Dinner family will no longer run Hudsons Wright Jewelry - MetroWest Daily News
The Dinner family is retiring after operating the downtown shop for several decades. The family plans to sell the business to another independent jewelry store.
HUDSON – Lee Dinner has watched the frequent transformation of downtown Hudson from his Main Street jewelry store throughout the past five decades.
From a bustling downtown in the 1970s and 1980s to upwards of 50 empty storefronts in the early 2000s and now back to the vibrant, thriving Main Street that attracts diners and shoppers from across the region - through it all, Dinner's store, Wright Jewelry Inc., has been a staple on Main Street.
“The walk-by traffic is so fantastic like it was in the '70s and '80s,” Dinner said of the ongoing revitalization of Hudson’s downtown.
Dinner’s grandfather, Leo, opened Wright Jewelry - the name was inherited from a previous owner- in the Fitts Building in downtown Framingham in 1925. The name also provided the business with its slogan: "You can't go wrong at Wright's." Leo and his son Irving opened a second store at the current location of Murphy Insurance on Hudson’s Main Street in 1949, but a massive fire a week before Christmas in 1953 destroyed the store, although some jewelry was preserved. The Dinners purchased a building across the street – the store’s current location – in 1954.
“We’ve been here ever since,” said Dinner, who has overseen the shop since the late 1990s.
The Dinner family will soon no longer have a presence on Hudson’s Main Street. Dinner and his wife, Kathy, are retiring at the end of January and plan to sell the business to another independent jewelry store.
“I just feel it’s time,” said Dinner, who has worked at the store for nearly 50 years.
Mary Marrama, an employee for the past 70 years, will join the Dinners in retirement.
“I think I’m going to be very, very emotionally sad,” she said. “It’s been my life. I’m going to miss it tremendously.”
Marrama recalled when she first started working for Dinner’s father the stock was very nominal, but they were eventually able to work themselves into a successful business selling numerous items besides jewelry, including electrical razors, wallets, religious statues and other gift wear. Oftentimes during the holiday season, the store had to employ a detail officer because of the large crowds.
“It was amazing how many things we had for sale,” she said. “It grew into quite a business.”
Another longtime employee, Clara Rego-Murphy, called the retirement bittersweet, but is eager to move on to something different. Rego-Murphy has worked at Wright since she was 16 years old.
“We’re definitely going to miss seeing the customers,” she said.
Dinner likened the relationship between he and his two longtime employees as family.
“We were thinking of retiring last year and Mary asked if we could stay one more year,” Dinner said with a smile.
The strong bond between Dinner and his employees also spread to his customers. Dinner’s wife Kathy said the business was able to survive and thrive for so long because of the high-quality customer service.
“I’m going to miss the people,” said Lee Dinner. “Every day it’s someone coming in and sitting down to talk. I’m going to miss it, but it’s time.”
Dinner and his wife plan to spend time at their home in New Hampshire’s White Mountains and traveling, but their primary residence will remain in Hudson.
“Everybody asks me what I’m going to do and I say nothing,” he said with a laugh.
Dinner lauded the town and has very fond memories of Hudson, including working with the Rotary Club to install the clock at the downtown rotary and helping create the memorial to former Gov. Paul Cellucci at Town Hall.
Jeff Malachowski can be reached at 508-490-7466 or jmalachowski@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @JmalachowskiMW.
