CANFIELD, Ohio – It’s a tradition in the Komara family for each generation to take over Komara Jewelers and put their own fingerprint on the business. Now it’s Rob Komara and Brianna Komara Pridon’s turn.
On Wednesday, the co-owners unveiled their revamped store with a ribbon cutting.
“We took down walls. We got new floors. It’s a whole new facelift on the inside,” Rob Komara said.
The siblings took over the Cornersburg location from their father, Bob Komara, after he announced his retirement in April 2018. Rob Komara works with contractors as the vice president while Komara Pridon, the president, handles the day-to-day operations.
They added a lounge, coffee bar and new selections for customers. The bar has a television that usually features ESPN, and the lounge allows customers to sit by a fireplace to look at catalogs and potential designs.
“Jewelry buying is kind of stressful sometimes,” Rob Komara said. “But we want to make it a little low-key environment.”
The Komaras invested between $500,000 and $600,000 over the course of the yearlong renovations, an amount Bob Komara wasn’t too keen on at first.
“It was pretty much inevitable if we wanted to be a force in the business,” the elder Komara said. “Sooner or later, we were going to have to remodel.”
[URIS id=67888]Founder Stephen Komara opened his first store in Struthers in 1948. His sons, Bob and Tom, eventually took opened their own stores in Cornersburg and Boardman.
Bob Komara started his Cornersburg branch in 1977 and moved the store to its current sit in 1993. He’s still active in the business – acting as a consultant and taking appointments – but didn’t play a part in the new designs.
“He still has a say into the business. But as for the remodel, it’s not his cup of tea and he kinda put it into Brianna and I’s hands,” Rob Komara said. “And he trusted that whatever we wanted to do, we’d do it correctly.”
Bob Komara used to have merchandise crammed into the display cases. The retired owner said customers probably couldn’t see expensive rings because there were so many grouped together.
Now, the entire store is bathed in black and white displays, allowing the diamonds and gems to stand out.
“After the remodel, we really focused a lot on our diamonds,” Komara Pridon said. “We have a new Forevermark diamond environment that focuses on the beauty of the diamond.”
The new store and products will be front and center over the weekend. Komara Jewelers has a grand re-opening sale Friday through Sunday.
The siblings expanded their children’s line and will provide ear piercings. John Hardy and Bellari were also added to the company’s list of brands.
“We spent the last year really focusing on getting the right product in for our customers,” Komara Pridon said. “We’re always getting new product in and looking for the next best thing.”
The idea for the remodel started with new floors and cases. But the new owners decided they “wanted to do it right.”
The family reached out to multiple experts from across the country to help with merchandise and design, and local businesses were hired for installation.
“What attracts people, how you display it, where you put it; that’s how we laid it out,” Bob Komara said. “And we just have to stick to doing it that way.”
Pictured: The third generation co-owners of Komara Jewelers, Rob Komara and Brianna Komara Pridon, joined their father and retired owner Bob Komara for a ribbon cutting after extensive renovations at the store.