75 YEARS IN TACOMA

In the late 1930’s, two young men in search of work set up a jewelry store in the only town in the state with a payroll: Coulee City.

Irving Farber and Jack Slotnik sold watches, bracelets and pendants to the workers who built Grand Coulee Dam, and by the time construction stopped the Pair had two stores, one at either end of town.

When the workers left, the two moved to downtown Tacoma and in 1941, LeRoy Jewelers was born. Despite several moves within a three block stretch, the store has always been on Broadway between South 9th and South 13th.
In the early days clients could find everything from engagement rings, wedding sets and costume jewelry to toasters and coffeemakers. In 1942, Hazel Farber joined the team and in addition to becoming a legend amongst downtown merchants, began to steer the store in the direction of colored gemstones and custom design.

Mrs. Farber helped at least three generations of Tacomans find the perfect piece of of jewelry and even more often the perfect diamond. She was a great believer in education, so she studied gemology through pre-internet distance education with GIA while watching over two college-bound teenage boys. Hers was the first jewelry store in Washington to bring a microscope to the sales floor and she was the first to educate her customers on the intricate miracles of diamonds. When Irving Farber died in 1965, just as downtown retailers were flocking to the new Tacoma Mall, Mrs. Farber dug in her spiked heels and, despite various dire predictions about "that blonde dame on Broadway," outlasted all her doubters.  She retired in 2004, and it is thanks to her vision that we have become a destination for unusual and one-of-a-kind gemstones and jewelry, as well as award-winning custom design.

Steph Farber joined the family team as jeweler and designer in 1973 and has been helping customers tell their stories in sparkling gems and precious metal ever since. LeRoy Jewelers—and the Farbers who built and run it—have spent the past 75 years making jewelry that your grandchildren will fight over.