This month’s joke-teller has come a long way since his first job as a part-time jewelry store stock-boy.
[h5]ABOUT OUR JOKER[/h5]
In 1970, when Joe Donlon was 16, a family friend called and offered him a part-time stock-boy gig in a jewelry store. “They would pay me $1.25 per hour and I would get paid every Friday,” Donlon recalls. “I needed an 8-track stereo for my $200 used car, so I said “You betcha.” But, as these stories go, that was only the beginning of a long career in jewelry.
Donlon earned his diamond grading certificate from GIA and became interested in watch repair, learning the craft from the store’s watchmaker. When the store closed in 1983, he was immediately recruited by a high-end jeweler at the local mall, where he obtained his GIA colored-stone certificate and created and managed the watch department. Finally, in 2001, he started his own business, Donlon’s Quality Time watch repair shop in his home in Ventura, CA. He does work for 12 retail stores and his business is growing. “The only thing I hate is the commute from upstairs to downstairs,” Donlon says.
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[span class=note]This story is from the January 2010 edition of INSTORE[/span]
Four Decades of Excellence: How Wilkerson Transformed a Jeweler's Retirement into Celebration
After 45 years serving the Milwaukee community, Treiber & Straub Jewelers owner Michael Straub faced a significant life transition. At 75, the veteran jeweler made a personal decision many business owners understand: "I think it's time. I want to enjoy my wife with my grandchildren for the next 10, 15 years."
Wilkerson's expertise transformed this major business transition into an extraordinary success. Their comprehensive approach to managing the going-out-of-business sale created unprecedented customer response—with lines forming outside the store and limits on how many shoppers could enter at once due to fire safety regulations.
The results exceeded all expectations. "Wilkerson did a phenomenal job," Straub enthuses. "They were there for you through the whole thing, helped you with promoting it, helping you on day-to-day business. I can't speak enough for how well they did." The partnership didn't just facilitate a business closing; it created a celebratory finale to decades of service while allowing Straub to confidently step into his well-earned retirement.
