Hacketts closing jewelry store

OGDENSBURG — Months before what would have been its 100th anniversary, Hulett & Sons Jewelers in the Hacketts store is preparing to close for good.

"It's the end of an era," former owner Sherin C. Cunningham said. "I'm sad to see it go, but I really hope selling off the inventory helps Hacketts get back on its feet."

Mrs. Cunningham, the jewelry store's fourth owner, sold Hulett & Sons to Hacketts in 2006. The late Ralph H. Hulett opened the store on Ford Street in 1910.

Ridding Hacketts of its jewelry offerings will bring uniformity to the merchandise in all of its stores, said Herbert L. Becker, vice president and chief operating officer.

"It didn't make sense to have a fine jewelry store in just one location," he said.

A liquidation sale is under way offering 50 percent discounts on all jewelry and a 75 percent discount on some items. No firm date has been set to close the jewelry store.

Mr. Becker said he hopes the sale will help bring customers back to the struggling department store.

"For the most part, people thought we were out of business. They thought we were dead," he said. "We're bringing new customers in, and we're advertising again, which is something we're doing for the first time this year."

The chain, which is owned by Seaway Valley Capital Corp., has had financial difficulties for months and has closed some of its locations to repay a $5 million line of credit from Wells Fargo Bank. The bank called for the money to be repaid in February. Hacketts officials announced last month that the bank had been repaid.

Hacketts stores in Watertown, Pulaski and Canton have closed in recent months as a result of cash flow problems while the company settled its Wells Fargo debt. Stores remain open in Ogdensburg, Gouverneur, Massena, Potsdam, Tupper Lake and Sackets Harbor.

Its parent company also has faced a string of lawsuits over the past year. The most recent is from former owners Julieanne Hackett Cliff and Patrick E. Hackett Jr. and Norman V. Garrelts, Hacketts' former president. The three filed suit last month claiming Seaway Valley Capital President and Chief Executive Officer Thomas W. Scozzafava still owes them money from the $6 million purchase of Hacketts in 2007.

Other recent legal challenges to recover debts have been brought by True Value Co., Chicago, Ill.; Nike USA Inc., Beaverton, Ore.; Gouverneur Center Development LLC, Utica; GBR Market Street LLC and Potsdam Holdings LP, J.E. Patterson Electric, Ogdensburg, and Johnson Newspaper Corp., Watertown.