“Former owner of Palmer’s Jewelry dies at 93”

Former owner of Palmer’s Jewelry dies at 93

Posted: 08 Mar 2011 09:12 PM PST

Kokomo — There were moments of somber reflection, proud remarks and laughter Tuesday morning as employees of Palmer's Jewelry flipped through photos dating back to their store's grand opening.

Managers and staff cringed as they looked at the building's design in the 1960s — a faux-art deco storefront that the business has since redone to reflect its original limestone facade.

They laughed as they looked at group photos from the 1970s that showed them with leisure suits and afros.

In almost every photo stood Robert Freed.

The employees were assembling a collage dedicated to the man who began the business more than a half century ago.

Freed died Monday at age 93.

His friends and colleagues' faces melted into smiles Tuesday as they remembered him.

Freed and his wife, Frances, used almost every dollar he had earned fighting in World War II to open Palmer's Jewelry in downtown Kokomo.

Under the Freeds' management, the store became a bastion of Kokomo's history and a remaining testament to the era of Main Street America. The store's employees boasted how the business has held strong through recessions and demands for corporate retailers.

Restaurants and retailers came and went around the shop Freed managed. While his business underwent physical changes and his industry evolved with the rest of the retail world to a corporate-driven mindset, he held onto the mentality that his colleagues said made the store one of the city's favorites: Treat the customers well.

"Even if customers didn't have enough money, he never turned down anybody," longtime business partner John Martin said. "His favorite thing was to talk to the customers and tell them stories."

'Epitome of a businessman'

It wasn't until he was 90 years old that Freed's gradual step into retirement happened for good and he left his business in the hands of his son, Mike, and Martin.

Freed's business tactics and involvement with the community had earned respect from his competitors.

Dave Granson, owner of Granson Jewelers, formerly Engel Jewelers, said over the 43 years he had known Freed, it was hard to not develop a fondness for him.

"We're competitors, but it's always been a very good competition," Granson said Tuesday as he sat in the business he runs a little more than a block away from Palmer's.

"He was the epitome of a businessman. He was knowledgeable of what he did, fair, well thought of by his peers. His word was good."

The people-person owner of Palmer's also developed a reputation for having a sharp-mind.

"He didn't believe in calculators," Martin said. "He did everything in his head — and he was always right."

Robert and Frances Freed had an enthusiasm for their work that carried into their personal lives. They traveled to Europe, the Middle East and South Africa to visit previous stone and jewelry markets.

Endurance Over Decades

Freed, an Ohio native, began working in the jewelry business as a teenager. After he returned from World War II, he bought Palmer's.

"He took every dime he saved up in the war to open the store," Martin said.

Buying the store left the Freeds with too little money to change the sign and the name of the business, which was named after the previous owner. It earned Freed the misnomer of "Mr. Palmer."

"People would say 'Oh, yeah. We're friends with him,'" Martin said. "Then, they'd come into the store and say 'Hello, Mr. Palmer.'"

The Freeds bought Palmer's in 1946, a time when downtown areas thrived and big-box stores were decades away from drawing away customers from locally owned shops.

Business began during economic turmoil in Kokomo. Freed opened Palmer's without knowing workers at then-Delco Radio were on strike.

Freed's initial reaction, he said in a 1994 interview, was: "I've bought a lemon."

Freed left his business in the 1950s to fight in the Korean War. The military promoted him to 1st lieutenant and awarded him with a Legion of Merit.

Palmer's endured through it all.

At its peak, Freed's business expanded from Kokomo to Tipton, Elwood, Alexandria, Logansport and Lafayette.

A 'Go-To' Person

While he ran his jewelry store, Freed, his wife, and their five children — Susan Gadomski, Marilyn Eisenstein, Cheryl Meisterman, Mike Freed and Judy Carter — also involved themselves in several community organizations.

"He was just involved," Martin said. "He was a community man."

Freed was the president of Temple B'nai Israel of Kokomo, the president of the Kokomo YMCA's board of directors, a board member of the Kokomo Civic Theatre, a 50-year Mason, a Shriner, a member of the Scottish Rite, a member of B'nai B'rith and a member of the National Retail Jewelers Association.

Trish Severns, operations director two blocks away from Palmer's at the YMCA, said the entire Freed family has consistently shown its support for the organization since Robert Freed was board president in 1969 and 1970.

"They're just one of the go-to families [and] their business," she said. "They're very community-focused. They're not just a cornerstone of downtown, but the whole community."

• Daniel Human is the Kokomo Tribune business reporter. He can be reached at 765-454-8570 or at daniel.human@kokomotribune.com.

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