About
REEDS Jewelers Founder Bill Zimmer was just a kid when he learned how to sell diamonds. His family operated retail jewelry stores. And as he learned the business from his brothers, so later would his children learn from him. In 1946, Bill and his wife, Roberta, bought a small, downtown jewelry store for sale in Wilmington, North Carolina and changed the name to REEDS Jewelers. Later, the Zimmers opened a store in Whiteville, Jacksonville, and other cities in the Carolinas. By 1979, Zimmer controlled two dozen retail outlets. He and his wife ran the downtown Wilmington store. While they built their business, they also built a family. All four children worked in the family business while...