Closing store is bittersweet

FOSTORIA — It isn't easy for Alan Kaminsky to walk away from a 76-year family legacy – 47 of which directly involved him and his wife, Teri. But once all of the merchandise is sold in their retirement/going-out-of-business sale, Alan Kaminsky Jewelers, at 111 S. Main St., will close its doors for good, ending a run that began in 1948 with his father, Jack, and Jack's twin brother, Albert, both of whom are now deceased. "It's not for lack of business," Alan Kaminsky, 67, said, seated in an office off the storefront, where all of the remaining items are on sale. "We've been very busy in here. But we're just ready to slow down. Teri and I have been doing this for 47 years. And since the fire across the street (in 2008) and we reopened here, it's just been the two of us. We've got grandkids. We'll go to their sporting events and see them. Yeah, we're just ready to slow down. It's just time." He said the decision is bittersweet. "This was my dad's baby. Seventy-six years." For about 30 years, father and son worked together at a store that had been a constant in Fostoria's downtown and was the city's lone remaining jewelry shop. "They started with just a small smattering of jewelry and watches, and they grew it," Alan Kaminsky said. "My dad was still going to work at 88 years old the day of that fire. ... That was his last day in to work. He'd still be going to work today if he were here. They'd have to drag him out of the store, I think." The elder Kaminskys grew up in Toledo, became watchmaker after World War II and decided to open a store in Fostoria after having been to the city to visit a sister who had married into the Burger shoe-selling family. Alan and Teri were high-school sweethearts, having graduated from Fostoria High School in 1974 and 1976, respectively. Also, Albert Kaminsky moved to Findlay, where he opened a store. While Teri first became a nurse before gravitating into the Kaminsky family business, Alan had learned about the industry during his time in the store while growing up. He then went on to earn his degree in business at the University of Toledo. And while he didn't immediately return to Fostoria, jewelry remained at his fingertips. "This is all I've ever done, my entire career," Alan said. "I graduated from Toledo, and my first job out of school was working for JCPenney in the Adrian Mall. We opened up a fine jewelry department in the JCPenney store in Adrian, Michigan. I lived there and did that for two years. Then I came back and joined my dad in 1979 and got married to Teri. "She's the one who made me come home, I guess," he said with a laugh. "I joined my dad in 1979 and I've been here every since." The Kaminskys were fortunate enough to remove their most valuable pieces from the building before the fire of 2008 could wipe them out. They stored those goods elsewhere for months before reopening, but it wasn't long before the nation's recession prompted another temporary closure.That provided a revelation to the Kaminskys. "Teri and I each tried to do something else in a different business and we weren't happy," Alan Kaminsky said. "This was all I'd ever done. And I realized then, after doing something else, that we need to do this. That's why we decided to come back. This was an old jewelry store that was open, and we came back and reopened and brought in all new fixtures and lighting." The Kaminskys have gone through a variety of industry changes, such as the advent and influence of the internet, the prices of gold, the introduction of lab-created diamonds and the functions of watches. And, though one may not think so, watches are still popular. "We've sold a lot of watches," Kaminsky said. "A lot of the younger people now actually are wanting to wear a wristwatch. I know everybody thinks we don't sell watches anymore because of cellphones. We sell quite a few of them. We always have. I think I had 70 or 80 watches before the sale started and I think I counted that we're down to five or six through the sale." Kaminsky said he kept the promise he made to his father to keep the store going, and he credits his wife with making that possible. "She's the one who kept this place operating. I was just along for the ride," he said with a smile. "She gets all the credit. I couldn't have done it without her." Kaminsky said he and Teri will miss the customers and their loyalty and the "hustle and bustle" of the store, while also noting that they feel badly about Fostoria residents having to shop for jewelry out of town unless someone else takes the Kaminskys'. But he said there's still time for a few more memories and sales before they lock the doors and see what the future holds, though they'll continue to live in Fostoria. "We'll be here for a while," he said. "We still have merchandise left, so we're going to keep pushing." The Kaminskys' final sale is taking place on a week-to-week basis. The store's current hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.