Continued on page 53
able,” Kyle explains. 
The firm advised that Bullock’s Jewelry had too much dead inven-
tory and not enough cash in the bank—a predicament that plagues 
many independent jewelers—and to his credit, Don listened and 
adjusted the business accordingly.
“You’re only as good as your mentor, and sometimes you need to 
surround yourself with people who challenge you.
“You should surround yourself with voices who are willing to 
push you and he did. I’m glad he did; it changed my life,” Kyle 
concludes. 
PIONEERING WOMEN
Each of the stores featured in this 
story has a different origin story. 
The story of Fliegauf Jewelers in 
Washington, New Jersey, is typical 
and straightforward. 
A native of Baden, Germany, Oscar 
Fliegauf learned the trade of watch-
making as a boy and immigrated to 
the United States in 1899. 
He opened Fliegauf Jewelers in 
1926 and sold it to his son Arthur 
Fliegauf in 1944. Arthur, in turn, 
passed it on to his son Roy Fliegauf. 
Roy’s son did not want to work in or 
own the store, so he called 
his nephew Greg Fliegauf 
and asked him if he was 
interested in working at the 
retailer.  
That was in 1997. 
“I didn’t know anything 
about jewelry at all and now 
I’m just totally into it,” says 
Greg, who has owned the 
store since 2013. “I haven’t 
looked back since.” 
One of the first lessons 
Roy taught Greg was to treat 
the $5 customer the same as 
the $500 customer. 
Today, it’s more like the 
$50 and the $5,000 customer, 
but the same principle applies 
and Greg has never forgotten 
it.
“We have a reputation of 
doing good work, having fair 
pricing,” he says. “Our cus-
tomer service has just kind of 
separated us from everybody else, I think.”    
Bullock’s Jewelry and Robson’s Jewel-
ers, however, have more unconventional 
histories, with women running both stores 
during periods when fewer women worked 
outside of the home. 
Kyle said his father Don was a teenager 
when his father, Dixon Bullock, died, leav-
ing Don’s mother, Pat Bullock, with two sons 
to raise and a jewelry store to run in 1970s 
SPECIAL
FEATURE
Greg Fliegauf in front of the 
Washington, New Jersey, 
jewelry store that’s been passed 
down through four generations 
of his family. The top picture 
was taken in 1960.
50          RETAILER HALL OF FAME 2026

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