Retailer Hall of Fame 2026: Coleman and Mitchell Clark

Editor’s Note: This story first appeared in the print edition of the 2026 Retailer Hall of Fame. Click here to see the full issue.

The story of BC Clark Jewelers continues today in the same way it began over 130 years ago, with a focus on customer service and a devotion to family.

The history of Oklahoma’s oldest jeweler begins in 1869 with the birth of Benton Clyde Clark in Kosciusko, Mississippi.

One of 10 children, he worked on the family farm. Like many small-town dwellers, he felt there was more to life out there for him.

When his older brother J.F. Clark bought a jewelry store in Abilene, Texas, 18-year-old Benton Clyde, better known as B.C., decided he would also make the move.

He expanded his jewelry knowledge and honed his watch repair skills in his brother’s store.

When people in Abilene started talking about the vast fortunes being amassed up north, B.C. decided to take another chance.

At 23 years old, he boarded a train headed north to an area known then as “Chickasha, Indian Territory” with his life savings of $50, his watchmaker’s bench, and a few personal effects.

But as fate often has it, his destination changed, forever altering the Clark family’s path.

He had to make a transfer in the town of Purcell in Indian Territory (Oklahoma would not become a state until 1907) to the next train, but his wallet was gone, and so went his big plans, for now.

With not a penny to his name, he wandered around the town for a while when a pinch of luck and a bit of kindness sealed his fate.

B.C. ran into a man he’d known in Abilene who was running a five-and-dime store in town. The man allowed him to set up his watchmaker’s bench and a small display case in a corner of the store.

And so, the first BC Clark store opened in 1892 with a shingle that read, “B.C. Clark, The Big Watch Jeweler.”

His great-grandchildren, Coleman and Mitchell Clark, are the current stewards of the family business, inheriting B.C.’s perseverance and drive, which apparently is a generational trait.

Coleman and Mitchell are the second and third members of the Clark family to be inducted into the National Jeweler Retailer Hall of Fame, following in the footsteps of their father Jim Clark, who was inducted in 1996.

“He created something special,” Mitchell says of B.C. “A lot of it is how he treated people and the kind of people he hired. That helped his business flourish.”

“He set that example going forward and it’s passed down generation to generation through our family, and we’ve tried to live up to those original values that he set in place.”

Challenging Start
As anyone with a dream will tell you, it takes hard work, grit, and a lot of love.

B.C.’s love story began in an unlikely spot. Flora Edwards, who ran Purcell’s post office, kindly lent him a dollar and a stamp one day. The pair became good friends, and two years later in 1894, they were married.

An in-house engagement ring collection, “BC + Flora,” was created in late 2024 to honor their love story.

As the business grew, B.C. moved into his own store and found success repairing and inspecting watches for railroad employees. Purcell was an important junction for the Santa Fe Railroad and proper timekeeping was necessary.

His family grew as well, as he and Flora raised six children.

The late 19th century was a challenging time in the United States, as the Gilded Age brought several banking panics spurred by financial speculation, which led to the formation
 of the Federal Reserve in 1913.

That same year, a worried B.C. decided he needed to expand his offerings if he was going to support a family of eight.

With an unwavering dedication to quality, he began selling phonographs, player pianos, General Electric refrigerators, Atwater Kent radios, and cars.

B.C. opened his first store in Oklahoma City in 1929, the same year as the stock market crash. BC Clark Jewelers stood firm as many surrounding stores closed their doors.

So, how did he keep the lights on during the worst economic downturn the country had ever seen?

The railroad inspectors still needed watches, so B.C. inked a deal to manufacture them, keeping the business afloat.

His ingenuity and belief in selling quality products would become the hallmark of the business.

Generations of Jewelers
B.C. was part of the business until his death in 1963 at age 94.

His son, B.C. Clark Jr., grew the family business, adding two locations in suburban Oklahoma City. He was involved in the business until he was 91, dying in 2015 at 101.

Coleman and Mitchell’s father Jim was the third generation, carrying on his father and grandfather’s legacy, and remains chairman of the business today.

Coleman and Mitchell, the sons of Jim and his wife Carolyn, are the fourth generation to lead BC Clark Jewelers, with the fifth already behind the counter.

Coleman, CEO of BC Clark Jewelers, was the first boy in the fourth generation, following two older sisters.

The question of whether he, too, would become a jeweler was often posed to him growing up, he recalls.

“I thought I probably would, but I was never really sure,” he says.

While the question was repeatedly raised, Coleman’s father Jim says he didn’t have the expectation that any of his children would join the family business, unless they wanted to.
“It had to happen naturally, and they had to have an interest in the business,” he says.

