Yocom Jewelry, Inc. celebrated their 30th anniversary on April 1, 2009. My wife and I laugh whenever we think back to the first few weeks we were in business. Our showcases didn't arrive on time, so we borrowed tables from our church. I guess the April Fool's joke was on us. All in all, it was still a pretty good day of business for us.

Albert Yocom was born and raised in Marceline, Missouri. He graduated with the class of 1970 and knew then that he wanted to go into the jewelry business. Glynn Maxwell, the local jeweler, lived behind his home, so in junior high, Albert spent all his free time hanging around Glynn's shop. By the time Albert started high school, he was working after school at Adam's Cleaners and then Payden's Furniture & Western Auto. The jewelry business still held his interest; so he talked Glynn into letting him create his window displays, which Albert did every weekend.

After graduation, Albert attended Gem City College at Quincy, Illinois. He spent a year and a half learning watch, clock and jewelry repair. Upon graduating from Gem City, he was hired by Bill and Lorene Crouse at James Jewelers in Brookfield. He worked there for Bill from March 1972 until March 1979 and learned a lifetime of wisdom in those seven years. In the fall of 1979, Albert completed the GIA diamond-grading course. Active in many industry-related groups, Albert served as president of the Missouri Jewelers and Watchmakers Association from 1999 to 2000.

Yocom Jewelry has evolved into a large operation. It began with the standard jewelry inventory: gold and silver chains, assorted rings and watches. Today, the store carries several lines of fine gold jewelry: chains, colored stone rings, and designer silver jewelry. There is a nice inventory of wedding sets and solitaires. We carry Pulsar and Seiko watches and Seiko and Howard Miller clocks.

Our store also has several specialty lines: Award plaques and trophies; engravable picture frames; Bittersweet Gallery framed artwork, by Jack Dawson; and crystal vases, bowls, and candy dishes. However, the first thing a customer notices is the candles. The smell inside the store is fabulous and with more than 40 fragrances of Yankee Candles, it's hard to choose which is a favorite.

We're branching out all the time while bringing in lines of quality merchandise. With today's mail and delivery services, it's possible to meet our customer's demands for special order pieces. If a customer sees something in another store, we can usually get the same thing here overnight.

Most of our repair work is done on the premises. Albert does all the repair work personally. With more than 30 years of experience, he can provide customers with quality repair to their jewelry or resetting diamonds and stones passed down from generation to generation. While quartz watches are the everyday type of watches these days, Albert is skilled in restoring vintage pocket and wristwatches. Albert is also one of the few in the area that works on clocks. House calls on grandfather clocks are becoming more frequent.

We plan to stay in Marceline for a long time. We are grateful for our customers - it is their loyalty that has helped us build this store into something we are proud of. A few years ago, we updated our look with a complete remodeling of the store making it into one of the nicest jewelry stores in northern Missouri. We feel that our service and integrity are the highest quality. Our staff is knowledgeable, polite, friendly, and represent everything Yocom Jewelry, Inc. stands for.

Our goal is to provide Marceline, Brookfield and the surrounding areas with good quality merchandise at a fair price. Don't let price be your primary guide of purchase - we firmly believe the saying is true: you get what you pay for. Every piece of merchandise that we carry is checked by Albert personally. We will return poor quality merchandise before we'll sell it.