Turlock’s oldest family-owned jewelry store celebrates 30 years in business
Celebrating 30 years in business, Yonan’s Fine Jewelers in Turlock is hosting an anniversary event to express gratitude to the community that has allowed the business to thrive.
“I graduated high school here in 1980 from Turlock High, many of my customers are my friends from school, and then their kids when they got married, and now their grandchildren are coming to see me. We’re now serving the third generation, we take care of everybody,” said owner Ed Yonan.
He opened Turlock’s oldest family-owned jewelry store on Geer Road in April 1996.
“The same day as my wedding anniversary,” he said. But his journey into the jewelry world started much earlier with his father. A story in The Bee from 2006 detailed his father’s start in the jewelry business in Baghdad, trading watches for cigarettes with the military in the 1940s. Bob Yonan would sell those watches to civilians and eventually made enough to open his first jewelry store.
By 1971, the regime in Iraq made it harder to acquire imported jewelry when it revoked business licenses for Christians, so Bob came to America when Ed Yonan was 10 years old. The family first settled in Chicago but wanted a warmer climate so made its way to Turlock in 1975, opening a jewelry store the same year, Ed Yonan said.
Bob Yonan opened Yonan’s Jewelers downtown, and his wife, Rosemary, learned to fix clocks and watches. Ed Yonan grew up in the business, watching his family thrive in the community. He attended school and then returned to Turlock to start his own jewelry business after his father’s store closed in 1989.
In 1996, he opened Yonan’s Jewelers on Geer Road with his wife, Tina. Family is central to their business and legacy.
“I’m here almost every day, and then my mom is here. She was working with my dad at his jewelry store, but moved over here after my dad passed away. So my mom comes in, I’m here, my daughter is here, and now my son-in-law has started to work with us,” he said.
Though Yonan has no plans to retire soon, he has positioned his youngest daughter, Sofia, to take over the business. “I knew I wanted to work here even in kindergarten,” Sofia said. “When teachers would ask, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ I would say, ‘A jeweler.’ Yonan sent his daughter to school to become a GIA-certified gemologist, and she works in the store every day.
Sofia already has begun to modernize the store, keeping up with jewelry trends and adding text messages as a new way to communicate with clients.
“We are seeing a lot of people coming in for more dainty pieces and lab-grown diamonds,” she said.
As a maker of custom wedding sets, Yonan saw an opportunity to expand his business by offering additional wedding services. Yonan’s Floral opened about 16 years ago, just one store over from the jewelry shop. His wife runs that business. In 2019, they opened an event venue, The Grand Oak.
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Yonan takes pride in helping customers commemorate their happiest moments. For weddings, birthdays, special occasions and more, jewelry is a popular choice. The store has a wide selection of jewelry brands, including Le Vian, Michael M and timepieces from Bulova and Rolex, but also does custom creations. Yonan has seen a trend in younger customers coming in to modify older jewelry. “We do it all, from A to Z. We manufacture right here in the shop. I’m a jeweler myself. I have two jewelers that work for me,” he said.
To celebrate three decades in business, the store will host a celebration on Friday, April 24, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. There will be fine wine, gourmet food and a band playing outside the store.
Yonan said the store will have jewelry specials and will give away over $3,000 in prizes through a drawing. For more information, call 209-656-9219 or visit www.yonansjewelry.net. Yonan’s Jewelers is at 2485 Geer Road.
