Kenyon Jewelers:

A Century of Craftsmanship and Community

If you’ve ever stopped into Kenyon Jewelers looking for your latest vintage find, you’ve probably had the opportunity to meet Doug Duffus or his daughter Bea. As Kenyon Jewelers celebrates its 100-year anniversary, we wanted to learn more about the people behind the counter and how they came to own such a well-known staple of the Wilkinsburg business district.

Here’s what we learned: 

Doug Duffus doesn’t wear jewelry, he fixes it. Adornment, he says, has never suited him, but he’s been repairing rings and necklaces for nearly forty years, and the whole of his career has been behind the counter of Kenyon Jewelers in Wilkinsburg.

In 1987, when Doug was nineteen, attending Indiana University of Pennsylvania and studying to be an art teacher, he met Bob Shamey. Doug learned that Bob worked as a goldsmith. 

“He was a great guy, very talented guy. He was in Ripley’s Believe-It-Or-Not because he’d carved the world’s smallest chain out of a toothpick. All of his stuff was just crazy. So I met him, and he showed me pieces he’d made for the Grateful Dead and the Rolling Stones. When I returned to IUP after that summer, I enrolled in metal smithing classes and immediately took a liking to them. Making little things, moving and connecting pieces in unique ways – I just took to it.” 

A few years later, Doug got a job at Kenyon Jewelers. Soon, he was commuting between Wilkinsburg, where he lived with his aunt; Indiana, where he was still attending IUP; and Johnstown, where he taught classes at the art center. While many of his friends with teaching degrees left the state seeking work, Doug was committed to doing work that he’d studied, and that brought him so much satisfaction. 

As an employee of the Kenyons, Doug became attached to the store and to the borough of Wilkinsburg—meeting the neighbors, making relationships, joining the Chamber of Commerce, and eventually becoming one of the founding board members of the Wilkinsburg Chamber of Commerce. 

Wilkinsburg Business Spotlight:

Vickey’s Soul Grill

The Pittsburgh region isn’t known for its Southern-style cooking, but Vickey Giddens of Vickey’s Soul Grill is changing that.

“My family is from Crystal Springs, Mississippi, and my father was a chef,” says Giddens. “When I was 6 years old, I watched my father, and I let that be my dream, to be a chef like my dad.

Today, Giddens has two Vickey’s Soul Grill locations: one at 655 Rodi Road and the other in Wilkinsburg at 807 Wallace Avenue in the Hosanna House. Both offer a menu of items that will make your mouth water.

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