75 Years of Growth

The year is 1927. Jack Lewis as a young man moves from Marion, Illinois to Bloomington during the "Railroad Era" as a technical watchmaker to become the contract employee for the Chicago and Alton Railroad shops. His original office was located on Center Street in downtown Bloomington. His "Official" Western Union clock, as well as many others through the United States all made self-corrections at noon and midnight every day. His advantage during the depression was his client base of mostly railroad employees. Most were required to carry accurate "Railroad" 16 sized pocket watches.

The entire facility of the Chicago and Alton Railroad was dependent upon three Western Union Clocks at the time; located in the train depot on West Washington Street, the "Roundhouse" on West Locust Street, and in Jack Lewis' repair and service shop in downtown Bloomington. At one point, there were over 2,500 employees of the "Shops" that were required to have their watches synchronized to Jack Lewis' shop clock.

As his service to the Railroad continued to grow and become more important other merchandise lines were added, including the Ball "Trainmaster" pocket watch for those employees that wanted a finer watch than the standard railroad issue.

The business continued to grow during the Depression and was moved to the Illinois Hotel, located on Jefferson Street, across the street from Jack Lewis' original location. Several other jewelers were located in downtown Bloomington at the time, but did not survive the economic stress of the Great Depression. The business was eventually located off the lobby of the Illinois Hotel at the corner of Jefferson and Center Streets, where it remained a noted downtown Bloomington landmark for over sixty years. The store grew to feature diamonds, colored stones, fine jewelry, tabletops, and giftware. Many employees had over forty years tenure with the company by the early 80's. The service wfls and remains to be seventy- five years later a very important strategic part of the Jack Lewis Fine Jewelry business culture.

When Jack Lewis first opened our door in 1927, four of his main concerns were to always strive to maintain honesty, integrity, service, and the greatest values possible for his customer's buying dollar. This same philosophy continues today with the daily direction of the company.

Due to changing demographics of downtown Bloomington as well as the trading area, a second store was added in the Eastland Shopping Center in the Spring of 1984. After ten years of operating two stores, the decision was made to consolidate the operation into a single new locatiou as an anchor in the Eastland Square Shopping Center.

Celebrating seventy-five years in business, Jack Lewis, Inc. Fine Jewelers now features one of Central Illinois' largest collections of diamonds, fine jewelry, luxury watches and colored stone jewelry. A full service laboratory for gemological identification as well as Insurance Documentation and evaluations are also featured. The Jack Lewis service department has always been an integral part of their business culture, including remount, design, and repair departments.

Jack Lewis Jewelry is very proud of its earned reputation in McLean County over the past seventy-five years with quality, service, and dependability.

1927 - Jack Lewis finds his market niche selling self-correcting Ball "Trainmaster" watches to Chicago & Alton Railroad shop employees.

1930's - Jack Lewis opens his first retail location at the Illinois House in Downtown Bloomington.

1950's - The store is a solid fixture in Downtown Bloomington.

1960's - Jack Lewis continues to deliver his personal service to the community.

1984 - The Eastland Mall store opens for business.

1994 - Jack Lewis, Inc. Fine Jewelers moves into its current location at 1704 Eastland Drive, Bloomington.

2003 - Current officers:
John Wohlwend, President and CEO;
John Carter, Executive Vice President.