Here Are the 2025 Retailer Hall of Fame Inductees

New York—National Jeweler has selected this year’s inductees for the Retailer Hall of Fame, the annual honor given to jewelers who’ve made significant contributions to their communities and the industry.

They are as follows. 

Single-Store Independent
Tom Dixon of Schwanke-Kasten Jewelers

Multi-Store Independent
Kathy Corey of Day’s Jewelers

Multi-Store Independent
Jeffrey Zimmer of Reeds Jewelers

Tom Dixon is president at Schwanke-Kasten Jewelers in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The family-owned and operated jewelry and gift store opened in 1899 and was purchased by Dixon’s father in the ‘80s.

Around that time, Dixon graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison with a degree in business administration. 

After a stint in Chicago to gain buying experience, he returned to Milwaukee to take over as president in 1989. 

Over the course of the next three decades, he turned the small shop into a major Midwest watch and jewelry retailer.

In 2000, he purchased a larger building that has been home to Schwanke-Kasten Jewelers ever since. 

In 2021, Dixon decided to add a second floor as a lounge area for customers to design custom pieces or sip cocktails while perusing the products—a new-to-Milwaukee offering designed to leave clients with an unforgettable retail experience.

Though his son, Charlie Dixon, is taking on the role of president, Tom is still actively involved in Schwanke-Kasten Jewelers.

Kathy Corey serves on the board of Day’s Jewelers, the Waterville, Maine based retail chain that she and her husband, Jeff Corey, owned and operated for decades before transferring ownership of the business to their employees in 2021.

The company, founded in Portland, Maine, in 1914 by the Davidson family, has been family-owned and operated for more than 110 years.

The Corey family purchased the jeweler in 1988 and began to rebuild the company, eventually expanding the business to eight locations across New England (with another coming soon).

Kathy received the Women’s Jewelry Association Award for Excellence in the “Retail, Fewer Than 15 Stores” category in 2009, and is the current president of Diamonds Do Good.

A former nurse, Kathy also is active in her community, serving as a board member for several organizations in Maine. In 2018, the Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce awarded her the Distinguished Community Service Award.

Jeffrey Zimmer is president and CEO of Reeds Jewelers. 

The family-owned company was founded in 1912 in Niagara Falls, New York.  

Today, the Zimmer family operates five stores, four along the thruway between Buffalo, New York, and Syracuse, New York, and one in Duxbury, Massachusetts.  

The retailer specializes in curated gemstones and diamonds, prestige brands, and luxury timepieces.   

Zimmer joined his family business after graduating from Northeastern University in Boston and completing an in-resident program at the Gemological Institute of America. He has been active in developing relationships with Reeds’ suppliers and the clients in the communities the retailer serves. 

He volunteers both his time and resources with numerous charitable initiatives and academic institutions in the Western New York area.  

Zimmer is proud to have followed in the footsteps of his grandfather Samuel and his father Arnold, and is elated that his daughter Rachel has chosen the same path. 

“From the Midwest to upstate New York to New England, each of this year’s three inductees has a unique perspective on jewelry retailing. They’ve learned how to evolve to meet their customers’ needs, and in doing so, have allowed longstanding family businesses to survive for another generation,” National Jeweler Editor-in-Chief Michelle Graff said. 

“We look forward to sharing their stories in the Retailer Hall of Fame issue, which will be out this fall.”