Wick & Greene to Become Spicer Greene Jewelers

Asheville, N.C.--It’s time for a change for the 90-year-old North Carolina jeweler known for its iconic street clock.

In August, Asheville’s Wick & Greene Jewelers will begin doing business as Spicer Greene Jewelers. The rebranding will follow a massive renovation slated to begin in late June and funded in part by the store-closing sale currently taking place.

One of the store’s owners, Eva-Michelle Spicer, said Monday that as part of the reconstruction, they are making almost all of their building’s 8,000 square feet into selling space, with a focus on modernizing the process to appeal to millennials.

This will mean a CAD bar as well as having areas where customers can touch, feel and try on the jewelry without assistance, a move designed to make the store seem less intimidating and more inviting, she said.

“Think your grandparent’s jeweler meets Genius Bar,” Spicer said, referring to the feature within Apple stores.

“It’s just time,” she added. “You’ve got to change with the times.”

While Spicer Greene will be the name known by consumers beginning in August, all legal, LLC and contact information (except for employees’ email addresses and the company website, which will relaunch as SpicerGreene.com at that time) will remain the same. The company’s legal entity still will be Wick and Greene Jewelers LLC and its tax ID will not change.

In addition, the store will have the same phone number and be located at the same address, 121 Patton Ave. in downtown Asheville.

Wick & Greene’s rebranding represents the fifth name change for the jeweler, which E.O. Wick opened as E.O. Wick Jewelers in 1926. 

Spicer said her grandfather, Paul Greene, started working for Wick in 1942. He then joined the Navy but returned to the store in 1948 after World War II ended, working under the G.I. Bill.

The store then underwent two more name changes before becoming Wick & Greene Jewelers in 1953.

Spicer’s father Michael joined the family business in 1975.

Now, it is Eva-Michelle and her husband, Elliott Spicer, at the helm. He is a third-generation jeweler from Canada; the pair met while earning their graduate gemologist diplomas at the Gemological Institute of America, she said.

Questions on the changes can be directed to Eva-Michelle Spicer at evamichelle@wickandgreene.com.