Sponsored by the Gemological Institute of America
Retailer Hall of Fame 2017 Inductee: Sissy Jones
A woman of deep faith, vision and purpose, her business acumen and passion for jewelry has built Sissy’s Log Cabin into Arkansas’ largest independent jeweler.


After renovating and updating that tiny wooden structure and gaining a solid reputation as a seller of fine antique goods, a chance encounter with a customer who brought by a lock box full of jewelry eventually led Jones to change her store’s focus to primarily selling jewelry.
When she did she went all in, studying at the Gemological Institute of America and the Trenton Jewelry/Goldsmith School in Memphis, Tennessee, among others.
Anytime Jones heard about a jewelry course, she took it.
“I had to keep learning, as long as I could,” she says.
A woman of deep faith, vision, and purpose, her business acumen and passion for jewelry has built Sissy’s Log Cabin into the largest independent fine jeweler in Arkansas, with three locations--Pine Bluff, where the original log cabin was located; Little Rock; and Jonesboro--as well as a store in Memphis.
But the story of Jones’s journey to success is not complete without taking into account all of her hard work and dedication throughout the years--factors everyone around her admires, yet about which she remains humble.
“I was very blessed to have the help I did,” she tells National Jeweler about the early days of the store. “All my friends helped. I was a very blessed person.”
Extended Family
One person who was particularly instrumental in getting the store off the ground was Jones’s mother, Mary, who pushed her to take classes and watched her kids while she was working, never allowing an “I can’t” mentality to survive in their house.
This reinforced in Jones her already great love for family, a sentiment that now extends not only to those who are blood relatives, but also to her customers, her community, and her store.
“It’s been a wonderful journey and a real pleasure to be here working alongside her,” Bill says. “Sissy is so deserving of everything she’s gotten.”
Michel Gutman, the manager of the Pine Bluff store, says that if the Joneses know his daughter has a softball game, not only will they let him leave in time to attend, but they will expect him to do so.
Jones’s close ties extend to vendors, too, as she has had long-term relationships with some of the industry’s biggest names.
Steven Lagos, of the designer brand Lagos, has known Jones for more than two decades, after the two met at a jewelry show in Orlando. It kicked off a business relationship and friendship that has lasted through many changes.
“It’s been a wonderful journey and a real pleasure to be here working alongside her. Sissy is so deserving of everything she’s gotten.” — Bill Jones on Sissy Jones
“Sissy came from a small, tight-knit community where everyone took care of each other as a family,” Lagos told National Jeweler via email. “This has influenced how she runs her business, treating her employees and vendors like family. Sissy is a pro and knows her stuff--she has a laser focus on the customer and knows how to make the sale. In addition, Sissy has always invested in her people and places real value on human resources.”
Steps to Success
Jones also has long been seen as a trailblazer for and a mentor to women, not only because she started a business in a male-dominated industry, but she did it well. And a divorce from her husband, Murphy, in 1975 (whom she eventually remarried) meant that as a woman raising her kids as a single mother for a time, she had to do it on her own.
“She didn’t have any choice but to succeed,” Bill Jones says.
And here’s why she did succeed: an intense focus on customer service, a well-run operation, and a warm personality that attracts everyone to her like bees to sweet tea.
“The thing about Sissy is, she’s been there,” says Millie Ward, president of Stone Ward, the ad agency of record for Sissy’s Log Cabin. “She’s been there in that store. She’s been there to pick the lines. She’s been there to make sure that the service is what it is. She’s been there selling.”
Though Stone Ward has been the store’s ad agency for only about a year, Ward has known Jones personally since the 1980s. She met her at a Junior League of Little Rock event where Jones convinced Ward, a young entrepreneur at the time, to buy a Lagos bracelet she could wear to nice events, establishing a connection that would make Ward a customer for life.
What has kept her, and so many other people, coming back to Sissy’s Log Cabin is the customer service that can’t be matched, Ward says.

In fact, when Ward went to the jeweler for a wedding ring and told them about a very specific issue she has--that she somehow manages to bend every ring she wears--Sissy, Bill, and the rest of the team worked with her to created three different versions of a ring until they found one that would work for her.
“They make every customer, first of all, feel like you’re the most important person in the world when you’re there shopping with them. And then secondly, they stand behind what they do,” she says.
A great experience for the client is one of the foundational beliefs that Sissy’s Log Cabin is built on, and the stores are committed to establishing a relationship with the customer in a way that builds lifelong relationships.
Of course, that’s not hard with a person like Jones at the helm. She has a warm demeanor infused with a genuine interest in finding exactly the right piece for each client, say those who work with her.
Jones has the kind of personality that when she enters a space, “she takes the whole room over,” Bill Jones says of his mother.
“Sissy loves everybody,” Pine Bluff store manager Gutman says. “She doesn’t know how not to.”
It’s her ability to form relationships, coupled with her desire to help customers, which leads Gutman to call her “the best salesperson I have ever met.”

