OUR FOUNDING STORY WELCOME TO J.R. DUNNMAGAZINE
James Robert Dunn started his career in 1967 as a sales representative for IBM. During a sales call to a jewelry company in Malden, Massachusetts, Jim picked up a magazine about the jewelry business and became intrigued. When his schedule allowed, Jim took
a chance and start a jewelry business. With their savings of $10,000, the couple purchased a small house in Hanover, Massachusetts and converted it into their first jewelry store, The House of Gems.
correspondence courses in gemology, and went to New York to learn about diamonds and colored stones.
During the first year, their store was burglarized, and every piece of jewelry was taken, including customers’ repairs while they were in between insurance policies. The couple went from door to door informing and reassuring each and every client that their prized possessions would be replaced. Ann Marie and Jim paid for the stolen jewelry out of their own pockets to preserve their reputation for integrity and trust. The Dunn’s misfortune turned out to be a blessing
While at IBM, Jim met his future wife, Ann Marie Pelliccia, who was working as an executive secretary. Ann Marie, like Jim, was also driven by an entrepreneurial spirit. She was ten years old when her family immigrated to this country from Italy. It didn’t take long for Ann Marie to master the English language and become the interpreter for her father’s cabinet making business. From the age of ten, she went to work every day after school with her father until she graduated high school, and soon after, she joined the team at IBM.
in disguise. Word spread when the couple made good on their promise, and business began to grow by leaps and bounds. The House of Gems soon outgrew its tiny location. Jim and Ann Marie relocated to a nearby mall in South Weymouth, Massachusetts and changed the name to J.R. Dunn Jewelers, placing emphasis on the importance of the family-owned and operated business.
The couple married in 1969, and together they decided to take
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