What does it take to make the world's largest manufacturer and distributor of jewelry and jewelry related supplies? Well it takes 50 years and a whole lot of lagniappe.My name is Adam Voss. I'm a traveler, an entertainer and I'm a man on the move. From the biggest cities to the smallest towns I'm on the hunt for cool companies and what makes them so successful. Right now, you're in good company.For over 50 years Lafayette, Louisiana based Stuller Inc. has been a driving force in the jewelry industry. Founded in 1970 by Lafayette native Matt Stuller, Stuller’s meteoric rise has become the stuff of legends and local pride. I took the opportunity to talk with some folks about the last 50 years and the secrets of Stuller's success.Everyone knows the story about Matt Stuller selling jewelry out of the trunk of his car. Of course he's only 19 or 20, he's trying to find his way you know, says his dad's orthodontist office may be playing with copper wire and you know I'm sure his mom and dad thought he was crazy. Now he's the largest jewelry manufacturers= in North America. We should all be that crazy. I spoke with a few of Matt's local business colleagues to learn more. How long have you known Matt and how did you guys first meet? I met Matt in the early 70s about the time that he started the company and you know there was no doubt after having met Matt that there was something special about him and he was going to do great things. He has a tremendous passion to do incredible things and innovate and all of that keeps him excited about the business and he's grown the business incredibly. From humble beginnings Matt grew the business into the sprawling campus of today. He started with findings and mountings, the components and parts. And what do you need after that? Well you need gemstones and diamonds to go into it. Then you need finished jewelry, bridal, repair, all the tools and supplies. But as he expanded his product assortment for the jewelers the customer base expanded too. I sat down with Mary Mouton who next to Matt is Stuller’s longest-running employee. 40 years ago when I started, we only had like 13 employees and we just gradually kept on adding new product. We needed new talent so Matt would hire more people and we just continued growing. Stuller’s vice president of IT Grady Quebedeaux has been with the company for 34 years. We focused on the customer. If it's not on the shelf get it on the shelf. We focused on quality and that was the difference-maker for Stuller and I think it's still a difference maker today. How is Stuller affected the jewelry industry as you've seen it? Actually being a source for the jewelers so that they didn't have to stock a lot of inventory. Matt did it for them and they knew that if they needed something they could get it the next day. As he found his way, he's the first guy to embrace overnight shipping. This is a guy that said no it's got to get there now. One of Stuller’s first major customer service victories was its early adoption of overnight delivery, getting customers exactly what they need when they need it. Looks to me that you guys have automated? We have automated, that’s good insight. We deliver from 4,500 to 5,000 packages each night. Christmas time we’ll get up to you know 8,000 to 9,000 orders. Having things a little more automated really allows us to satisfy the demands of the customers’ intake. What do you think has been the secret to Stuller’s continued success? I would argue that the sincerity, Stuller overall is a very sincere organization and I think that fits well in the Lafayette community actually. Matt grew up in the heart of Lafayette. I remember asking Matt I said why do you keep Stuller Inc. in Lafayette and he said you know we did look at we looked at Memphis because the FedEx hub was right there. We looked at Austin in the end it came back to the fact that this is home, this is where we're from, this is where we wanna raise our kids.I wanted to know more about Stuller's special connection with Acadiana so I headed down to City Hall to talk with the mayor-president of the city and parish of Lafayette. It's really an incredible community, a lot of family, a lot of friends, you know festivals, food, music, good place to live. What is it do you think in being located in Lafayette that has had such a great impact to the success of their company? He's built it on providing service that you know is unparalleled and I think that's rooted in kind of our Cajun culture here that we want everybody to enjoy their time with us and to come back. Working hard is an ethic that was brought from the original Cajuns when they were exiled out of Nova Scotia, Canada. They made a living out of what they found here, trapping, hunting, fishing, but I think that can-do attitude is persevered through the generations. And Matt'll say it to other people he doesn't know if he'd have succeeded in his early days without that work ethic that's found here in Lafayette. In Acadiana lagniappe is one of the things that we talked about often which is a little bit extra. Matt I think always wants to provide people with a little bit extra. Something extra I think is part of culturally who we are so that's really how it translates to Stuller, especially in our shipping and how we engage with our customers is just adding a little something extra. Well then I went to the call center and found that same thing. Your call center employees were having really great conversations with your customer. That’s right. Any organization to be successful also has to have great employees and great management and I think that's another area that Matt has been very successful in is attracting the right people but also inspiring those in his company to also excel in what they do. I interviewed with Matt way back in 1985. He was sitting about as close to me and he said you're the kind of guy I want.What's your favorite thing about working at Stuller? There's so much knowledge here whether someone's worked here for 30 years or they're from the outside and they've only worked here six months. You're constantly learning something new every single day. For the past ten years Danny Clark has helped Matt steer the ship. How did you find Matt and Stuller? I actually drove by the front of the building and there's this big globe out in front of the building and I saw it, I was in between careers, and I thought, “there's a place that's thinking big.” I did not know it was a jewelry company and I had never heard of Matt Stuller. Wow, you literally just drove past by the building? What did you do? I went home and I said I'm gonna get a job there. I had no idea what it was. Wow. So we interviewed and Matt called me back and after that he said look we don't what to do with you. I said well just put me in the game coach something like that and he said well we're gonna put you in supply chain because that's running pretty good and you probably can't mess it up. And that was my start with the company. And I think it told me a lot about Matt too. That's funny.I decided to ask a few customers what makes the Stuller experience so different. Ordering something from Stuller and knowing that the next day it will be at my shop and I can give it to that customer you know I don't worry. They’re very responsive. Everything we do to help a customer they're part of it. There is a personal relationship with Stuller. You know, they're really easy to talk to and they just really make the jewelry industry really simple for you to run a business. We've worked with Stuller for 43 years since we started the business. They solve the problems that are going to come up before we even know they're going to come up. They genuinely feel that the better we do, the better they do.I don't really feel like the customers are customers as much as they're part of the organization. And to me all of that relationship and the authenticity of it is sort of the magic of the organization. What do you think about Stuller turning 50? It's pretty amazing. I would argue that you know 50 years is the strongest Stuller has ever been. It's been a fun ride, it's been a challenging ride. We're constantly tinkering with processes, trying to improve them, create solutions where there's nothing. And that makes it an exciting environment and motivated me for the last 34 years. What do you think about 50-year anniversary? It's incredible. It's super humbling and I'm incredibly, I guess it's strange to say you're proud of your father but incredibly proud. If you could create your own slogan for Stuller what would it be? Keep on moving. Keep on moving, alright that's awesome. Why do you buy jewelry love lust or guilt? I don't buy any of it cuz I don't have any one of those qualities Yeah right.