Coleman got a degree in IT, moving south to Dallas to take a job with Sprint. 

While he thought of returning home to Oklahoma now and then, he decided to see how things went in Dallas; perhaps he’d stay.

Mitchell has a similar story, except he was more certain than Coleman that he wasn’t going to join the family business.

“Once I went to college, I decided I really didn’t want to go into the business, or so I thought. I really didn’t think that was my path at that point,” he says.

He graduated with a degree in marketing and took a job with Eddie Bauer, serving in various management roles in different places, with the goal of landing a corporate marketing position.

Mitchell also moved to Texas. He had been out of college for about four years when he started to have second thoughts about his corporate ambitions.

“At that point, I started thinking it would be really nice to work closer to home and be around my family. Marketing was my passion and it was something I could do for my own family business,” Mitchell says.

“I’m glad I did. It’s really been a great experience. I love getting to work with my father and brother and seeing them every day.”

Coleman found his way back home in 1995, and Mitchell followed in 2001.

Strength in Numbers
Navigating the dynamics and politics of a family business can be difficult, but a select few have found the right balance.

Bill Boyajian knows the Clark family well.

Boyajian was the president of the Gemological Institute of America from 1986 to 2006 and has since started a consulting firm, Bill Boyajian & Associates, that helps family-owned jewelers with succession planning, among other challenges. He’s also authored a book on the topic, “Family Business Succession Planning: The Last Piece in Your Company Transition.”

He first met Jim, a former member of GIA’s board of governors, in 1986, and has kept in touch over the years. He has worked with BC Clark Jewelers in an advisory role for the past eight years.

“It’s the finest family I know in the business as far as congeniality, cooperation, and collegiality,” Boyajian says.

The “boys,” meaning Coleman and Mitchell, are like their dad, he says: reserved and modest with Southern manners.

He describes Coleman as an introvert and a reflective thinker with a dry sense of humor.

“He’s probably a very good poker player because he doesn’t show his cards,” Boyajian says.

Mitchell has a similar personality, he says, and is a quiet and contemplative man.

“They’re intense as marketers and businesspeople, but they’re very low key and extraordinarily patient,” Boyajian says. “It’s a phenomenal family and I credit Jim for a lot of that.”

Jim describes his sons as confident and bright, laid-back, and good with people, while Coleman says his father is a humble man whose character has influenced both him and Mitchell.

“[Our dad] has a real humility about him that everyone sees and it can’t help but to bleed into what we do and how we act,” Coleman says.

The Clark brothers and their father work as a cohesive unit.

“We have always been very fortunate that we all—my brother, my father, and I—normally see eye-to-eye on things and we work together closely with the team. We really make all decisions regarding the business together,” Mitchell says. “We’ve been very fortunate that we all have the same mindset and the same vision.”

Jim says Coleman and Mitchell have “always enjoyed each other’s [company] and there was never any real competition between them. They’re just a great team and they’ve continued to be.”

Their father, Jim, and grandfather, B.C. Jr., set an example early on of how to best cooperate and collaborate.

“Seeing them together, how they worked together, and seeing their values and how they always had a servant attitude toward our employees and our vendors and certainly our customers [was] just a great example to us,” Coleman says.

Jim encouraged them to get involved in activities outside the store, from volunteer opportunities to civic clubs to industry organizations and associations.

Coleman serves as the immediate past chair of Jewelers of America’s board of directors, while Mitchell is the president-elect of the American Gem Society’s international board of directors.

“That’s something very special to me and an accomplishment I’m really proud of,” says Mitchell.

“Being a part of that organization, and a bigger part of what’s going on in the industry, is really important and I’m really glad to be a part of that.”

Though the jeweler operates three stores in Oklahoma City, Coleman, Mitchell, and Jim work together in the downtown location.

“It’s really because we have such capable managers that we trust and they run a great store. So, we’re able to stay here and talk to each other and make all those higher-level decisions together, which has been good,” Coleman says.

Coleman and Mitchell are especially proud of the leadership team they’ve built.

“All our management team is ‘homegrown;’ we don’t really hire [for] management positions from the outside. They understand the business and they understand our culture and our philosophy. So they’re kind of an extension of us,” Coleman says.

When hiring a new employee, they value experience from outside of the jewelry industry.

“I think working outside of the business gives you a perspective that you can’t get otherwise. It’s so valuable to us that we’re making sure our kids do the same thing if they’re interested in joining the business,” Coleman says.

“It can make you really appreciate the business we have here when you go out and do other things.”

