After nearly 55 years in the business, master jeweler Ron Oakley is retiring, bidding farewell alongside his beloved Lakeland store, Oakley Jewelers.
Oakley said his father opened the store in 1947. He handed the keys to Oakley in the 1980s, though Oakley had been sizing rings for his dad s business since he was 13. They didn t have child labor laws when I started, Oakley said, laughing.
Oakley, 67, said he had been contemplating retirement for some time. Business was already slow because of COVID-19 when one of his longtime employees, Matt Claville, said he was moving to Georgia. Oakley decided that while he could keep his business alive, it was time for him to rest.