Southern Jewelry News
  • Featured
    • All
    • Featured
    • Featured Retailers
    • Retailer Roundtable
    • Sponsored Content
    • Supplier Spotlight
    Les Olson Jewelers: a hands-on operation
    Les Olson Jewelers: a hands-on operation
    Merger With a Mission
    From hard knocks to soft landing in new store
    Saban Onyx helps independent retail jewelers get fancy
  • Latest News
    • All
    • COVID-19
    • Furry Friends
    • Industry Awards
    • Industry Events
    • NRF
    • On The Move
    • Other News
    • Tradeshow News
    • Video
    • What's New
    Diamond industry veteran rebuts dire forecast in The Asteroid Approaches column
    Jewelry store sales and management video from Jimmy DeGroot: Check your attitude before opening the store
    CBG Miami “Experience” event gets positive reviews
    Furry Friends on the Job: Say hello to Sierra of Argo & Lehne Jewelers
  • Podcast
    Dangers of Jewelry theft and how to prevent them 350
    Episode 43 -Kenny Mullins, Dangers of Jewelry Theft and How to Prevent Them
    Inside the Generational Legacy of David Douglas Diamonds
    Episode 42 -Doug Meadows, Inside the Generational Legacy of David Douglas Diamonds
    An-Inspiring-Tale-Behind-50-Years-of-Jewelry-Design-and-More
    Episode 41 -John Atencio, An Inspiring Tale Behind 50 Years of Jewelry Design and More
    Episode 39 -Brittany Jones,95 Years of Excellence and Legacy of JF Jones Jewelers
    Episode 40 -Brittany Jones,95 Years of Excellence and Legacy of JF Jones Jewelers
    The Rise of Luxury Handbag Trend in Jewelry Stores
    Episode 39 -Frederick Mannella, The Rise of Luxury Handbag Trend in Jewelry Stores
    Episode 38 – Kevin Patton, Gem-preneur Family Legacy of Pattons Fine Jewelry
    Episode 38 – Kevin Patton, Gem-preneur Family Legacy of Pattons Fine Jewelry
    Technology Meets Our Values
    Episode 37 – Kyle Bullock, Technology Meets Our Values
    A Pandemic-Born Success of Two Jewelry Visionaries
    Episode 36 – Brooke and Chase Brinson, A Pandemic-Born Success of Two Jewelry Visionaries
    Jewelers Helping Jewelers
    Episode 35 – Aleah Arundale, Jewelers Helping Jewelers: Connection, Support, and Success
  • Columnists
    4Cs of Diamonds? Here are the 4Cs of Jewelry Marketing to help you sell them
    Applied Marketing 101: The Next Big Thing
    Applied Marketing 101: The Asteroid Approaches
    The Story Behind the Stone: Oops there it is!
    Image of Chuck Koehler
    Cool New Things from the Atlanta Jewelry Show
    Image of Chuck Koehler
    The Retailer’s Perspective: It’s Springtime in September
    Barbiecore Bling! Are you in?
    Joel McFadden Fine Jewelry
    Successful Custom: The Customers View
    Holiday Sales Success: A multifaceted marketing approach
    Holiday Sales Success: A multifaceted marketing approach
  • Classifieds
  • Subscriptions
    • Newsletter Signup
    • Print Subscription
  • Digital Magazine
    • Southern Jewelry News
    • Mid-America Jewelry News
    • Archive
No Result
View All Result
Southern Jewelry News
  • Featured
    • All
    • Featured
    • Featured Retailers
    • Retailer Roundtable
    • Sponsored Content
    • Supplier Spotlight
    Les Olson Jewelers: a hands-on operation
    Les Olson Jewelers: a hands-on operation
    Merger With a Mission
    From hard knocks to soft landing in new store
    Saban Onyx helps independent retail jewelers get fancy
  • Latest News
    • All
    • COVID-19
    • Furry Friends
    • Industry Awards
    • Industry Events
    • NRF
    • On The Move
    • Other News
    • Tradeshow News
    • Video
    • What's New
    Diamond industry veteran rebuts dire forecast in The Asteroid Approaches column
    Jewelry store sales and management video from Jimmy DeGroot: Check your attitude before opening the store
    CBG Miami “Experience” event gets positive reviews
    Furry Friends on the Job: Say hello to Sierra of Argo & Lehne Jewelers
  • Podcast
    Dangers of Jewelry theft and how to prevent them 350
    Episode 43 -Kenny Mullins, Dangers of Jewelry Theft and How to Prevent Them
    Inside the Generational Legacy of David Douglas Diamonds
    Episode 42 -Doug Meadows, Inside the Generational Legacy of David Douglas Diamonds
    An-Inspiring-Tale-Behind-50-Years-of-Jewelry-Design-and-More
    Episode 41 -John Atencio, An Inspiring Tale Behind 50 Years of Jewelry Design and More
    Episode 39 -Brittany Jones,95 Years of Excellence and Legacy of JF Jones Jewelers
    Episode 40 -Brittany Jones,95 Years of Excellence and Legacy of JF Jones Jewelers
    The Rise of Luxury Handbag Trend in Jewelry Stores
    Episode 39 -Frederick Mannella, The Rise of Luxury Handbag Trend in Jewelry Stores
    Episode 38 – Kevin Patton, Gem-preneur Family Legacy of Pattons Fine Jewelry
    Episode 38 – Kevin Patton, Gem-preneur Family Legacy of Pattons Fine Jewelry
    Technology Meets Our Values
    Episode 37 – Kyle Bullock, Technology Meets Our Values
    A Pandemic-Born Success of Two Jewelry Visionaries
    Episode 36 – Brooke and Chase Brinson, A Pandemic-Born Success of Two Jewelry Visionaries
    Jewelers Helping Jewelers
    Episode 35 – Aleah Arundale, Jewelers Helping Jewelers: Connection, Support, and Success
  • Columnists
    4Cs of Diamonds? Here are the 4Cs of Jewelry Marketing to help you sell them
    Applied Marketing 101: The Next Big Thing
    Applied Marketing 101: The Asteroid Approaches
    The Story Behind the Stone: Oops there it is!
    Image of Chuck Koehler
    Cool New Things from the Atlanta Jewelry Show
    Image of Chuck Koehler
    The Retailer’s Perspective: It’s Springtime in September
    Barbiecore Bling! Are you in?
    Joel McFadden Fine Jewelry
    Successful Custom: The Customers View
    Holiday Sales Success: A multifaceted marketing approach
    Holiday Sales Success: A multifaceted marketing approach
  • Classifieds
  • Subscriptions
    • Newsletter Signup
    • Print Subscription
  • Digital Magazine
    • Southern Jewelry News
    • Mid-America Jewelry News
    • Archive
No Result
View All Result
Southern Jewelry News
No Result
View All Result
Home Featured Articles

