Chattanooga: W Gallery names jewelry industry insider Gilliland

Chattanooga: W Gallery names jewelry industry insider Gilliland
Chattanooga Times Free Press, TN

Wes Gilliland spent many of his formative years on the wide, green spaces of a golf course.

As a child growing up in Chattanooga, the 57-year-old remembers spending as much time as possible staying with his grandmother, who managed the Brainerd Golf Club.

While he still loves to play the game, as an adult it’s the jewelry business that he can’t seem to get out of his blood, he said.

For Mr. Gilliland, recently named manager of jewelry retailer the W Gallery, those two lifelong passions compliment each other.

Because of his interest in golf at a young age, he interacted with many adults as a child, which he said has translated well to customer service.

“I grew up around a lot of people, and it’s easy for me to be around people,” Mr. Gilliland said. “I think that’s one of the reasons I like this job — it can be frustrating at times but you can meet a lot of people all the time.”

The W Gallery opens Monday in Brabson Place at the corner of Fourth Street and Georgia Avenue downtown, and he said he is excited about the opportunity it presents.

The new position also is a fresh start after what he calls a life-altering diagnosis of Stage 3 colon cancer that came in November 2005. Soon after the diagnosis, he had surgery, followed by a three-week hospitalization and six months of chemotherapy.

“It was life changing,” he said. “My attitude’s changed. I’ve always been easy going, but things I used to think were important aren’t very important, and I am just glad to be here.”

With the new position, Mr. Gilliland said it feels in a way like he is coming home because just as golf has been a big part of his life, so has the jewelry industry.

His father, Sonny Gilliland, worked in the industry from the time that he was 12 years old, and they even worked at the same company for a time — Chattanooga-based jewelry manufacturer Ullenberg Corp.

The younger Mr. Gilliland left Ullenberg for a few years and worked briefly for Citizen Watch Co. When his father died in 1988, Mr. Gilliland, who was living in Memphis, returned to work for Ullenberg to cover his father’s territory.

The company went out of business in 1994, but Mr. Gilliland stayed in the industry and went to work for Rone-Regency Jewelers, and was there for more than eight years.

“I was raised around (jewelry),” he said. “It’s really a very small industry, like most industries, but the jewelry industry is very small, and everybody knows everybody, so its kind of a home.”

Chad Wolford, owner and president of the W Gallery, said that when he and wife Lindsay were in the planning stages he asked her who she would want to run the gallery.

“She hardly hesitated before she said Wes’ name,” he said. “I am personally thrilled to have him on board. I think he fits our philosophy for the W Gallery.”

Mr. Gilliland said he was drawn to the project because it was just too good to turn down. Plus, he said he was impressed by Lindsay and Mr. Wolford’s vision for the gallery, the jewelry they planned to carry and the actual building itself, which was unlike any other he had seen.

“It’s just a good opportunity,” he said.