Long before he closed up shop Jan. 26, jeweller Don Johnson Jr. was trying to find a new manager for his family-owner business that’s been operating in Thompson for over half-a-century.
But Johnson wasn’t able to solidify a deal in time and will be dismantling the jewelry store instead.
“I’ll make plans to have movers come in and remove all the fixtures and get her down to the concrete,” he said. “It’s terrible to have to shoot the golden goose.”
When Johnson started this process of finding a replacement half-a-year ago, he originally envisioned an agreement similar to that of Nor-Man Glass, which has been under several different management teams after its original owner retired.
“Don Johnson Jewellers could have been the same thing where we slide somebody new in, train them and get them up with the systems,” he said. “When people come in they don’t come in to buy from Don Johnson. They come to Don Johnson Jewellers.”
While Johnson is sad he couldn’t close this kind of deal in time and carry on the family name, he wants to get out of this limbo and simply enjoy his retirement.
“I do know that I’ve given my due diligence and done everything in my power to find a new owner for the citizens of the north,” he said. “It’s very frustrating on my behalf … I’ve been living this for probably six months now, preparing for it and I just presumed at some point that somebody would come along.”
Johnson also feels bad for his loyal customer base, who will now have to trek to Flin Flon, The Pas or Winnipeg if they want to get their hands on the same kind of merchandise.
“There’s 65,000 people in our trading area and they all need watch batteries,” he said. “They need birthday presents, they need Christmas presents, anniversaries, if they want to get married they need to buy a marriage licence, wedding bands.”
Johnson said there is still a market to sell high-end jewelry in Northern Manitoba, since Don Johnson Jewellers experienced its most profitable year in 2017. He hopes that a local entrepreneur will take advantage of this high demand in the future and try to fill the void left by his family’s jewelry store.
“Thank you for supporting the north for 56 years and keep doing it if you want to still have businesses,” Johnson said, addressing his customers directly. “It’s been just a little slice of heaven.”
Don Johnson Jewellers was founded in 1962 and has been a staple of Thompson’s business community ever since.
In November 2018, Johnson, who took over the store from his father Don Johnson Sr. in 1987, announced that he was retiring and began selling off his inventory until Jan. 26.
