LTD Jewelers in Superior, Wis., seeks to exceed customers’ expectations and garner trust

LTD Jewelers began in the late 1970s as a small kiosk in the commons area of the Mariner Mall in Superior, Wis.

In 1982, the business was incorporated, and by the early 1990s, owner Larry Falter had moved his business into a prime corner location within the mall. In 2004, LTD Jewelers expanded to its current location under the clock in Colonial Square, across from Wal- Mart on South Tower Avenue in Superior.

Falter, who had a “light background in watches and jewelry,” said in the beginning the kiosk store cut keys and did a bit of repairing and engraving — things that wouldn’t be considered jewelry.

“It provided a living for my family, and the business did grow,” he said. “God was faithful.”

Today, the family-owned business is a full-line, full-service jewelry store, staffed by jewelry professionals who are experts in gems, jewelry and design, specializing in quality repairs and diamond remounting featuring Gemvision technology. The beautiful showroom occupies 3,100 square feet in the center of Colonial Mall. The store carries a wide selection of watches, diamond engagement rings, family jewelry and grandfather clocks.

Falter, 63, as owner/operator, has always dealt with customers personally. He believes that makes a difference to customers and makes LTD Jewelers unique.

He said that buying and selling jewelry involves trust.

“My Christianity has made me the person I am,” he said. “People can see that in me and how we run the store. We just present ourselves in a straightforward way, without any slight of hand. If they were to come to us with something precious to them from, say, their grandmother, they would know that we would take care of it, not steal from them. We have operated fairly and honestly.”

According to Falter, their customers don’t seem to be extravagant, excessive or wasteful with the way they do their jewelry. More often, they come in to buy something to mark a special event in their lives, such as an anniversary or a birth of a child. Or, they have a broken piece of jewelry that means a lot to them.

“People develop a relationship with us,” he said. “They trust us with these things.”

LTD Jewelers has three to six employees. Falter said he has always had honest employees, which “is a blessing from God.”

“If you have to worry about someone pilfering, say a diamond, even though we have good inventory control, or pocketing the money, that would be so disturbing,” he said.

In return, Falter said the business has always been considerate about people’s personal lives.

“We know that family is first before business,” he said. “I let that be the case for employees, too. We will bend over backwards to make something work if they have a family issue that is a conflict with work.”

The biggest challenge for LTD Jewelers is going through the ups and downs of the economy. Falter said the economy is changing, the world is changing and our country is changing, and it is affecting people.

“They are finding less money in their paychecks,” he said. “They are concerned about having a job tomorrow, and it is affecting the way they spend their money. We are not immune to that. It is across the board. We try to look to God’s leading in that for us right now, personally. Is God wanting me to move into something else? What is His idea for me, my business, my family? We are working hard still and being faithful with what we have here to do, but at the same time, we’re trying to stay open to God’s leading if He wants something else to happen.”

Falter is the lead elder at Beth Yeshua Twin Ports, a Messianic congregation. His role with the congregation is “very demanding and exciting.” In June, the congregation began holding weekly services at

3311 Hammond Ave., in Superior, on Saturdays at 10:30 a.m. for liturgy and worship and on Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. for Torah study and prayer.

“That is really where my heart is,” he said. “But my heart, at the same time, is to provide for my family. I feel that God has me doing both things. In all honesty, if someone calls me on the phone about a spiritual matter, I’m really much more excited about that than I am about selling another watch.”

Falter’s connection with the Messianic denomination began before he was married to his wife, Margie, who is a Jewish believer. They were both saved in the early ’70s in Cincinnati at one of the first Messianic works in the country led by Martin Chernoff. Falter said that when God was moving among the Jesus people in the late 1960s and early 1970s, he also was moving among the Jewish people, even though the numbers were smaller.

“It was so exciting back then,” he said. “We were all getting baptized in the Ohio River. We just thought it was the coolest thing going.”

When Beth Yeshua was started in Duluth, Minn., about seven years ago, Falter said it “regenerated my faith and it felt like homecoming.”

Larry and Margie moved to Wisconsin in 1973 and were married at the Evangelical Free Church in Port Wing, Wis., 36 years ago. They live in a 110-year-old log home on a hobby farm in Oulu, Wis. The Falters have raised nine children on this rural farm where they have been able to raise sheep, cows, chickens, dogs and cats and go to 4-H Club.

“We love it out there,” Falter said. “My wife has been able to stay at home — homeschooling the children until middle school. She is a lovely woman, a great mother and wife.”

Falter has put his future and that of LTD Jewelers in God’s hands. 

He said it seems like God is saying, “OK, your family is mostly raised, your business may change because of the economy, but you have plenty of work to do. Your health is good enough to get into my vineyard. Go for it.

“To me, it is so exciting,” he said. “There are so many wonderful and good things to set my hand to do. Within the last five to six years, the urgency has come upon me. My involvement with Israel has got me excited. We have a lot to share and be excited about.”

LTD Jewelers
Colonial Square
3712 Tower Ave., Suite C
Superior, Wis.

Phone (715) 394-9122

Web site - www.LTDJewelers.com

Hours - Monday-Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Closed Saturday and Sunday in summer. In winter, open 11 a.m.-4 p.m. on Saturday.