“I’ve been doing this for 30 years,” he says. “I’ve learned more from her in the last three years than I’ve ever learned before.”
Jones also never fails to go that extra mile for her customers.
Once, while she was in the hospital, she received a call from a man to whom she had sold a necklace, Ward says. He wanted a pair of earrings to match and asked for Jones’s help picking them out. Despite the fact that she was hospitalized, she spent the next 24 hours tracking down the perfect pair for him.
“It’s extraordinary, but it’s also how you separate yourself from all the mediocrity,” Ward says.
In fact, when asked about her favorite part of being in the jewelry business, Jones will say it is: “having relationships with my customers and having the opportunity to meet so many beautiful, different people who have enriched my life so much.”
And she, it would seem, has enriched theirs as well.
“I’m so willing to share with anyone. If you help enough people get where they’re going to get, you’ll get there too.” — Sissy Jones
Her generosity has reached so many that everyone seems to have a “Sissy story,” showing just how many people have been touched by her, either as a customer or in their personal lives, Ward says.
And each one of her stores commits to giving back to the community it’s in without reservation. “Things that matter to their communities matter to them, and they will invest in that with their presence, with their name, and with their merchandise,” she says.
It’s no surprise Jones has been honored time and again, both by the industry and her community.
According to everyone National Jeweler interviewed, she’s always willing to share her knowledge and is living proof that you get what you give.
“I believe in sharing anything I know,” Jones says. “I’m so willing to share with anyone. If you help enough people get where they’re going to get, you’ll get there too.”
The Latest

The 2025 Australian Open champion is the jewelry brand’s first athlete ambassador.

The West Village jewelry boutique’s new shop-in-shop is the cornerstone of Nordstrom’s revamped jewelry hall.

The Seymour & Evelyn Holtzman Bench Scholarship from Jewelers of America returns for a second year.

This past year, the manufacturer said it recorded below-zero emissions per carat of natural diamond.


The brand’s “Golden Strada” statement necklace features round, marquise, and pear diamonds that sparkle like Fourth of July fireworks.

JSA’s Scott Guginsky provided a list of nine security measures jewelers should observe while locking up for the long weekend.

The countdown is on for the JCK Las Vegas Show and JA is pulling out all the stops.

Located on Rodeo Drive, the store’s design was inspired by Hollywood and Los Angeles culture.

The new location continues the brand’s celebration of its 25th anniversary.

The online watch marketplace’s “Time Is Our Thing” campaign highlights the importance of time.

She will oversee strategic planning, fundraising, industry partnerships, and the launch of the Gem Legacy Campus in Tanzania.

Working with Amazon’s Counterfeit Crimes Unit and law enforcement, Pandora helped to shut down a large-scale counterfeit network in China.

The jewelry company has closed its three California brick-and-mortar stores, as well as its online shop, for now.

The company is providing the opportunity for an FIT student to work alongside master diamond cutter Willie Lopez in its workshop.

The jewelry store chain has reportedly been struggling with costs related to tariffs as well as tough retail competition.

Welcome warm summer days with red hot rubies perfectly chosen as July’s birthstone.

Co-founders Afzal Imram and Lin Ruiyin brought their son’s story of a cosmic egg, toadstool, and railroad to life in their new collection.

The best time to prepare for the holiday season is right now, according to columnist Emmanuel Raheb.

This year’s winner is Morgan Keefe, who is currently studying at GIA to be a gemologist.

The company is focused on modernizing the custom jewelry buying experience with e-commerce tools like product visualization and 3D styling.

Following its recent acquisition, the storied brand has updated its leadership team and regional managers.

AGS also named the recipient of its “Women in Leadership” scholarship.

The 20-karat yellow gold and diamond wrap ring is modeled after the Monstera plants in the garden of the brand’s Miami villa.

Rocksbox President Allison Vigil shared the retailer’s expansion plans, and her thoughts on opening stores in malls.

The creator of the WJA Chicago chapter is remembered as a champion for women in the jewelry industry and a loving grandmother.

The decline was consistent across age groups and almost all income groups, with tariffs and inflation still top of mind.