Keepers of the Flame
The origin story of BC Clark Jewelers is an inspiring tale of a small-town farm boy achieving his dream of being a jeweler, weathering trials and tribulations to build a business that would last generations.

To be the stewards of such a storied family business is a heavy weight to bear sometimes.

“It helps that there’s two of us, so we have each other to lean on, and our father,” says Mitchell.

“There is some pressure, but you can’t frame your mind that way. We’re always looking to grow or be different or be better at things,” says Coleman.

Still, what their predecessors accomplished—growing a business that started with a corner bench in an unfamiliar town into an institution that’s lasted 134 years—is not lost on them.

“I think it’s impressive for anyone to start and maintain a business,” Coleman says. 

“It’s completely different from what we have here [today]. It’s not to say that maintaining a business of our size and reputation is easy, but I’m always impressed by people who start from nothing, which is what our great-grandfather did.”

B.C. was determined, with a stockpile of self-confidence, and it showed, says Mitchell. 

The business’ first 20 to 30 years, a timeframe that includes the Great Depression and the United States’ entry into World War II, were challenging times.

“It’s pretty amazing that he built what he did and then that it’s been maintained and even grown since then,” says Coleman.

 Dealing in Joy
There’s a lot of work that goes into maintaining a three-store jewelry chain, but there’s a lot of joy to be had, too.

For Mitchell, the best part about working in the jewelry industry is cliché but honest.

“It’s really special to be able to share those special times in our customers’ lives. Jewelry is not something that’s a necessity, but a celebration of a special life moment and being able to share that with our customers is really rewarding,” he says. “It’s a blessing to be able to deal with joy all the time.”

Every engagement ring is dear to the person who wears it, Coleman says, and the jeweler also makes custom jewelry for special occasions and redesigns family heirlooms.

A standout piece is “The Heart of Oklahoma,” an 18.92-carat fancy intense yellow diamond the brothers hand-selected in the rough to honor the family business, founded in 1892.

The diamond was cut from a 38.05-carat rough diamond mined offshore in Namibia and polished to that exact carat weight. It was set into a ring by Harry Kotlar.

Singer and Oklahoma native Carrie Underwood wore the ring at the 2019 Country Music Awards. It was later sold to another Oklahoma native.

For Jim, his joy has been working with his two sons.

“I can’t think of anything greater than working with your own children,” he says. “Coleman and Mitchell are two of the genuinely nicest people I know, along with our daughters. We get along famously and we love and respect each other.”

Secret Sauce
The retail landscape has evolved tremendously over the past hundred-plus years, and BC Clark Jewelers is still standing, the oldest jeweler in the state of Oklahoma.

“While our competition has come and gone many, many times over, we’ve stayed the course and stayed successful,” Coleman says. “So, the question is, what’s our secret? I think it’s continuity.

“Our family members get along and have the same mindset and values. [We’re] building a team around us that is dedicated, loyal, consistent, and really cares about the business.”

Boyajian echoes those sentiments as an outside observer.

“They’re very consistent. They don’t waver on what they stand for. They have values and principles that are outstanding,” he says.

The seamless succession between the generations also has been vital to the stores’ success.

Boyajian says sometimes it can be hard for the older generation to let go.

“Jim is not that way at all. I just don’t see that very often in my practice. I don’t see entrepreneurial people being willing to step aside for the younger generation,” says Boyajian.

Jim is happy to let his sons run the show, though he still enjoys interacting with customers.

“It’s always been part of the master plan [to pass down the business.] I’m still around but I’ve done my very best to step aside. They are both so talented and capable. I try to stay out of the way and enjoy being a part of it,” he says.

As for the future of the business, Coleman says, “We’re always looking forward to growth and I’m not sure if that means different or more locations at some point, but, for now, it’s about being the best we can in Oklahoma City and bringing the best brands to our city.”

Coleman’s daughter, Estelle Stout, recently joined the family business, just as her grandfather celebrated his 60th anniversary with the company.

“[She’s] my greatest accomplishment. I’m really excited to have her here,” Coleman says.

Mitchell has three teenage sons who may soon find their way into the family business as well.

“The key to [BC Clark’s] success is a focus on longevity. It’s a focus on family. It’s a focus on employees,” Boyajian says.

When he asks longtime employees why they stay, the answer is almost always the same: because they love the Clarks and how they run their business.

“At the end of the day, most people really want to work for a good brand they believe in, and they certainly want to work for owners they believe in,” he says.

“Longevity is most important. When you have that mantra, you don’t deviate too much from what’s made you successful.”