by Kirby Laney, posted 11 June 2020
On June 12th, Olympic Jewelry marks it’s two-year anniversary in Fremont. Yet, the company goes back decades, and its heritage traces back to the Grand Bazaar of Istanbul, Turkey. “I’m fifth generation jeweler on my mom’s side,” explained Michael Wanaka, President of Olympic Jewelry. It was his grandfather, Edward Basoglu, who moved here and opened this store in 1979, then on 5th and Olive across the street from the Fairmont Olympic Hotel.
“Since we’ve opened,” Wanaka said, referring to the original business, “we’ve been known as a store that has nice, unique jewelry that you won’t find anywhere else.” In addition to a curated assortment of antique and contemporary fine jewelry, Olympic Jewelry offers repairs, appraisals, consignment, and bespoke custom design services, plus jewelry loans and purchases. According to Wanaka, Olympic Jewelry “is a classic, small, family jewelry store.”
A Move To The Center
Wanaka’s grandfather transplanted to the U.S. to avoid religious persecution, as a Christian, in Turkey. He worked at Macy’s (then Bon Marché) before opening his own store. He operated his shop until 2001, when he ‘soft’ retired and his daughter, Jizel Wanaka, took over the business. They relocated to office space inside the Medical-Dental Building, and there continued to look after scores of satisfied customers.
As a young boy, Wanaka cleaned the glass at the shop and ran errands, but in his training to become a jeweler in his own right, he went to work, for five years, at Ben Bridge Jeweler. Part of that time he worked at Northgate Mall, learning retail and gaining experience with storefront situations and walk-by customers.
After Wanaka came back to Olympic Jewelry, he and his mother, Jizel, and his sister, Kyla Rocchi, looked into moving the shop back onto the street. The decision to move to Fremont came through their membership in the Women’s Jewelry Association. Another member, Lisa Mageterri, posted that she wanted to sell her business, Fremont Jewelry Design, and Wanaka saw it as an opportunity.
After two years here, he’s still pleased with the decision. “There was a surprising amount of foot traffic around the store,” Wanaka said, “more than I expected.” At five or six o’clock in the evenings, pre-COVID-19, he’d see lots of young professionals out walking the neighborhood, shopping and eating, and enjoying the Center of the Universe.
The move to Fremont from Downtown Seattle set a slower pace for the shop, and as a destination business – one most people decide to visit rather than stumbling upon – their customers appreciate being able to find free street parking nearby. Wanaka also likes having the large windows that look out on Fremont Place, and give them a setting for showcasing special items.
Navigating COVID-19
Olympic Jewelry didn’t have much business during the ‘Stay Home’ pandemic prevention period, but they were open, by appointment. As a financial business, one that offers loans and pawn services, Olympic Jewelry was designated ‘essential.’ Since 1979, these services, and this license, has been part of their business. As the financial crisis caused by the pandemic has worsened, Wanaka has been speaking with clients struggling to find money to pay for the basics their families need, and he fears how much worse it may get if everyone doesn’t get back to work soon.
He remains optimistic about his business, and his adopted neighborhood. Olympic Jewelry joined the Fremont Chamber of Commerce when they moved here, and Wanaka serves on the Chamber Board of Directors. He’s heard the concerns of the community for its survival, but he sees us as able to manage. “For the neighborhood, I think it will be okay,” he said, “once restaurants and the bars can open, I think the neighborhood will be okay.”
As to cancellation of the fundraising, community building Fremont Street Fair, Wanaka admitted, “it’s a big loss.” His own business hasn’t been open during the Fair, but he knows this will be a hardship for the small vendors who sold there, and other neighborhood shops. “Losing anything that brings people to the neighborhood in a positive way,” he said, “is a big loss.”
For Wanaka, and his wife and baby, the festivities this year are going to be missed. “This was the year that I was going to have fun,” he admitted.
