After a storied 75 years of serving the community, Husar's House of Fine Diamonds, a revered institution in West Bend, Wisconsin, is shutting its doors. The family-owned jewelry store, which expanded from a modest 200 square feet to a significant 15,000 square feet of retail space, announced its impending closure yesterday, November 3. Owners Mike Husar and Mary Husar Martin are stepping down into retirement, concluding a chapter that began with Marvin Husar in 1951.
The closure is a significant moment for West Bend, recalling memories of engagements, anniversaries, and expressions of affection through the store's offerings. In a statement obtained by CBS 58 News, Mike Husar echoed the sentiment, stating, "That’s going to be hardest part of walking away from this." Despite the exact closure date remaining undetermined, Husar's anticipates the final day to align with the depletion of inventory, possibly before Christmas.
Generations of local families have frequented Husar's House of Fine Diamonds for their most precious purchases. The store's reputation for quality and service is mirrored by customers such as Jayne Peplinski, who expressed her disbelief regarding the change, telling CBS 58 News, "I don’t even know what the streets are gonna be like when I don’t see the Husar name." Husar himself affirmed the store's legacy of being part of customers' landmark moments in life.
While the physical storefront is ceasing operation, the Husar legacy is expected to endure through the jewelry pieces and the memories they represent. "We were there for people in those memorable moments and they’re gonna remember us and we’re still gonna cherish and remember a lot of those events," Mike Husar told CBS 58 News. Husar's tenure as the largest independent jewelry store in the state, and its role in the community's cherished moments, is an era that local residents are unlikely, to forget anytime soon.
For more details about the closing and the store's history, readers can find the original social media announcement on Husar's House of Fine Diamonds' Facebook page, as reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
