Manoli’s Jewelers

Jan 4

In their own words

“I grew up in Greece, where you had to learn a trade to make a living because it was a tough time after the war. We had a neighbor who opened a shop making jewelry. My mother asked him if I could learn how to make jewelry. We were doing everything by hand and didn’t have electricity. We used to work mostly with silver and had to learn how to melt gold with charcoal. Most of us kids were between eleven and seventeen learning the trade—our boss was only twenty-two.”

-Manoli

Jason’s Interview with Manoli

Jason

Today, I want to introduce Manoli from Manoli Jewelers. How did you get into the industry?

Manoli

I'd never had passion for jewelry or anything like that. I grew up in Greece; you had to learn a trade to make a living, because it was a very tough time after the war. We had a neighbor who opened a shop making jewelry. My mother asked him if I could go there and learn how to make jewelry. I wanted to learn jewelry, and that's what I did. At that time, we were doing everything by hand. We didn't even have electricity. I was only eleven. We used to work mostly with silver. We were learning the trade. Our boss was only twenty-two. We had to learn how to melt gold with charcoal.

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Jason
Tell us about the store now and how your wife got into the mix.

Manoli
When I was wrestling, I wrestled all over the world, Australia, Mexico. When I came home, I got married, I didn't want to travel anymore. I was very scared to get into the business because I wasn't sure of myself. Finally, I was in Kansas City; I wrestled on TV. After that, I went to a Greek restaurant to have something to eat. The guy at the restaurant said, "Hey, I'm going to have a person to come here, a jeweler. He will be happy to meet you." I was ready to quit wrestling. So, I went to the shop. I saw equipment that I'd never seen in my life. I realized it was much easier than I thought. I was ready to quit wrestling because I had my first child, and the second one was coming. A salesman told me about a place here in Springfield. I can go there, work, and get back my skill. I worked for a shop for a while, but the shop wasn't doing very well. The person who had it had a jewelry store. He decided to close it. So, I bought the shop. We had two people working at the time, and myself. We were doing good. I hired ten people on the bench. I asked my wife to become a gemologist. I was very proud about the jewelry business. We've been in business for forty-one years.

Jason
Tell us about the store. What does service mean to you?

Manoli
Service means a lot, and to my wife even more. When I do something, I'm afraid to show it to my wife. That's how perfectionist she is. When you make jewelry, be sure it is good quality, and the customer will love it the rest of their life.

Jason
Tell us about some causes and acts of giving back to the community.

Manoli
We're helping the community a lot. We were Outstanding Business of the Year. We started a few charity events, like Diamond Night for the Boys and Girls Town. We started a Christian Orthodox Church here in Springfield and a Greek festival.