Jewelry store to close after 50 years in downtown SLO. This is why
After 50 years in downtown San Luis Obispo, a popular jewelry store plans to close at the end of the year.
The Gold Concept Jewelry and Design, operated by former San Luis Obispo City Councilman Aaron Gomez and his brother Devin, announced it’s ending its five-decade run.
“After 50 years and two generations, we are closing our brick-and-mortar store” at 740 Higuera St., the business said via a Facebook post. “We have had a wonderful run and cannot be more grateful for such amazing community support.”
“Over the five decades we have had the privilege of sharing stories with so many amazing employees and clients,” The Gold Concept added in the post. “We will remain open through the end of the year and transition to have an online store for any remaining jewelry. If there is anything you were eyeing now would be the time to get it!”
Discounts of 50% are currently offered and customers can take advantage of deals until the store closes.
Aaron Gomez said the family-owned commercial property will lease the space to a new tenant. He identified that tenant as an existing downtown business that will be moving but declined to name it, citing the privacy of the tenant until the business is ready to make an announcement.
“We’ve literally seen multiple generations of customers,” Gomez said. “That part will definitely be missed and being able to chat with people. ...I’d get into conversations with people about the realities of the jewelry industry and sustainability and how you can make choices that are better for the environment versus others.”
History of downtown SLO jewelry business
The Gold Concept was started in 1971 by Aaron and Devin Gomez’s father, Anthony Gomez, and his partner at the time, Brad Bilsten.
Bilsten told The Tribune that Anthony Gomez and he were lab assistants for Cal Poly jewelry instructor J.B. Rea, under a program that no longer exists at the university.
Bilsten said they learned of a craftsman space in the Network Mall in downtown SLO, and they split a $40 per month rental fee to sell their jewelry — a venture that set them on their career course.
They started out as the Gold Crucible, but changed the business name to the Gold Concept due to another business having claimed the Gold Crucible name before they did. The new name allowed them to keep a “GC” sign they’d established, Bilsten said.
The partners remained in the Network for the first 19 years, also expanding into a building on Chorro Street, before occupying commercial spaces at 674 Higuera St. and later 740 Higuera St.
Bilsten and Gomez parted ways as business partners after more than four decades about 10 years ago.
Bilsten now operates B. Anthony & Company Jewelers at 674 Higuera St. in San Luis Obispo, his own business.
“We had a great partnership and Anthony and I still own anther building in downtown SLO together (where the Mark Bar and Grill is located),” Bilsten said. “We always got along and worked so well together. How many partners can stay together for 40 years like we did?”
Gomez family involvement
Aaron Gomez said that his father moved to San Luis Obispo from the Bay Area, remaining in the SLO area ever since.
Gomez began moonlighting at his family’s shop around 2008 and 2009 after the recession upended his workworking business.
Aaron Gomez and his brother Devin, a graphic designer, took over as owners of The Gold Concept in 2011 when their father retired.
The Gold Concept offers a range of products — including “custom pieces designed and hand-crafted in house by Sibling Studio,” as the brothers’ studio venture is known, the store’s website notes.
The business “also provides jewelry from many other artisans, all of whom we personally know and support,” the website notes.
“We’ve literally sold everything across the board,” Aaron Gomez said, with an average price point ranging from $100 to $1,000. “From a $20 pair of little hoop earrings that we make to a $10,000 diamond engagement ring, we have it all.”
Moving forward, Gomez said he still plans to make jewelry that he can sell online in small quantities.
“It’s far easier to just make a few pieces and sell it online via Instagram,” Gomez said. “I’m thinking very low tech and not a lot of back and forth driving and taking goods and all that.”
What prompted decision to close The Gold Concept?
Aaron Gomez said a change in perspective — combined with a new farming endeavor — contributed to the decision to close The Gold Concept.
After four years on the City Council, he opted not to run for a second term in the 2020 election. Instead, Gomez and his relatives started a permaculture farm that aims to develop agricultural ecosystems that are sustainable and self-sufficient.
“I’ve been interested in sustainability since I was 19,” he said.
Gomez said he’s dedicated much of his professional life to the jewelry trade, seeking out goods that are produced in an environmentally friendly way by fair trade labor.
When he first started asking about ethical and sustainable business practices, he said, there were fewer options for socially conscientious purchases. As awareness grew, more manufacturers often presented themselves as sustainable.
“Tons of manufacturers will say, ‘Oh, yeah, it’s ethically sourced,’” Gomez said. “You still have to ask ‘Where is it coming from?’ They’ll say ‘Oh, well, it’s coming from a Chinese manufacturer but we make sure to inspect the facilities.”
Gomez began gravitating toward working with American manufacturers over less closely regulated ones in India, China and other countries, due to the better transparency and governance of their production and labor practices.
He also made changes in his personal life to do his part for the environment.
“My mantra for the past two years has literally been ‘What is enough?’ ” Gomez said. “I think we’ve gotten so far beyond what is necessary and what we need for our own peace of mind and ability to live.”
The American Dream has become “so strange and corrupted into constantly getting more,” Gomez said. “I think it’s time that we all step back and say ‘What is truly enough?’”
This story was originally published November 12, 2021 at 9:00 AM.
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