HYDE PARK — The "most honest jeweler on the South Side" is retiring and people don’t know what to do.
After 56 years in Hyde Park, Michael McGuire is closing Supreme Jewelers, 1515 E. 53rd St., on March 26.
“I’m just tired,” said McGuire, who started working at the store in 1959, polishing silver after his mother pulled him and his two brothers and three sisters out of an orphanage to come to Hyde Park.
McGuire has been at the shop ever since, and after more than five decades has developed a fervently loyal following.
Beverly Blake, 80, said she’s been buying jewelry from McGuire for more than 20 years and wrote him a note on his retirement and then decided instead to say it in person.
“We came back from Texas just to tell him goodbye,” Blake said at the store on Tuesday.
She and others repeatedly praised McGuire as the most honest jeweler. Blake said she had McGuire appraise some pieces she thought were costume jewelry and she said he was upfront with her about the authenticity and substantial value.
McGuire said he never thought he was doing anything special, just treating his customers well so they would come back.
“The secret of success is going to work every day and keep doing the right thing day after day,” McGuire said.
He said he thought about selling the store, but decided against it when the three buyers that approached him seemed “sleazy.”
“I didn’t want to wish that on the neighborhood I care so much about,” McGuire said.
The neighborhood has returned the favor.
Some families said they have shopped at Supreme Jewelers for more than 50 years and parents said they watched their children pick out wedding rings with McGuire, just as they had.
Cindy Pardo said she got her wedding ring from McGuire and then years later her son made a special trip to do the same.
“For a young man in love with absolutely no knowledge of fine jewelry, going to Supreme Jewelers was a given,” Pardo said. “He knew he would get a fair deal and a lovely ring to offer the love of his life.”
McGuire said he wasn’t sure what he was going to do next during his retirement, but for now he’s grateful to look back on happy years in Hyde Park.
“I did OK, I make a living and make a lot of friends,” McGuire said.
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