Born to recycle, industry leader Hoover & Strong has been doing it more than a century

Liz Pinson by Liz Pinson
July 2, 2018
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Reading Time: 7 minutes

Hoover smeltingSmelting is the baseline for all products at Hoover & Strong.

Hoover & Strong President Torry Hoover speaks with passion about his company’s commitment to the environment. The precious-metal refining company is a cut above in the green movement, with 100 percent of its metals coming from recycled sources.

“Our goal is to communicate that commitment,” says Torry, the fourth generation in the family business and the driving force behind Hoover & Strong’s Harmony Metals and Gems brand. The Richmond, Va.-based company does not buy mined metals; more than half comes from scrap metals it buys from jewelers, and the rest comes from refiners that recycle scrap metal. Hoover & Strong takes pride in its refinery practices as well.

“We’re proud to run the greenest refinery in the United States and maybe the world,” Torry says. “We’re proud of that as part of our brand. More than 10 years ago we installed equipment that reduced chemical production by 80 percent.” With zero-discharge wastewater treatment in its facility, Torry says, “nothing goes into the sewers, and the air is clean.”

Hoover & Strong is also committed to using recycled diamonds and fair-trade/fair-mined gold and silver. “There are 5 million artisanal or alluvial mines around the world,” Torry notes. “The World Bank supports it, hiring the guy with a shovel who’s trying to feed his family. It fits in beautifully with our charity piece; it’s the perfect way to directly give and support. If certified, small gold mines can charge 10 percent more but they cannot use mercury or dump waste. They can use the extra money to give back to their towns,” such as building a soccer field for the children or bringing water or Internet to their community.

Hoover trioThree generations of Hoovers currently work at Hoover & Strong: (l-r) T.D. (started at the company a year ago), 87-year-old George (still works 4 days a week) and Torry (the current President).

Recycling in 1912

Recycling was at the heart of the company’s founding in 1912, when Torry’s great-grandfather Jay Hoover and Jay’s partner Harry Strong stripped the platinum filaments from industry light bulbs to refine and sell to local platinumsmiths in Buffalo, N.Y.

“We branded our recycled metal, and we were the first to do so,” Torry says. “Precious metal has been recycled here from the beginning. It was remarkable because platinum is one of the hardest metals to refine, even today.”

Jay’s son Dudley joined the business in 1927, and the two developed products such as sizing wire. The company moved along to gold refining and then mill products, serving the Buffalo area. During the Depression, as many firms left Buffalo, Hoover & Strong moved into the mail-order business. Most of the gold it refined was sold to the U.S. Mint.

