Celebrating 110 years of TIVOL

2020 marks the 110th anniversary of TIVOL. We are proud to continue to be family owned and operated after so many years. It is due to our wonderful staff, clients and friends that we are able to celebrate life's special moments and weather any storm. Thank you to all who have supported and shopped with TIVOL over the years. Here's to the next 110!

TIVOL was Charles Tivol's Great American Dream. After migrating from his native Russia to the land of opportunity, he began dreaming about starting a jewelry store that would etch the family name into Kansas City, Missouri - his newly adopted hometown. In 1910, his dream came true when he opened TIVOL in downtown Kansas City's Altman Building on Petticoat Lane.

Charles Tivol (right) had the dream; his son Harold (left) had the vision.

Born in Kansas City in 1923, the second generation of TIVOL leadership was also part of the Greatest Generation in the USA. Following his return from a three-year Army stint during World War II, Harold began his career path in the family business in 1946. This led from a partnership in TIVOL to succeeding his father as the company's president.

Harold grew up around the family business, where he soaked up his father's wise guidance about the core values that anchored TIVOL. Within a year of making his professional debut, the store's reputation for quality, integrity and customer service bolstered its distinction when President Harry S Truman and First Lady Bess Truman began shopping at TIVOL for their family jewelry and luxury timepiece needs.

Under Harold's leadership, a second store was opened in 1951 on the Country Club Plaza. Soon, it was outselling the downtown store, and the two later merged.

Harold Tivol wasn't merely heir apparent. To the contrary, he had a merchandising and marketing savvy as brilliant as the jewels creatively displayed storewide. Through his new breed of leadership style, he successfully fused his father's dream with his own bold vision to take TIVOL to heights few independent jewelers have ever gone.

Harold ultimately became an award-winning icon in the jewelry industry who was widely known for his progressive risk-taking business acumen, bright smile, and quick wit. In 1986, he was the first single-store owner inducted into the National Jeweler Hall of Fame. Two years later, Modern Jeweler magazine presented him with its prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 2003, the American Gem Society named him Top Retail Jeweler of the Year.

 "I'm always willing to try something new and different," Harold said in a 2013 interview. "I can't stand the status quo."

Harold was a legend at defying the norm. The third and fourth Tivol generations are now minding the family stores and they're continually expanding the vision to accommodate a more fast-paced, ever-changing world. Harold's daughter, Cathy Tivol, joined the company in 1978 and became the CEO in 2005. Six years later, her son Hunter Tivol McGrath - a certified Gemologist and CPA - started his climb up the leadership ladder.

Hunter and Cathy have embraced all of the core values of TIVOL that Harold held so dearly. TIVOL's mission is to sell fine jewelry with the highest integrity, while providing incomparable service and building lasting relationships. Whether customers shop our flagship store at The Country Club Plaza in Kansas City, or at our Hawthorne Plaza location in Overland Park, the cultural fusion of Madison Avenue chic combined with warm, friendly service makes brides and browsers alike feel right at home.

Even if TIVOL visitors don't purchase a piece of fine jewelry, they can still go home sparkling. As part of its commitment to old-fashioned customer service, everyone who walks into either TIVOL location can have their personal jewelry professionally cleaned at no charge.

Harold Tivol will undoubtedly forever loom at TIVOL as each generation continues to pass his business wisdom on to the next.

 "He felt that the most integral part of selling was to build customer relationships," Cathy says. "We're in the relationship business first and foremost, and Dad was a master of establishing an authentic, genuine rapport with customers, regardless of how much they spent - or even if they made a purchase from TIVOL."

Throughout the 110 years of TIVOL's history we have endured hard times from World Wars, The Great Depression, the Plaza flood in 1973 and now a global pandemic. Through it all, TIVOL is steadfast in our mission. It is our passion for customer service and our product that keeps us all going. It is our relationships with customers and the joy of life's celebrations that drive that passion. We are grateful for our hard-working staff and for all of our loyal customers. We wouldn't be here without you!

Back to The TIVOL Blog