Andrea Markey
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (July 06/05) - After almost 24 years at Eldonn's Jewellery, Joyce and Gordon Humphreys are moving on to new (ad)ventures.

Effective Canada Day, they sold the business to John and Gail Probe.

After almost 24 years at Eldonn's Jewellery, Joyce and Gordon Humphreys, right, are moving on. They have sold the business to John and Gail Probe.

"We snooped around and it took us a long time to find someone good," Joyce said. "We turned down three people before finding John."

Finding the right person was very important to the Humphreys. The store had been their lives, six days a week for 23 and a half years, she said.

"I'm going to miss Yellowknife gold and NWT diamonds," she said. "But most of all, it is the customers who I will remember."

Some customers knew of the switch-over, and many came in the last day to say good-bye.

"I've been crying on a lot of shoulders today," she said.

The Humphreys will be gone from the jewelry store but will maintain a presence in town. They are partners in a new rental property across from Boston Pizza, just "down the street" from the jewelry store.

Never wanting to leave the store for very long, they had never really had a vacation, she said. Right now, they are in British Columbia visiting one of their daughters and grandson for "a while."

The jewelry business is not new for the new owners of Eldonn's. John managed a People's Jewellers in Edmonton for a number of years.

He was in town for two weeks before the switch to get some tips from the Humphreys, he said.

The exciting and hectic days allowed time to go over the computer systems, jewelry machinery and the first attempts to remember customers' names.

"They have run the store for a very long time and we will try to keep it going like they did," he said.