Retirement ‘bittersweet’ for Zeke’s Jewellers owner

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This article was published 15/11/2021 (1402 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

John Zeke is still mentally processing the idea of retirement.

After four decades of managing his family’s business, Zeke’s Jewellers, he’s decided to step away.

The shop has been a mainstay of the Westman area since 1960 when Walter Zeke opened up his first store in Neepawa.

Once John inherited his father’s business in 1981, he oversaw its transition into Brandon and eventually established its current location at the corner of Ninth Street and Rosser Avenue in 1986.

While the Zeke’s Jewellers storefront has remained a permanent fixture of the downtown core since then, the 62-year-old announced earlier this month that he is going to retire and will be getting rid of his remaining inventory through a “store closing” sale.

“It’s going to be 41 years by the time the year is over, and I just feel it’s time to enjoy life in a different way,” he told the Sun Saturday afternoon.

Of course, closing down the business wasn’t Zeke’s initial exit strategy.

At first, he actually tried to sell the store but abandoned that option once he couldn’t find a manager who could do this highly-specialized field justice.

Zeke also didn’t have the option of passing down the family business to any of his children.

“My kids have different careers and their career path didn’t include getting into the retail business,” he said. “So that’s why after many years, I decided to make this decision.”

Since making his retirement plans public, Zeke told the Sun that he’s been inundated with supportive comments from longtime customers, some of whom have been buying their jewelry from this store for decades.

“They are disappointed, in some way, that we’re not going to be here, because we’ve looked after them for so many years,” he said. “But they understand that personal decisions had to be made and they’ve given me lots of accolades and told me to ‘enjoy myself’ and to ‘have fun.’”

Zeke’s personal feelings about retiring are similarly conflicted since he’s been involved with the store’s affairs for the majority of his life.

Zeke recalls helping his dad run the shop as a kid, which gave him a foundational understanding of how to run the business years before he would officially take the reins.

Coupled with a GIA diamond grader designation and bachelor of commerce degree from the University of Manitoba, Zeke used this keen insight to further expand the business into Saskatchewan, establishing locations in North Battleford, Moose Jaw and Yorkton with help from his brother, Dave.

Even though these satellite stores are currently closed or winding down, Zeke remains tremendously proud of how he and his team managed to succeed and thrive throughout this period.

“I’ve seen a lot of changes, but our business has blossomed. Even with the pandemic, we’ve had great years,” he said. “So it is bittersweet. But I just feel that it’s time — with my age — to move on.”

As it stands, Zeke plans to run the going-out-of-business sale until at least Christmas.

However, the business owner also wants to reassure the public that he’s working behind the scenes to ensure that this downtown storefront doesn’t remain empty for very long once he vacates the premises.

And while he doesn’t have any concrete plans for the future after the retirement sale wraps up, Zeke wants to use these final weeks to thank his employees, customers and the Westman community in general for making Zeke’s Jewellers a household name for over half a century.

“Without the support of the local community and our clients we wouldn’t be here,” he said. “I couldn’t have done it without everybody’s help and with[out] people putting their trust in our company.”

» kdarbyson@brandonsun.com

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