After more than 70 years, Lou Goldberg Jeweller will sparkle no more as it closes its doors for the last time on Saturday afternoon.
The Westmount institution, currently run by the founder’s two sons, was founded in 1946 when Goldberg began selling his wares door-to-door.
“He started the business basically out of his pocket,” said son Eric Goldberg. “He had a special vest made with a lot of different pockets and he’d go from house to house showing people by appointment the jewelry that he had to sell.”
The first showroom was opened in 1957 and eventually moved to Greene Ave. in 1976. The jeweller moved down the street in 1994 to its current location.
“We have employees, one of them has been here since 1961 and another one for about 40 years,” said Goldberg. “Our employees are like family to us and so are our customers.”
While Lou Goldberg instilled a love of gems in his children from a young age, the business itself has changed dramatically in recent years.
"Younger people are not even bother to put a wristwatch on, they're looking at the time on their computers and cell phones," said Goldberg. "My son would go skiing or snowboarding. Why buy a piece of jewelry?"
While closing the store became inevitable after Eric’s oldber brother Joel decided to retire,
The decision to close came after Eric’s older brother Joel decided to retire. But while the family store will close, its legacy will live on in another form.
“This whole thing is too much for one person to run,” said Eric. “So we’re going to close this. Joel’s going to do some different things, still in the business, he’s going to travel. I’m going to open a small little store in Westmount at the beginning of the year.”