After Dudley’s death, his wife Marie took charge of the company. Their son, George, apprenticed and in 1970 became president. Nine years later, after steady growth, the company moved to Virginia. Torry, George’s son, joined the company in 1981 while going to night school and has been President since 2001.

“Because we are a family business, our core values – mine and my father’s – have meant a commitment to recycling right from the beginning,” Torry says. “Forget the branding of it; we had the commitment to say, ‘What does it take to go to 100 percent recycling?’ We were driven by our customers’ requests and my commitment to making it happen. For about 10 years we’ve been 100 percent recycled – gold, platinum, palladium and silver.”

Hoover mill

Well-Studied Expansion

The company’s move to the Richmond area in 1979 was perhaps in response to one of Torry’s school projects. “In grade school in Buffalo, I was asked to do a paper on a state,” he says. “I picked Virginia as my state – serendipity, as my family picked it for the company. I liked the history of Virginia; I saw the pictures of beautiful scenery. I think the weather was the main reason we moved!”

Academia again played a role years later, when Torry submitted a college paper on expanding his family’s company. “The conclusion was to expand product lines and go into jewelry as well as mill products,” Torry says. “We looked at Fendt findings. Ten years later, we bought that same findings company as we identified them as having the best product line.” Baker Fendt was one of the country’s largest ring findings manufacturers, and Hoover & Strong added a casting division to expand its line of bridal products, custom casting and diamonds.

Along with its refining and custom casting services, the company’s 2009 acquisition of Keystone Findings allowed Hoover & Strong to offer the largest findings selection in the jewelry industry. The company now has salespeople around the country, including one at a sales office in New York City. Two more are in Providence, R.I., one is in Virginia and six are in outside sales.

Hoover wireWorker pulls wire for desired sizes.

“I feel blessed,” Torry says. “The statistics for a company to make 100 years is 0.2 percent, so I feel we’re part of an exclusive group. My dad is 87 years old and works four days a week. My son, T.D., started a year ago, so we have three generations working here for the first time in the company’s history. It’s awesome.”

Being an American jewelry business, too, is a source of pride for Torry. “There is less and less of that because of outsourcing to Asia. American-made jewelry is in fashion again.

“I am definitely blessed.”

For more information about Hoover & Strong, call 800-759-9997, visit www.hooverandstrong.com or e-mail info@hooverandstrong.com.

 

 

Liz Pinson

Liz Pinson

Liz Pinson has worked in journalism and publishing for more than 35 years, including 10 years as a copy editor, page designer and writer with The Charlotte Observer and 15 years as an associate editor with American Media. Liz holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Marshall University and is currently a freelance writer, editor and graphic designer based in Greensboro. She has enjoyed contributing monthly features to Southern Jewelry News and Mid-America Jewelry News since 2009.

Related Posts

Les Olson Jewelers: a hands-on operation

Les Olson Jewelers: a hands-on operation

September 13, 2023

Merger With a Mission

September 6, 2023

From hard knocks to soft landing in new store

August 31, 2023

Saban Onyx helps independent retail jewelers get fancy

August 31, 2023

Latest News

Columnists

4Cs of Diamonds? Here are the 4Cs of Jewelry Marketing to help you sell them

September 25, 2023
Other News

Diamond industry veteran rebuts dire forecast in The Asteroid Approaches column

September 25, 2023
Other News

Jewelry store sales and management video from Jimmy DeGroot: Check your attitude before opening the store

September 25, 2023

Other News

CBG Miami “Experience” event gets positive reviews

Furry Friends on the Job: Say hello to Sierra of Argo & Lehne Jewelers

Episode 43 -Kenny Mullins, Dangers of Jewelry Theft and How to Prevent Them

Hardrock Summit wraps in Denver

ISG awarded Certificate of the Combat Flag

Artistry, Ltd. releases 2024 catalog

Southern Jewelry News

© 2023 Southern Jewelry News.

Additional Information

  • About
  • 2023 Jewelry Trade Shows & Events
  • Media Kit
  • Contact
  • Sitemap
  • Newsletter Signup

Get Social with Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Featured Articles
    • Featured
    • Featured Retailers
    • Retailer Roundtable
    • Supplier Spotlight
    • Sponsored Content
  • Latest News
    • What’s New
    • Industry Events
    • Tradeshow News
    • On The Move
    • Other News
    • Furry Friends
  • Podcast
  • Columnists
  • Classifieds
  • Subscriptions
    • Newsletter Signup
    • Print Subscription
  • DIGITAL MAGAZINE
    • Southern Jewelry News
    • Mid-America Jewelry News
    • Archives

© 2023 Southern Jewelry News.