We are a group of highly motivated and energetic people
passionate about jewelry design and craftsmanship
and committed to delivering a great product.
We value tradition seek innovation
adapt to change design voraciously
manufacture fervently deliver consistently
succeed mutually stand behind our brand,
and grow with you.
But we started small.
I wish there was an extravagant story for me to tell you about how J. Goodin was started. The truth is that we have humble beginnings. The first thing I want to share that J. Goodin is a company owned and operated by God. Yes – we are a Christian organization. We do not force our beliefs down peoples’ throats. You don’t have to be a Christian to buy from us, work for us, or sell to us. We love on everyone regardless of belief. But it is necessary to share that we work for a God who loves relentlessly and has redeemed us in mercy and grace through Christ. This ideology of grace sits at the core of who we are as a company.
My parents, Jenny and Laurance Cheng, started this company in a garage in Temple City, California. Both my parents worked jobs paying less than minimum wage. To make ends meet, my dad did filigree polishing in our garage late into the night and sold it at the swap-meets on the weekend. I still remember waking up at 3am some Saturday mornings to set up at the Pasadena Rose Bowl. I vividly recall my dad not sleeping the nights prior to polish as many little filigree charms as he could. When I asked him why he didn’t sleep, he replied saying, “Anything is possible in America as long as you’re willing to work hard.” I was five years old.
Hard work kick started their business and moved them into a 80 sq ft retail/wholesale space in a downtown wholesale mart along 4th Street.
It was a pink building. They had 2 counters displaying my father’s charms. Spools of nugget chain by the inch lined the tops of those counters.
My parents worked 6-7 days a week between their downtown shop and swap-meets. Some family in Taiwan caught wind of J. Goodin and one of my uncles happened to be in the ring business. My dad added his entire line of rings to the counters and started attending trade shows with rings as a headline.
By 1990, J. Goodin grew into a showroom at the California Mart (known today as “The Mart”) in downtown. My mom would take appointments in the 800 sq ft showroom while my dad traveled the country selling at trade shows. At 5’5 and no more than 145 pounds, my dad could get some 6 heavy 80-lb cartons of jewelry from the showroom, to the airport, out of baggage claim, and into the exhibit hall. He scoffs at us today because we use trucking companies to ship show freight. I am still amazed at how my father managed to set up with his own two hands and sell in broken English.
In 1995, J. Goodin exited The Mart and moved into a 2300 sq ft warehouse in South El Monte. By this time, both my parents were traveling two weeks out of the month at shows scattered across the country. Fortunately, they found good help along the way, some of whom are still with us today.
In 1998, they purchased two commercial lots down the street. It was a house that they converted into an office / warehouse. There was even a swimming pool in the backyard.
I joined the company in 2002 at the request of my dad. “Jay – this business has paid for our home, our cars, our computers, our clothes, our food, our life in America, he said. ” Just graduated from UCLA, I had better offers on the table than the $12 per hour career that my dad was selling. He went on to say, “This business has paid for YOUR car, YOUR computer, YOUR play station, YOUR life, and .. [did I forget to mention] YOUR college tuition.” I was the 6th employee.
In 2003, Steve Noh, our VP of business development, came on board. In 2005, Linda Chu, our COO, came on board. These two and several more that came after effected a lot of change and growth.
Since then, God has blessed us with 25 more people across California, South Carolina, and New York. Our company-owned factory, ICON Jewellery, has roughly 150 workers and growing. We have joint venture partnerships with two other factories that have over 400 workers. We experienced 40-50% year-over-year growth from 2003 – 2009. We hit some snags in 2010, but the lights are still on and the future is bright.
The cup is more than half full.
We have a design team in California and China. We have an experienced sales and support staff in California. We have a seasoned back-office warehouse in Orange County. We have our own factory to produce our designs. So we are very confident in our collective product.
Quality, Service, Commitment, Price
Best in quality of good
Best in customer service
Best in commitment to customer success
Best in price per value
We are the largest wholesale manufacturer in fashion jewelry today. God brought us here and He will lead us forward.
Humbly,
Jay Cheng
