A 10-Year-Old Gem Is Doubling in Size

What do dentures lined in gold, a horse-race trophy from a century ago and a Swarovski-encrusted purse have in common?

They're all "previously enjoyed" items for sale at the , a Lake Forest icon that is approaching its 10-year anniversary this September.

Business partners Christine Anzell and Jack Levenson took ownership of the store in September 2001, right after 9/11.

"It was a tough, tough year," Anzell said.

But the community-minded pair kept the store afloat by building a loyal clientele.

A Circular Path to Lake Forest

Anzell and Levenson originally met as regional managers for the fine-jewelry departments of the now-defunct Montgomery Ward. When the chain went bankrupt, the two went into fine-jewelry sales training together, at one point running a store in the Bahamas.

All the while, they talked of opening their own shop.

During the search for a suitable store to buy, Anzell came across one for sale in Lake Forest, where Levenson had lived for more than two decades. His children attended El Toro High School, he said.

"It was just meant to be be. It was destiny," Levenson said. "I shopped at that Ralphs [in the same complex as the jewelry store] for over 20 years."

They relocated from Florida and took over the jewelry store: The Jewelry Box was born.

New Business Model Proves Successful

Located next to at 21771 Lake Forest Drive, the independent jewelry shop is unusual in that the majority of its merchandise is sold to the store by the very customers who shop there.

"I'd say 75 percent of what we have was once gently used," Anzell said. Among jewelry stores, that's uncommon, she said.

The workmanship evident in many of the pieces brought to the Jewelry Box inspires Anzell and Levenson to try and find new homes for them.

"So much of the jewelry we buy is so pretty we don't melt it down," Anzell said. "We buy it to resell it, and our customers get more money for it because we're looking to resell it."

"Our customers are our vendors," Levenson added, with evident pride.

Their dedication to refurbishing used pieces also keeps customers coming back, Anzell said. Some stop in regularly, since they know the inventory changes frequently, she said.

Community, Store Weather Recession Together

When the recession hit, the number of customers coming to the Jewelry Box to sell their jewelry, coins or family heirlooms shot up.

"The idea that we buy gold, silver, platinum, dental gold, coins, antique watches, sterling silver ... that drove our business exponentially because of the economy," Levenson said.

A second-generation dentist brought in a 3.5-pound box of gold that he and his father before him had collected during their successive careers, valued at $15,000.

Others brought in family silver collections, passed down from the days when entertaining was a more formal affair.

Still others reluctantly carried in items dear to their hearts, accompanied by heartbreaking stories of reduced circumstances.

Anzell said she cried when an unemployed woman, hoping to hear back from prospective employers, sold her wedding ring to the Jewelry Box to pay her cell phone bill.

"That was really emotional for me," she said.

Before the economy took its drastic turn for the worse, selling old jewelry was a way to finance a trip to Disneyland or a night at the Ritz, Levenson said. Suddenly, the cash was going toward medical bills.

"This community was never immune to the recession," Levenson said.

Some of the Jewelry Box's most avid customers during boom times ended up as visitors at South County Outreach, a nonprofit that the Jewelry Box supports by collecting items for its food bank, Levenson said.

Giving Spirit Buoys Store and Community Alike

South County Outreach is one of the store's three main beneficiaries.

A barrel at the front of the store for donations to the food bank has been there since Thanksgiving 2008, when a plan to discount repair services for any customer who brings in a donation was extended indefinitely.

Anzell selected South County Outreach for the store's outreach efforts when she read a newspaper article about the food bank turning away the needy because it had run out of donations.

"When I read the article, I knew that was it," she said. Now, people will drop food off even if they're not shopping at the store, she said.

The Jewelry Box has also "adopted" a local family in need and raises funds for Breast Cancer Solutions, .

"That's become really important to us," Levenson said. "We feel like it's our obligation to give back. When things are going well, we never say no."

When the Jewelry Box turns 10, it will be nearing the end of an expansion project that will double its size, making room for more of the curios squirreled away in the cramped back room of the store.

The store is taking over the spot , a boutique clothing and accessories shop that closed in June. 

Construction begins in two weeks and is expected to wrap up at the beginning of October, in time for an Oct. 13 fundraiser for Breast Cancer Solutions. The event, a silent auction, is the second such at the store. In 2010, it raised nearly $3,000 for the charity.