Gleim the Jeweler closing University Avenue store

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Gleim the Jeweler closing University Avenue store

May 14, 2009

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Due to the recession, longtime California retail jeweler Gleim the Jeweler is closing its store on University Avenue in Palo Alto, Calif. Its two other stores in California will remain open.

Palo Alto, Calif.--Longtime California retailer Gleim the Jeweler is closing one of its three stores in response to the economic slowdown, the company announced this week.

Gleim the Jeweler soon will close its store on University Avenue in Palo Alto, Calif., but its two other stores, in Los Altos, Calif., and in the Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto, will remain in business.

Frederick Gleim, grandfather of the store's current owner Georgie Gleim, opened the University Avenue Gleim the Jeweler store in 1931.

The company opened its Stanford Shopping Center store in 1956 and expanded again in 1980 with the opening of the Los Altos store.

Georgie Gleim said closing the University Avenue store was a difficult decision, as some Palo Alto families have shopped at the store for three generations, but it was not longer viable for the company to operate three jewelry stores.

"Our University Avenue and Stanford Shopping Center stores are only five minutes apart," she said. "In the current economy, even with the love I have for this store, it no longer makes any sense to operate two stores so close together. As a three-generation family business, we've had a lot of experience with recessions. This time, we are going to step back, reduce inventory and overhead, and begin the process of re-inventing Gleim the Jeweler for the future."

A farewell sales event will begin at the store immediately, featuring a multi-million dollar collection of diamonds, precious gemstones, fine jewelry and watches.

"This is the first sale of this magnitude in our entire history," Gleim said. "We have three stores bursting with inventory and we will shortly have only two. With such a brief time to conduct our store-closing event, we are steeply discounting our stock from the very first day of the sale. We've scoured our vaults and gathered up all our treasures from three stores. The entire collection is now displayed at University Avenue. We've created a spectacular opportunity for our customers to acquire exquisite jewelry at prices we have never offered in 78 years."

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