But for the New York-based jewelry design- er, it goes beyond this. For her, the Zadoks are “like family,” which seems to be a common sentiment when conversations about the store’s relationships with its vendors come up. “It’s so great to work with people you know so well inside and out,” she says. “They are wonderful people.” For about 20 years, Limor has attended the Christmas event the store holds for customers, and she says the Zadoks always go above and beyond for her. “They always take care of my accommodations. But it’s more than that,” she says. “They worry about my lunches, my dinners, everything.” Their sense of community, customer service and especially family is so strong, in fact, that Helene believes it’s what separates them from other stores. “We’ve branded the family because you can’t reproduce us. Even though we might have many brands, we are who we are.” THE ‘UNOFFICIAL MAYOR’ The Zadoks treatment of customers is the same as their treatment of vendors: with respect, and like family. They’ve put the creation of an unfor- gettable shopping experience for their customers, and the best customer service, at the top of the priority list for Zadok Jewelers. “This is how we’ve stayed here all these years. Hundreds, literally hundreds, of stores have closed,” Dror says, referring to the number of independent jewelers who have gone out of business in recent years. “And thankfully we’re still here. We have generations of customers. We have three or four generations coming in.” The store’s slogan is: “You’re only a stranger once at Zadok Jewelers.” For them, it’s more than just a tagline; it’s been the store’s philosophy for decades. “We value integrity and always remem- ber we are here because of our custom- ers,” Dror says. “We want to focus on making a customer, not a sale.” And customers value their interac- tions with Dror, whom his wife describes as a magnetic “people person.” “He’ll walk into a restaurant, and you’d think that he was the owner. Everyone comes. He shakes hands. He knows three-quarters of the people there. Anywhere he goes, he’s like his own ambassador without really knowing that he is. People just gravitate toward him.” Helene says, he’s like the “unofficial mayor of Houston.” It’s a fitting title since Dror, Helene and the team at Zadok Jew- elers have made such a point to integrate themselves into and give back to the community that welcomed them so warmly all those decades ago. In 2015, U.S. District Judge David Hittner asked Dror and Helene to be a part of a naturalization ceremony in Houston, where they shared their success story with more than 2,000 new citizens. The business has gotten involved with many different charitable organi- zations, supports the arts and helped with Hurricane Harvey disaster relief. They are there for customers when they have been nominees or honorees for awards, and have been guests at many weddings, personal events and Christmas parties. “We try to always keep in touch on the personal side, not only on the busi- ness side,” Dror says. Q:What is one of the accomplishments of which you are most proud? A:“We are so proud that when we go to trade shows, people in the industry come up to us and tell us how wonderful it is to work with our sons, how respectful they are, how quietly knowledgeable they are.” – Helene Zadok QUICK & Q A “We’ve branded the family because you can’t reproduce us. Even though we might have many brands, we are who we are.” – Helene Zadok 14 RETAILER HALL OF FAME 2018