Blue Heron Jewelry Company

Megan Cooper uses her Poulsbo jewelry store, Blue Heron Jewelry Co., to bring the best to her clients and her staff.

Cooper says that she loves “everything about jewelry.” Her passion for it began when she was still in high school.

“I went to a vocational high school back in New Hampshire, and I was fortunate enough to be able to take some jewelry classes,” she says. “I was hooked. I knew right away this is what I needed to do for the rest of my life.”

When starting the next phase of her life, Cooper moved to Poulsbo, where Leo Fried owned Blue Heron Jewelry Co. He was the founder of the business and Cooper was an apprentice with him for about two and a half years before she joined a jeweler in Seattle for a time. However, life brought her back to Blue Heron Jewelry. In the end, she worked for Fried for about 16 years and then purchased the business from Fried when he chose to retire. Cooper has now owned the business for three years.

“We are unique in the amount of services that we can offer to our clients,” she says. “We have jewelry that they can choose and buy off our showroom floor. We have a very accomplished repair department, special orders, custom orders, loose gemstones and loose diamonds. We can source just about anything someone might be looking for and fix just about anything someone might have. … We also offer appraisals.”

Blue Heron Jewelry Co. has an extra benefit with all its services: It’s all done on site. “The fact that all of this can happen in our store, in our building, is a huge security feature,” explains Cooper. There are no outside individuals or transportation to cause security issues. Cooper likes that she offers clients “a place to go to for all of their needs in a place they can trust, because it stays within our store,” she says.

Cooper also embodies the charitable spirit of Blue Heron Jewelry. “To be so thriving and healthy in today’s economy is an accomplishment, and I enjoy giving back to the community by fundraising for the American Heart Association,” she says. “I’m involved in the Miss West Sound and Miss Evergreen pageants as a judge, who are also partnered with the American Heart Association. … Our store shows our commitment to a healthy community by participating in the community in these ways.”

Additionally, Cooper appreciates what Blue Heron Jewelry does for those inside the business. “I think my biggest rewards from owning Blue Heron Jewelry is keeping an independent, full-service store local. I feel like we encompass the heart of a community because we can maintain the treasures that people have (the symbols of their lives),” she says. “I’m incredibly proud that people are able to support their families and their lives by working here; that I’m making it possible for them to have a fulfilling and successful work-life balance. I really love being able to support my daughter and have some personal freedom. If I have an idea, I can execute it. That feels really good.”

Cooper hopes to execute some of her ideas for the business. She says, “I have big growth plans,” such as upgrading the technology and doing renovations. She hopes for “a more luxurious experience where people will be able to have an encounter with us that saves them time but is also, hopefully, unexpected and joyful.” Cooper’s goals are to use her life and business to benefit her clients, her staff and the local community.