Photo by Stone Ward, courtesy of Sissy’s Log Cabin
Marguerite “Sissy” Jones may be known today as the founder of one of Arkansas’ most iconic jewelry store chains, Sissy’s Log Cabin, but the road to becoming a household name started in a decidedly unglamorous place — a literal log cabin in Pine Bluff. For Jones, it was a diamond in the rough.
“It was a place I could put my stuff,” she said. “I didn’t fall in love with it. I found a place I honestly thought I could use, and I’d been looking at all the stores downtown and all around town, and nothing just hit me.”
That was in 1970. Jones, who started collecting antiques at age 13, had amassed a pile of items that took up a large portion of her dining room, and she was looking for a building where she could fulfill her long-held dream of owning an antiques store.
After she stumbled across the cabin, which was being torn down, she asked the owner to stop the demolition so she could rent the structure. He agreed, and, with a bit of elbow grease, Jones converted the building into her shop.
The future diamond denizen was focused on antique furniture and other goods at the time — she is still a licensed antiques appraiser — but she entered the jewelry business one fateful day, when a customer brought in a box of jewelry from her mother’s estate to sell on consignment.
“She had a lock box, and she dumped it all out. It was all jewelry,” Jones said. “It had these long chains with these things on it with a piece of jewelry on it that slid up and down, and I was like, ‘Ooh, I don’t know what half this stuff is.’”
She brought in a friend to help her appraise the items and learned that the chains were slide chains for pocket watches. She also learned that she is allergic to silver and gold.
That box of chains put Sissy’s Log Cabin on the map as a jewelry store after Jones draped a chain across her wrist and decided to start using old watch chains to make slide bracelets on which customers could add various slides to represent their family members.
“They were phenomenal,” Jones said. “People came from everywhere because I was the only one that had them because nobody else wanted the things. They thought it was junk, and they were all 14-karat gold, 90 percent of them.”
Expanding into Little Rock in 2010 was another milestone. Not only did the company secure a location in the Heights that had already served as a jewelry store, ensuring an existing customer base, but the move allowed the company to open a Rolex dealership. Sissy’s Log Cabin remains a licensed Rolex dealer to this day.
“It’s important to have a Rolex dealership if you can,” Jones said. “That’s very important because most of the better stores do have them, but it’s really hard to get a Rolex dealership.”
Sissy’s Log Cabin has now grown to six locations — Pine Bluff, Conway, Jonesboro, Memphis and two stores in Little Rock — and there is still more to come. Jones said the company plans to open another Little Rock location at the intersection of Cantrell Road and University Avenue, and a Fort Smith location is set to open this spring.
She attributed the company’s success to God’s grace, citing Proverbs 20:24, which states, “A person’s steps are directed by the Lord. How then can anyone understand their own way?”
“We start every one of our shops every day with prayer,” Jones said. “I think the Lord is directing our ways. He has certainly directed me and all those things.”
She added that the company works to give back to the communities it serves by providing pieces for charity auctions, and Sissy’s Log Cabin also started a jewelry technology program at Southeast Arkansas College. In addition, Jones’ grandson, William, published a training guide for aspiring jewelers. Jones was named to the Arkansas Women’s Hall of Fame in 2022 and named Woman of the Year in Philanthropy by the Women’s Foundation of Arkansas in 2020. She also received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Women’s Jewelry Association, as well as an entry into the organization’s hall of fame, in 2016.
Sissy’s Log Cabin has also received numerous awards over the years. The company was named best overall company and best jewelry store by Arkansas Money & Politics readers in 2024 and best jeweler by AY About You readers from 2015 to 2019.
Jones and her son, Bill Jones, have also served in leadership roles on the board of the Jewelry Sales Academy.
With three generations of the family now at the company, Jones said she is pursuing retirement, but few believe she will retire completely. She said she plans to work through her long list of appraisal requests. Life is too short for ordinary jewelry, she said, but it is also too short to not understand the treasures one might have at home.
“I love my business,” she said. “I’ve never felt I have worked a day.”
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