FOLSOM, Calif. — Rainbow Bridge Jewelers on Sutter Street in Folsom has been a community pillar for so long, it’s served faithful customers and their children and grandchildren.
Co-owner Dorothy Cormack said there’s a gentleman who comes in once a year to add a pearl to his wife’s gold necklace on the day of their wedding anniversary. It’s a rapport the business has built after 45 years in operation in the Historic District.
Jim Kelly, the founder, opened a shop in August 1978 at 711 Sutter St. after he graduated from San Francisco State University with an art degree; he found jewelry was in more demand than other media such as painting and sculpture, according to Cormack.
Cormack joined Kelly as a business partner in the early 1980s. The pair are also married. They began dating first in 1981, then Kelly asked Cormack to help with the store, she said.
The couple got married in 1985.
“I’m an artist, too,” Cormack told ABC10. “I made his ring. He made my ring.”
Their first shop was a small one. The storefront was split in half by a wall, and an antique glass store operated on the other side. In the early 1990s, the antique glass shop closed after the operators retired, Rainbow Bridge Jewelers tore down the wall and settled into the expanded property.
Gallery space later became available down the road at 721 Sutter St., luring the couple to move circa 2005. Their original store is now Season’s 916, a café.
Cormack said including other jewelry artists was essential to keep the display cases full. When she became a partner, the store’s artist representation increased exponentially, which brought Rainbow Bridge Jewelers to the level of a fine art gallery, she said.
“My partnership with Dorothy has really opened the doors for the retail part,” Kelly said in a video on the store’s website. “We have something like 40 different artists that we represent here.”
Rainbow Bridge Jewelers will celebrate its 46th anniversary next month.
“The actual day is lost to history,” Cormack said.
Over 40 years in business
Rainbow Bridge Jewelers has seen a lot during its tenure.
Many times they thought it impossible to carry on, Cormack said. This feeling came about during major incidents like 9/11 and the Great Recession, but the store stayed open due to perseverance and creativity, she said.
State and federal grants were a major factor in helping them through COVID-19, but a shift to electronic commerce also played a role, she said.
“We were fortunate to have a working website and many, many loyal customers that were willing to order online using shipping and curbside pickup,” Cormack said.
At 45 years old, the business has been around since before the Historic District’s amphitheater and surrounding plaza, which greatly improved the region’s entertainment opportunities, Cormack said.
Other crafts vendors selling jewelry, pottery and fine leather all operated on Sutter Street when Rainbow Bridge Jewelers first opened, she said.
“We have witnessed many antique shops leave and new businesses come and go,” she said. “We endured the Sutter Street renovation in mid-recession, when some businesses on the street closed their doors forever.”
In the next 45 years, Cormack said they want to pass the torch to a new generation of fine arts dealers.
“We have hopes of passing on the business to a younger team to carry on the Rainbow Bridge Jewelers tradition of promoting fine crafts and art,” she said.
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