By Jewel Farrin
With one glance at Tory’s Jewelry, you’d think the owner had a special affinity for the color pink. This is actually not the case for owner Victoria “Tory” Kelley.
“I would not paint my house this color pink,” she said. She went with the pink exterior because the store is set back from the street a bit and she was looking for something to grab attention.
What about the pink in the jewelry cases inside?
“It just works well,” said Kelley. Even though she clarifies it’s not a flesh tone, it works with most colors of jewelry and stones.
“Anything too dark, I think jewelry gets lost,” she said. The pink was a simple choice, one day in the 49 years Tory’s has been open.
Dogs have also played a large role in Kelley’s personal and professional life. Her dog, Heidi, remains at her side in the shop.
Tory’s is one of only a handful of Marblehead businesses that have lasted nearly a half-century. Below, Kelley explains her store’s secret to success.
Please describe your business’ story from foundation to today.
I was obviously much younger when I started 49 years ago. I naively thought I could make everything I sold and discovered rapidly that I could sell way more than I could make, and that there was so much more out there that I wanted to sell. The National Grand Bank gave me a thousand-dollar loan to start my business and I thought I was asking for the world. In retrospect it was a little bit of money, but it was enough combined with what I personally had to just get me going.
When I started, this was a really busy street, across the street was a paper store, on the corner was a hardware store. There were two supermarkets.
What brought you to Marblehead?
I’m from here, grew up here. I went away to prep school and college and came back and didn’t know what I wanted to do having a double major in Latin and anthropology, and a minor in psych. It just sort of worked out that I ended up coming back … I ended up meeting the guy I married, who had also come back to town.
How has your clientele changed over the years?
In a lot of respects my clientele has not changed. I’ve always tried to reach a broad base of people by having something in every price range, and I want everybody who comes in to be able to find something that they’d be happy and proud to give as a gift; whether it’s a pair of little stud earrings for a child, or diamond and platinum for an anniversary. I want everybody to then hopefully come back for different purchases.
How is your business unique, what values and culture do you stand by?
I think my business is unique because I try to have things that are not mainstream, that you’re not going to find necessarily at mall stores or online. I always liked carrying smaller artists’ work. We have some bigger companies represented too, but generally I personally like the work of different artists, more unique and one design.
What are some of your favorite pieces?
My own taste is towards the more handmade and I do like color. Whether it’s faceted stones, different gemstones, whether it’s precious stones or semi-precious beads, I just like color. Jewelry is the first thing I think of before I get dressed. “What jewelry am I wearing today?” And then I find something to wear around the jewelry. I’m an earring and necklace person.
What motivations have kept you a business owner for this long?
I don’t need to be here. I could’ve retired long ago. I just really still enjoy it. And I enjoy the interaction with people. I enjoy watching different generations of the same families, which obviously I’ve now seen over so many years and I’m just someone who needs to keep busy. I don’t do “sit down” real well.
What are some favorite moments that have stood out? What challenges have you faced?
I’ve found everybody in the community to be very supportive.
My staff has whittled down. After COVID, particularly, I lost some part-timers for various reasons. My takeaway from COVID was that I should really close two days a week. Everybody was doing different things with their schedules and hours, and I thought, “Wait a minute. I can maybe close two days and I won’t need as much staffing.”
What advice would you give aspiring business owners/entrepreneurs?
I think starting a business in retail takes a certain kind of person. There is a sense of being married to the business and you do end up forfeiting some things. I think the hardest part for me has been the weekend aspect, particularly when my kids were growing up and always scrambling to try and be there for them with events they were doing, things that only happened on the weekends. So I think it takes a certain kind of person to be committed because it is 24/7. It’s not checking in and checking out, it’s all encompassing.
How do you view success? What’s next?
Keep going as is and ultimately someday I’ll close. It’s what you do when you get to a certain point in time. Success to me is really on a more personal satisfaction level as opposed to necessarily a financial one. Obviously this has been financially quite sound for me, or I probably would’ve switched gears at some point and done something different. It’s been quite good. And yet, I think the enjoyment and the personal satisfaction have been more of the continual driving force.
Jewel Farrin is a recent graduate of Endicott College who studied journalism. This story was produced by Farrin for the Massachusetts News Service of Endicott College in partnership with the Marblehead Current.
