Downtown Seattle Gem Closes Along With 25-Year Career -- Bobbie Bender Jewelry Owner Shutting Shop

It happened time after time during Bobbie Bender's 25-year career as a jewelry-store owner: First-time customers would wander into her downtown Seattle shop and head straight for a male salesperson, assuming a man was in charge.

"They would automatically go to the man if they didn't know who they were looking for," Bender said. "I always found that interesting."

Those episodes were more amusing than a sore spot for Bender, whose second-generation store, Bobbie Bender Jewelry, will close today after more than seven decades of business downtown.

"Some customers preferred to have a man wait on them," said Bender, who took over her father's business, Bender's Fifth Avenue Jewelry Shop, in 1973. "Whatever worked, we did it. But I never felt any prejudice."

Still, Bender's peers recognize her as one of the first women to make headway in a profession traditionally dominated by men.

"Today, it's clearly a mixed bag," said Jon Bridge, vice chairman of Seattle's Ben Bridge Jeweler, a fourth-generation Seattle jewelry chain. "But when Bobbie started out . . . it was a little bit different."

Bender, 65, said she's closing the store because she wants more leisure time. She plans a life of part-time work, volunteering and travel.

Her father, Morris Bender, opened the family store in 1924 on Fifth Avenue, where it remained for nearly 70 years. Banana Republic took over that spot four years ago, and Bender moved her store to the corner of Second Avenue and Madison Street, renaming it Bobbie Bender Jewelry.

Bender's uncle, Max Bender, opened his own jewelry shop in the 1920s, a store that lives on today as Bender's Creative Jewelers in Ballard. The two Bender jewelry stores share the same name and origin, but are unaffiliated.

Bender said she never expected to become a jeweler. After majoring in retail marketing at the University of Washington, she spent 20 years working for department stores.

But when her father died, it was clear that the business would close unless she took the helm.

"When my father passed away, I had never attached a watchband to a watch," she recalled. "I had to learn in a hurry."

Kathryn "Bettie" Moyer, owner of Moyer's Jewelry in Friday Harbor, said Bender helped bring a stable female presence to professional trade groups like the Pacific Northwest Jewelers Association, where she served as a board member.

"She's always kept that professionalism - very gracious, personable and pleasant," Moyer said.

Business has been steady, but not spectacular, in recent years, Bender said. National chains have begun to dwarf local, family-based stores. Another longtime Seattle fixture, Benton's Jewelers in Sand Point, also is going out of business this month.

"Even though they say the economy is good, it's harder and harder for the individual owner, because the chain stores have much bigger buying power," she said. "That's one of the sad things - we're losing personal contact."

That personal interaction is what Bender says she'll miss most: "When you sell jewelry, it's always fun because most people are happy when they're buying jewelry."

This week, Bender's store is strewn with going-out-of-business signs: "Last Chance! Selling to the Bare Walls! Nothing Held Back!"

At 5 p.m. today, the store will close for good.

"She's held up as a very honest, ethical person within the rest of the industry," Bridge said. "We are certainly going to miss her."

Jake Batsell's phone message number is 206-464-2595. His e-mail address is: jaba-new@seatimes.com