A Cut Above

Dick Bitzan reluctantly entered the jewelry business at his father's urging. Now, 27 years later, he can't imagine his life any other way.

It turns out father really does know best.

Dick Bitzan never planned to join the family jewelry business. By the time he was 16, he was working for his brother, Mike, selling suits at Knight's Chamber Clothiers. Dick's dream was to join Mike in business and develop a chain of men's clothing stores across the Midwest.

"I don't think anyone else had that plan," he says with a laugh. "I don't think I even told Mike. But that was my plan."

In 1973, his father, Don, asked Dick if he would like to go into the family business. No thanks, was the reply. Other Bitzan children had tried the family business and moved on. Besides, Dick already had a plan. His father asked again. Again Dick said no. "After about the third time I had rebuffed him, I said, ok, I'll try it for one year."

That's all it took. "Dad said to me, 'Dick, there's something special about the jewelry business. I think you'll really like it.' He wouldn't tell me what he meant, he just kept saying there was something special about it. Well, after two or three months, I understood. There is something special about this business."

Starting Out
Don Bitzan discovered jewelry in the 1940s. He was newly back from World War II and unemployed. He went from store to store, knocking on doors and asking for work, but no one was hiring. Finally he stopped at Strobel's Jewelers in St. Cloud.

No, they weren't hiring either.

How about if he washed their windows?

No. They didn't need any help.

But Don was not to be deterred. He got up early the next day and started washing the windows. Mr. Strobel came out of the store and told him to quit, but it turns out Don's a pretty good salesman. By the end of their conversation he had been hired on as an apprentice watchmaker.

In 1965 Don heard about a new shopping mall that was being built on the western edge of St. Cloud. Now one of six owners in Strobel's Jewelry, he was ready to be on his own. He contacted the Crossroads management and in 1966 opened DJ Bitzan Jewelers in Crossroads Shopping Center.

The Internet has created change in many industries, none more so than the jewelry business. Beginning in about 2000, bridal couples started looking for their rings on the Internet, rather than shopping stores, according to Dick. "It used to be that bridal couples would look at several stores and learn about diamonds and cuts and quality by going from store to store. It was helpful to be in an environment, like a mall, where the couple could shop a number of stores in a short time."

But that's changed. "Today 98 percent of clients are researching and getting their education on the Internet," he says. "They're reading testimonials, they're looking at sites that rate jewelers, they're looking at Facebook to see what their friends are doing, they're getting their diamond education online." Instead of shopping multiple stores, they do their research first, he says, and then they shop only two or three stores before making a decision.

Gail Ivers is the vice president of the St. Cloud Area Chamber of Commerce and managing editor of Business Central Magazine.

• Business Brief
• D.J. Bitzan Jewelers, Inc.
• 203 Waite Ave N, Waite Park, MN 56387-1248
• (320) 251-4812
• Fax: (320) 259-7835
• www.djbitzan.com
• contactus@djbitzan.com
customerservice@djbitzan.com
• Owner: Dick Bitzan
• Started: 1966
• Joined the Chamber: 1970
• Number of employees: 20 full time, 2 part time