street

by Paul Gatling ([email protected]) 1,419 views 

A Northwest Arkansas business owner plans to relocate his jewelry store in Fayetteville, with growth plans on the horizon.

Diamond Center Jewelers will relocate in October from North Shiloh Drive near the Northwest Arkansas Mall to a new, freestanding building downtown at 151 W. Dickson St.

This past November, the company relocated its Fort Smith location from Central Mall to a freestanding building at 4700 Rogers Ave.

Jim Cash III, the owner, said he is leasing both buildings. The moves will give both stores more space with easier access. He underscored the Fayetteville location’s parking lot.

“That is huge on Dickson Street,” he said. “[Both stores] will allow us to have our bench jewelers under one roof along with a much larger showroom floor. Each store will have tripled in size. The experience we will deliver will be the best in Northwest Arkansas and Fort Smith.”

Bob Dyer founded Diamond Center in Fort Smith in 1977. Jim Cash Jr. bought the business in 1986. Cash purchased the company from his father in January 2016 and opened the Fayetteville store in December that year. He is the sole owner and a fourth-generation jeweler.

Diamond Center has 12 full-time employees and two bench jewelers. Cash said that despite the challenging business climate in 2020 due to the pandemic, the company saw a 6% revenue increase from 2019. This year is tracking toward a 50% increase.

“Last year was our best year since I purchased the store,” Cash said.

Diamond Center’s growth strategy also includes more stores. Cash said Benton County “makes the most sense” for the third but other stores outside of Arkansas are possible. A larger footprint is part of a more extensive transformation to becoming a high-end jeweler.

“Where we started is not where we are now,” Cash said. “We had a reputation of a discount jewelry store, and we are no longer that. We’re a destination jewelry store with integrity in our pricing, products and services. We have items as low as $100 and sell items well into hundreds of thousands of dollars.”