Franklin Mint Faux Pearls -They're What You Like (Gone)
Wawa, Pennsylvania
"When I opened the box, I got chills, I had tears in my eyes. I could actually smell her perfume."
"It's the thing that symbolized the beauty of this woman, the dignity of this woman, that she could wear pearls that were not real and everyone thought they were."
-- Lynda Resnick, quoted in People Magazine, about the Jacqueline Kennedy faux-pearls she bought at auction for The Franklin Mint.
Franklin Mint Vice Chairman Lynda Resnick and her husband, Chairman Stewart Resnick, preside over The Roll Corporation, one of the largest privately-held companies in the world. The Franklin Mint is the keystone of the Roll empire, which also includes Teleflora and a $ 200-million-plus agribusiness-unit. Franklin Mint is one of the country's top 100 advertisers, and reaches more than 70 million households each week though its direct mail ads in publications like TV Guide and USA Today. There are also some 50 mall-based Franklin Mint Gallery shops.
The Resnicks know art. How else could Stewart become a committee member of The National Gallery of Art in Washington, and Lynda serve on the board of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and The Philadelphia Museum of Art? And both serve on the board of The LA County Museum of Art.
What is the Franklin Mint secret? According to spokesman Jack Wilkie, quoted in a recent Los Angeles Times piece: "We don't put out just anything, We make things that you'd be proud to hand down -- heirlooms, not garage sale fodder. We're not selling for speculators. We create the products because they're beautiful. They're what you like."