Business Community

Van der Veen Jewelers in Uptown closing on Dec. 23

Van der Veen Jewelers in Uptown will close its doors for the final time on Dec. 23, following the death of owner Jann van der Veen at age 80 in April.

Chris Korbel, van der Veen’s son, has been working to prepare the store to close permanently.

Korbel said it’s been a sad and chaotic time. He is grateful for the loyal customers and those who are helping run the store in its final days. He said he has had little time to grieve.

One of van der Veen’s former employees, David Wakely, came out of retirement to help with the sale. Wakely secured a buyer for any leftover inventory after the sale, Korbel said.

“I believe Dave has retired three times now,” Korbel said.

Korbel came into the situation of operating the store in its final months without any jewelry sales experience. He was a teacher before retiring from the South Kitsap School District at the end of last school year.

Korbel began dressing as a taco and holding signs on Point Fosdick Drive to drum up business. It worked, as the shop now has a steady stream of customers — including some who visit more than one time in a day, he said.

Chris Korbel dressed like a taco and held a sign on Point Fosdick Drive to drum up business. Discounts at the store are now up to 75% off. Photo courtesy of Chris Korbel

Seeing a new side of dad

Managing the store and helping customers provided a new perspective on his father, Korbel said. He is getting to know him in a different way.

“My father was an excellent salesman and a fantastic jeweler,” he said. “I think he was very generous. He always contributed to charities. He kept a jar for donations to the Wounded Warrior Project.”

Korbel spends each day interacting with customers who loved his father. They come in to shop, but also to express condolences. The store hosted a small remembrance for Jann in October after many customers requested one.

“I’d like to thank them for being supportive of my father and his dream by being customers,” Korbel said. “And for those who became friends of his, they’re the reason he must have enjoyed going to work every day, even though his health was declining.”

Van der Veen Jewelers will close Dec. 23 after 11 years in the Uptown shopping center. Photo by Marsha Hart

Business complications

Susan, Korbel’s mother and van der Veen’s wife, wasn’t officially listed as an owner of the shop. That has complicated running the business, Korbel said.

“I would love to continue, and in this location, and take it on as a challenge to see if I could keep it successful, but unfortunately my mother was not listed as one of the owners,” he said. “It took working with an attorney a couple of months to get all of that resolved, and the store’s bank account had been locked, and it became very difficult to pay bills.”

Jann van der Veen was born Gertigan Hotze van der Veen in 1945 in the Netherlands. His family moved to Portland, Oregon, when he was 15 years old.

Jann van der Veen in 2022. Photo courtesy Chris Korbel

He entered the jewelry business in 1972, when he learned how to set diamonds and do repairs. Susan said Jann had been working at a computer store in Los Angeles and wanted a change.

A friend suggested diamond setting as a new career, and he took to the work. He eventually opened a jewelry repair store in Bakersfield along with a fellow Dutchman, and named the business Dutch Jewelers.

The family moved to Gig Harbor in 1994. Van der Veen owned Diamond Expressions in The Commons in Federal Way and another store on Bainbridge Island. Susan said that the Uptown store, which opened 11 years ago, was his dream. He made many friends at his shop.

Van der Veen Jewelers is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday through Dec. 23.