Another facet of Salewsky's Jewelry is watch repair. Frank Salwesky, the owner, said he re-sizes the straps to anywhere in between 15-20 watches a week that were purchased on the internet.
Fred Salewsky, owner of Salewsky's Jewelry, talks about he got into the business on Friday afternoon at his downtown Centralia shop.
Fred Salewsky, owner of Salewsky's Jewelry in Centralia, has collected clocks for about 40 years, making his shop on Tower Avenue a veritable museum of timekeeping technology.
Fred Salewsky, owner of Salewsky's Jewelry, turns on the lights behind an antique cash register at his store on Tower Avenue in downtown Centralia on Friday afternoon.
Figurines sit on display in a showcase at Salewsky's Jewelry in downtown Centralia on Friday.
Salewsky's Jewelry in Centralia is packed floor to ceiling with owner Fred Salewsky's clock collection, among its offerings of unique jewelry not found at chain stores.
An abundance of necklaces are on display in a showcase at Salewsky's Jewelry in downtown Centralia on Friday.
Fred Salewsky, owner of Salewsky's Jewelry, stands in between cases of watches and necklaces at his store in downtown Centralia on Friday afternoon.
A steady tick, tick, ticking of clocks fills the air at Salewsky’s Jewelry in downtown Centralia, but owner Fred Salewsky said it doesn’t get on his nerves.
“If it’s not ticking, it’s more bothersome,” he said.
In the past 40 or so years, Salewsky has collected hundreds of clocks, from a 10-foot-tall grandfather clock, to wall-hanging and mantlepiece models, some dating to the 1800s.
The majority are carefully stacked practically from floor to ceiling at the shop.
“When you start buying two or three a year for 40 years, all of a sudden you have a lot of clocks,” he said.
Salewsky’s hobby is not surprising given the history clocks have played in his family’s business.
Scattered throughout Centralia and the surrounding area are still hundreds of Bulova wall clocks bearing the family name.
“My dad would buy hundreds of clocks and give them away,” Salewsky said.
At one time, all of the classrooms in area schools had the clocks, he said. Today, many area businesses and offices still do, such as the Lewis County Clerk’s Office and McMenamins’s Olympic Club. Fred Salewsky still services the antiques, which he said are now worth about $200 each.
“When people keep bringing them in, I keep fixing them,” he said. “I still get some of the old teachers.”
Fred’s father, Ben Salewsky, founded Salewsky’s Jewelry in 1947 after working at the shop under a different owner for a few years. In the military, he worked in an ordnance division — providing supplies for troops — but as a young boy, perhaps 6 or 7 years old, Ben Salewsky would tear apart and fix his friends’ pocket watches.
Fred Salewsky started working in his dad’s shop in the early 1970s, but said he never intended to take over the family business.
“I didn’t know what else to do,” he said. “I wanted to sell insurance.”
Today, Salewsky’s hasn’t changed much since the 1970s.
“We’ve been doing pretty much exactly what we did 40 years ago,” he said.
Even the employees have stayed the same. Salewsky and his family run the store with employee Marian Street, who Salewsky said started working at the store at about the same time as him.
A few things have changed. The store sells less flatware and china than in the past, and has moved toward single wedding rings rather than the interlocking wedding sets that have since gone out of fashion.
While he joked that his children think he’s old-fashioned, Salewsky said he prefers to shy away from fads.
“We try to stay away from anything that would be carried by a chain store,” he said.
The store also offers repairs both on products it carries and doesn’t carry. The store sees a particularly high volume of customers needing watch bands adjusted.
“I repair different things that other people can’t repair,” he said.
Above all, Salewsky said he works to create loyalty among his customers.
“My concern is getting you to come back in,” he said.
