www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver Weekend, Saturday July 5, 2008 - 21 BUSINESS I N O A K V I L L E Howard Willliams Jewellers to become Omni Jewelcrafters New jewellery mega force makes deal to acquire lease and leaseholds of Howard Williams Jewellers, employees offered to stay. A successful business is built on passion, hard work, and a love for the industry. For Jack Berkovits, his jewellery empire is just this. At a young age, Jack, owner of Omni Jewelcrafters, realized his true calling in life was to work with people and make them happy. "I was looking for ways to help others express their happiness, and nothing does that better then jewellery," explains Jack. Jack's father, a holocaust survivor who sadly lost his family, did not agree with Jack's chosen career path. He felt it was a risky venture. After months of debate, he agreed to let Jack fulfill his passion for helping others express their love through beautiful jewellery. With a promise to his father to never travel alone with jewellery... a passion was born. And so Jack, jettisoned his professional CA designation and practice to launch a new career as a manufacturer jeweller in Montreal, eventually growing it into the biggest of its kind in Canada and North America. Spending vast sums of money on manufacturing innovations, Jack soon developed a reputation for high quality, great value and unparalleled production turnaround, earning the company honors as Vendor of The Year from virtually every major retailer in North America, including Wal-mart, Eaton's, The Bay, Zeller's and Consumers Distributing. In 1996, the Company issued its shares on the Nasdaq, via a highly successful IPO and the business enjoyed exponential growth with offices throughout the world. The birth of a legacy was at hand. Jack created the guest expert experience on several TV shopping networks and appeared regularly on The Shopping Channel, ShopNBC, Value Vision, ShopatHome, QVC and many others. In fact, his record for `dollars spent per minute' still stands to this day. Selling to countless retailers including Macy's, Bloomingdale's, Nordstrom, Walmart, The Bay, Eaton's, Consumers Distributing, Zeller's, Kmart, Sears, Zale, Peoples, Mappins, Birks, Ben Moss, and private label for most of the Tony Elitist jewellery retailers, Jack found himself traveling non-stop, dealing with lawyers, accountants, financiers and investors. He soon realized he was dealing with everything except but the two things he valued most: jewellery and his customers; the entire reason he started his empire. In 2002 after concerns from his doctor about his stress levels and encouragement to return to his true love the public, Jack decided it was time to retire from the industry. This lasted only three months, and Jack was back to his passion, opening Omni Jewelcrafters in Vaughan. Jack handed over the reigns to other professionals to deal with the business interests, while he returned to his passion... the public and his jewellery. After opening Omni Jewelcrafters in Vaughan, Jack realized through his world travels, that Toronto was the only major city in the world that did not have a high-end discount jewellery retailer. "I was amazed at the high prices being paid for good jewellery and diamonds in Toronto," explains Jack. "So I decided to fix the situation!" In 2003, the incredibly innovative and successful Omni Jewels & Java was launched at the corner of Bathurst and Glencairn in Toronto. The world first and only joint bistro and jewellery store, Omni Jewels and Java is open daily for breakfast, lunch and dinner and boasts a bevy of Canada's finest jewellery connoisseurs who stop by for their daily fix of bagels and baubles and jewels and java! This one-of-a-kind idea is leading the way in innovation within the industry. In 2004, a third Omni Jewelcrafters was opened in Mississauga at the Heartland Centre. Two years later, the Company established a downtown Toronto location to deal with customers looking for an office environment to make their significant diamond purchase. To make the point about their unbeatable pricing, Omni selected the heart of the Canadian diamond industry, 21 Dundas Square to house their offices. Their point, "We are not afraid of competition and we challenge any of our competitors, indeed, they are next door, to beat their price and the experience." Now, two years later, Jack and his wife are thrilled to bring his incredibly unique jewellery at exceptionally low prices to the Oakville market. It didn't take long for Jack and his associates to notice that many customers shopping at their locations in Mississauga and Toronto were Oakville residents. Drawn by the desire to spend their money more effectively, and not by a lack of fine jewelers in the area, Oakvillians were traveling out of town to Omni Jewelcrafters to purchase beautiful jewellery and diamonds while saving significant money. To these customers, it was definitely worth the drive! So Jack and his wife ventured into Oakville on New Year's Day to look for a location that would be suitable for their newest Omni store. Upon their travels, they met Todd Williams, of Howard Williams Jewellers. Todd Williams had indicated a desire to move on and was wondering aloud as to whether he should remain in the family jewellery business. He had expressed a desire to try something new and different, but had too much invested in the family business financially and in years. Jack encouraged Todd to go with his heart, just as he, himself, had done and proposed that Howard Williams conduct A GOB (Going Out of Business) Sale and jack would provide the expertise as well as with staffing at no charge to Howard Williams. If, during the course of the Sale, it became apparent that Oakville could use a jeweller like Omni Jewelcrafters, then Omni would agree to pick up the remainder of the terms of the lease on the premises, and pay for the purchase of the Leasehold Improvements. Williams agreed and the Omni staff fell in love with the people of Oakville. INTERESTING OMNI FACTS · Jack taught accountancy at Sir George Williams University (now Concordia) and at Loyola College in Montreal. · Jack was the Kosher Supervisor at The Jewish General Hospital in Montreal and at CP Airlines Kitchens. · Jack was arrested in The Soviet Union in 1972 for anti-Soviet propaganda activities (def:. actively promoting the release of Prisoners of Conscience) · Serves on the Boards of many schools in Toronto. · Jackhas been and is available for motivational talks to groups of all sizes and throughout the world. It was agreed that effective July 1, 2008, Omni would take over the premises and the leaseholds. "I have travelled the world and met many types, but the people of Oakville are unique in their class, their appreciation for finer things and their desire to purchase those fine things," explains Jack. "It did not take too long to conclude that Omni wants to be in Oakville." With the Howard Williams Closing Sale coming to an end, Omni's legacy in Oakville will begin. After renovations, Omni's Grand Opening is set to take place Labour Day weekend. The festivities will include an especially large sale, activities for children, free gifts, prizes and draws, celebrities, a fashion show and more! "Jewellery in Oakville will continue to be as good or better than it has ever been before, at prices never seen before!"