Business

The Tapper brothers'

business dream has been

shared with the Detroit

Jewish community.

ALAN ABRAMS
Special to the Jewish News

F

or 25 years, the names of brothers Howard
and Steven J. Tapper of Tapper's Diamonds
& Fine Jewelry in West Bloomfield have
been synonymous with serving the commu-

nity.
First from their longtime location at 12 Mile and
Northwestern Highway in Southfield, and for the last
seven years at the Orchard Mall, Tapper's has been
more to the community than a jewelry store. It has
been a member of the family when it comes to cele-
brating life-cycles.
The entrepreneur bug bit both Tapper brothers at an
early age. When they were growing up in northwest
Detroit, Steven said, "Howard and I would leave home
together with shovels in a snowstorm and shovel our
way to school. And in the spring and summer, we cut
lawns."
Their parents were Morris, a men's clothing salesman
who died at the young age of 43, and Regina Tapper.
The brothers graduated from Detroit's Henry Ford
High School. Howard went on to Wayne State
University, where he earned a graduate degree in busi-
ness. Steven graduated from Eastern Michigan
University and attended the Detroit-based Center for
Creative Studies.
Howard, who is 52, and Steven, 50, also have a
younger sister, now Barbara Goldman. She has worked
with her brothers at Tapper's since the store opened on
May 9, 1977.

Early Struggles

5/10

2002

122

When the brothers made the decision to open
their own business, Howard recalled, "My wife

customer at a time," said Steven. "We
watched what others did. We used
Tiffany's as a model. We wanted
Tapper's to be a brand name that peo-
ple recognized and immediately put
together with quality and trust.
"From the beginning," said Steven,
"Howard had a business philosophy
that few people really understood in
retailing. We go above our customer's
expectations and provide a level of
service that very few people are willing
to do. Our commitment is to do right
by our customers.
"An example is our cash refund poli-
cy. It was totally unheard of in this
area when we introduced it. It is not
±: the regular course of business, but part
of who we are. We want people to buy
..with confidence. We live by the
Golden Rule — I treat you like I want
to be treated. We are respectful of
everyone," said Steven.
Said Howard, "We try to have rela-
tionships with our customers. What we
sell is very important to all our cus-
tomers. They involve moments of cele-
bration of life's special occasions. We
cover all their life-cycle events. Now
we're serving our third-generation cus-
tomers. We are part of their life, their
legacy. Many of the items they buy,
they purchase to pass on as a token of
remembrance."

Getting Involved

Steven said the Tappers "want to cele-
brate our success with our community,
by giving customers a $25 gift certifi-
cate to one of 26 different charitable
organizations with every $25 purchase.
"Merchandise donations to hundreds
of organizations over the years have
been a tremendous sense of pride. If
Howard and Steven Tapper are marking 25 years of success.
you come here, you know that we are
committed to the community," said
Steven.
Howard added, "Anybody can sell a
Susan and I sold our car — it was an Olds
piece
of
jewelry.
But really getting involved in our
Cutlass — and purchased an older used car so
community
is
something
different. As an adult,
that we could get a few thousand dollars to use as
what's
important
to
me
is
giving back to our
capital."
community.
Tapper's
is
involved
with many dif-
Steven said Howard, who was then 27, "traded
ferent
charities
and
programs.
We
want to make
on relationships he had built working for other
the world a better place."
people throughout the industry as a buyer and a
Indeed, to Howard, the store is an extension of
salesman." He had worked for local jewelers,
family and community. "My thing is to promote
including E.L. Rice, The Gold Place and as a dia-
mond buyer for one of the first major retail jewel- the Jewish way of life. That is very important to
me and so is Jewish education."
ry chain stores, Meyers Jewelers.
He serves as president of Hillel Day School of
"Along with Susan, he selected a location in
Metropolitan
Detroit and is a board member of
Southfield and began to build the beginning of
Congregation
Shaarey Zedek and Jewish Home
what has become our family's legacy," said Steven.
and Aging Services. He is a former member of the
The Tappers started out with 1,000 square feet
board of the Jewish Community Center of
at the 12 Mile/Northwestern Highway site that
was to be the home of Tapper's Diamonds & Fine Metropolitan Detroit. The store's director of
operations, Jeffrey Garden, was the First president
Jewelry for 18 years.
of the Jewish Academy of Metropolitan Detroit.
"We were determined to build the business one