YOUNGSTOWN Jerry Lee's Jewelry to close its Boardman location

The downtown store has the same name but different owners.
By CYNTHIA VINARSKY
VINDICATOR BUSINESS WRITER
BOARDMAN -- Jerry Lee's Jewelry here is liquidating its merchandise and will close by the end of October, but the Jerry Lee's Jewelry store in downtown Youngstown is not affected and will continue operating.
Jerry Lee spokesman Richard Thomashow said the decision to close the store at 7684 Market St. in the Spartan Square plaza came after an owner, John Kunic of Pittsburgh, announced he would no longer be a part of the Boardman business. No reason was given, Thomashow said, and Kunic could not be reached to comment.
Thomashow, who shared management of the stores with Kunic, said officials had to make a decision on which one to close. "It's a judgment call," he said. "We've been downtown almost 50 years, and we've built a good relationship with the people downtown. Besides, we're the only jeweler downtown, and there are lots of other jewelers in Boardman. We decided to stay downtown."
Thomashow said that he feels more at home at the downtown store, and that he doesn't have the energy to try to run both.
Different owners
Although they share the same name, he said, the stores have different owners and are operated under separate corporations.
Majority owners in the Boardman store were Kunic, who served as president and treasurer, and Thomashow's wife, Susan. Susan Thomashow and her mother are majority owners of the downtown store on Federal Plaza.
Kunic's decision to drop out of the business came at a bad time, Thomashow said, because the Boardman store had just accepted delivery of tens of thousands of dollars worth of merchandise for the Christmas season. "That left me in a deep hole. We had no choice but to liquidate," he said.
One full-time employee will be affected by the Boardman store closing. The downtown store has five full- and part-time employees.
The owners' main concern is to preserve Jerry Lee's good reputation with customers and vendors, Richard Thomashow said.
Plans are to sell all the Boardman store merchandise as quickly as possible at deep discounts, with the sale to end Oct. 25 or sooner. When the sale ends, the store will hire a liquidator to sell any remaining fixtures and merchandise.
The sale does not affect prices at the downtown store. The owners can't move the jewelry from Boardman to the downtown store, Thomashow explained, because separate corporations can't intermingle their merchandise.
Business's history
Jerry Lee's Jewelers was founded in 1958 when Jerome D. Lieblich bought Jimmy Livingston's jewelry business at 230 W. Federal St. Lieblich wanted to keep the marble entryway decorated with Livingston's initials, J.L., so he named his store Jerry Lee's.
Kunic worked at the downtown store for 30 years, Thomashow said. When the owners decided to open a store in Boardman in the early 1990s they decided to reward Kunic for his loyalty by inviting him to be a partner.
Jerry Lee's first Boardman location was in the Tiffany Square Plaza, but it moved to Spartan Square in 1999.
Thomashow said sales have been decent at the Boardman store, and lack of parking has been the only problem plaguing the downtown store.
He said owners are confident that business will pick up at the downtown store when Federal Plaza is removed to allow two-way traffic in the plaza area.
vinarsky@vindy.com