By Daniel Larios
Staff Writer

September 19, 2014 -- On a sunny Friday afternoon in Santa Monica, Tony Ayoub is busy behind the counter of The Jewel Shop on Third Street Promenade talking with a customer as if they are old friends.

A life-long jeweler, Ayoub taps his encyclopedic knowledge of watches while showing some of his merchandise, dispensing advice on which bands and cases go great together.

“He was a joy to deal with, honest and straight forward with high attention to customer service,” the patron says as he leaves the store. “It’s nice to see places like the Jewel Shop still exist in this day and age where customer service seems to have gone out the window.”
 
That day, customers may have been drawn by the sign on the front window of the 1,000-square-foot mom-and-pop store with a big-brand look. The sign promotes a 40 percent discount to commemorate the 40-year anniversary of the shop.

Over those four decades, Ayoub has had a front row seat for what has proved to be one of the most dramatic transformations of a shopping strip in recent history.

An immigrant from Egypt, Ayoub started his business career in Santa Monica in 1970 working for Jo Mizrahi, a man he considered a mentor and father figure, in a retail shop in the 1400 block of 3rd Street.

Four years later, he decided to go into business for himself and set up The Jewel Shop in a 400- square-foot space on Third Street, selling jewelry and low-end watches from India to locals.

“I fell in love with Santa Monica,” Ayoub says. “I started light, because that was all I could afford back then. I got myself through.

“Santa Monica in those days was a friendly city, where you got the locals and visitors from neighboring cities. That’s how I started.”

Ayoub watched from his window as the three-block stretch went from a much-touted makeover in 1965 to a struggling row of second-hand shops and vacant storefronts unable to keep up with the sparkling air-conditioned mall that opened its doors at the strip’s southern end in 1980.

“There were some empty shops and some homeless and you had to be careful going out at night,” Ayoub recalls. “We struggled a little bit, like any business. But I had a good number of local loyal customers who still come by to buy from the store.”

In 1989, Ayoub watched as the streets were torn up and the “Promenade” put in place. Soon the pedestrian-only strip was swarming with moviegoers and shoppers, diners and crowds watching colorful street performers.
 
“We have generous shoppers here in Santa Monica and we get great traffic from the tourist business here,” he says. “The Promenade became like an international destination. The people come from all over the U.S. or from Europe.

“They’ve been here and they come back because they enjoy it, they love it and they feel safe. It’s our duty to maintain that level of trust.”

With thousands of potential customers a day flocking to the strip, many from abroad, Ayoub’s business boomed.

“That’s when I realized that demand got bigger for the high end, Swiss watches,” he says. “So I pulled a switch from what I used to carry, and I started upgrading my inventory and the look of my store. I renovated the whole store to suit the high-end brands.”

Since the Promenade took off, Ayoub has had plenty of celebrity customers, most recently Indiana Jones himself, Harrison Ford.

“We get a lot of famous clients. Some live local, some they just come to discover what we offer. Here we get people from all walks of life, from high to low. Whether you want to spend $100 or $1,000, we’re here to serve you.”
 
A third generation jewelry dealer, Ayoub says he is thankful Santa Monica gave him the ideal place to thrive in the family business that started in Egypt with his grandfather.

“Santa Monica is part of my life. I started here in my early 20s, 40 years down now,” he says. “I don’t know what I would do if I go into retirement. It would be kind of hard for me.

“We built up a lot of good relationships with our local people, management, the police department, and the maintenance people. They’re decent, they’re nice. We became like family.”

Ayoub hopes that one day his children, a daughter and a son, will take over the shop for him.