James Avery Craftsman is a private company that designs, manufactures, and sells jewelry, primarily Christian themed. The founder, James Avery, started the business in 1954 in Kerrville, Texas out of his (then) mother-in-law's two-car garage with about $250 in capital. In 1954, James Avery built a workbench and fashioned a sign to hang on the garage; it read "James Avery Craftsman" and featured a candelabra logo. The business has grown to about 50 of its own stores in Colorado, Georgia, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee, North Carolina, Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, Alabama, and Texas. The company has five manufacturing plants in Hondo, Fredericksburg, Kerrville, and two in Comfort, Texas. The James Avery jewelry collection carries 1,100 designs and 14,000 pieces made in sterling silver, 14-, 1