The loss of the tourism, in Seattle and Fremont, is something, “I’ve been trying not to think about,” Wanaka admitted. He sees a resilience in our small businesses, in the owners and employees, that he trusts can find a way to survive. “I think the big question is how long are the big tech companies,” along the ‘silicon canal’, i.e. Google, Tableau, Geocaching, Adobe, etc. “going to keep their people at home?” He fears for his neighbors, like Palmi Korean and Triangle Spirits, if the young professionals don’t return.
The Enduring Appeal Of Jewelry
As restrictions lift, Wanaka remains positive. “I expect there will be a big demand,” he said of fine jewelry and engagement pieces. As to limits on occupancy and distance, Wanaka has been joking about it. The Olympic Jewelry store is small and even in early March, when business was bustling, they rarely had more than one or two people in at a time. “Ninety percent of the time,” he said, “it is a single person, or a couple,” that stop in.
Stopping in would be wise, especially for those seeking one-of-a-kind pieces that can become family heirlooms and treasured keepsakes. Among the vintage and estate jewelry they carry, Olympic has pieces created more than a century ago, that have no equal.
Wanaka does work with engaged, or soon-to-be-engaged, couples. “I’ve had some clients push their weddings back a year,” he acknowledged, and the lock-down dealt a hard blow to many potentially engaged couples. “This is traditionally the time of year,” Wanaka said, “the weather gets nice, and people want to propose.”
An adage of jewelry is its use as an apology. “Men do come in and say, ‘I’m in the doghouse,” Wanaka acknowledged, “and we ask, ‘How bad is it?’” They haven’t seen too much of that yet, but Olympic Jewelry does provide tennis bracelets, diamond stud earrings, and diamond solitaire necklaces that often mend figurative fences.
Of course, with the financial insecurity many now feel, the appeal of fine jewelry has another argument in its favor – “a diamond is forever,” Wanaka observed, from the old De Beers’ ads. “I’m wearing my Grandfather’s diamond ring,” he admitted, “a ring that he bought for himself.” Olympic Jewelry buys unwanted jewelry, and that market will likely see an uptick, but so may the idea of jewelry as an investment in uncertain times. “It is always worth something,” Wanaka recognized.
Olympic Jewelry also offers restyling of old jewelry – taking the precious parts of a piece from the family jewelry collection and turning it into something more modern or useful, or both. “We do loads of it,” Wanaka said, even doing some custom work from scratch.
They also do repairs and maintenance, and recommend customers bring precious pieces for check-ups. “It’s better to secure a stone,” that may be coming loose, Wanaka observed, “than to have to replace it.” It’s an idea that many customers don’t consider. “People are surprised when we suggest it,” Wanaka said of maintenance checks, “It’s like servicing your car,” to get more life and a better look to the piece.
Moving Forward
For his own industry, Wanaka acknowledged a sad truth, “the jewelry business saw a spike in demand after 9/11 happened. When people focus on what matters, they buy what lasts.”
As Fremont reopens, it is to be hoped that all our businesses can be as optimistic and confident in their industry and their customers as Wanaka seeks to be. In any event, to have businesses operating for decades, either here or elsewhere, shows that we can all survive if we keep moving forward, together.
“It’s a small, nice, suburban neighborhood,” Wanaka said, “Fremont is a neat neighborhood to walk around,” and the hope is that once they can leave their homes, shoppers will find their way back to the Center of the Universe.
Related Articles
- True Facts From A Fremont Retailer
- by Kirby Lindsay Laney, November 25, 2013
- Seattle SBA Welcomes More Demand From Small Businesses
- by Kirby Lindsay Laney, October 10, 2017
- Where We Welcome Favs From The Past
- by Kirby Lindsay Laney, February 22, 2012
- Jim Higgins, And The ‘Disneyland’ Of Markets
- by Kirby Lindsay Laney, November 17, 2015
©2020 Kirby S. Laney. This column is protected by intellectual property laws, including U.S. copyright laws. Reproduction, adaptation or distribution without permission is prohibited.