MOUNT VERNON — In 1828, Jacob Brown opened a jewelry and watch repair shop in Mount Vernon. That shop eventually became known as Wise Jewelers. Don Wise ran the store for 51 years, until he sold it in 2005 to Brian and Jennifer McNamara. Now Wise Jewelers, the oldest jewelry shop in Ohio, will be closing.
The McNamaras were not strangers to the jewelry business. Both had grandfathers in the business. Jennifer’s grandfather opened Martin Jewelers in Wooster, and Brian worked there for eight years before purchasing Wise Jewelers.
Citing tradition, the McNamaras chose not to change the name of the shop when they purchased it.
“There is too much history associated with Wise Jewelers,” Brian said at the time. “Customers are not going to see any difference in the store.”
Unfortunately, times change and the tough economic times that are affecting almost everybody have not passed by Wise Jewelers.
“Obviously, it’s the economy,” said Brian. “We’re just not doing enough business to stay open. It’s pretty tough. People aren’t coming through the doors, so it’s tough to keep them open. Another thing that has hurt us is gold prices skyrocketing. Going back several years, I remember gold being under $300 an ounce. This year it’s hit over $1,000. That impacts the cost of my merchandise and the cost of supplies when I do the repair work.”
Even the Christmas season hasn’t helped, at least not enough.
“It’s been normal for Christmas time,” McNamara said. “And that might just be because we are running our going out of business sale.”
The date of the store’s closing is not yet known.
“We haven’t set a date in stone yet,” he said. “But we’re thinking the end of January or the end of February. Sometime after the beginning of the year. It depends on how much of the inventory we sell.”
McNamara said the decision to close was a difficult one to make, but closing was the only option he really considered.
“I didn’t even give much thought to trying to sell the store,” he said. “Looking at the numbers, I didn’t think it could be sold. And I’ve been hearing from a lot of other stores that are closing. There are a lot of them out there looking for buyers. So I didn’t really consider selling.”
The store has a good stock of inventory left and is still offering its usual services.
“We still have a nice selection of diamond jewelry, necklaces, earrings, rings and colored jewelry,” McNamara said. “We have a nice selection of watches and clocks. And we’re still doing repair work. We still have a good collection of stuff. It’s still not too late to get that last-minute Christmas gift.”
Even though it’s a sad event for the McNamaras to close the store, Brian said they are appreciative of the support of the community.
“I just really appreciate all the support from the community, both for the store and my family,” McNamara said. “I appreciate their business. It’s been great. It’s a tough decision.”
