GloucesterTimes.com, Gloucester, MA

The store's owners, Bob and Linda O'Maley, said the business will close Oct. 14 and reopen at 222 Main St. on Nov. 4.

The well-known local business began looking for a new home after Cape Ann Savings Bank sold much of its Main Street block for redevelopment in spring 2005. The block is to be transformed into 23 condominiums, retail space and the city's first underground parking garage. Businesses that occupy the space would be displaced during construction but have the option to move back. The O'Maleys, however, chose to relocate.

Alice Hunt, a resident of Gloucester for more than 50 years, said she is glad the store will not close and plans to take her business to its new location.

"I trade here a lot," Hunt said. "They have a good assortment of jewelry and I always have found what I want."

The business was established on Main Street in 1913 by William E. Blanchard Jr. It was sold to Linda O'Maley's father, Richard Goulter, in 1984, and the O'Maleys will continue the family tradition of craftsmanship at the new site at the other end of Main Street.

The new store, with only 700 square feet, will be significantly smaller than the current Blanchard Jeweler, which covers 1,800 square feet. The size difference will require the O'Maleys to make significant changes to the showroom.

"We are going to be in a lot smaller space," Bob O'Maley said. "(It's) almost like returning to the old days before Blanchard's grew to the size it is today."

The businesses at the east end of Main Street are looking forward to the jewelry store's arrival in November.

"I think it will be a great addition to this area," said Krystyna McGivern, a co-owner of Pearl's, a vintage clothing and furniture shop near the new location on Main Street. "It is a well-established business and I hope that it will bring more customers down here."

Since signing the new lease Sept. 1, the O'Maleys have been working on a complete overhaul to prepare the new location for the upcoming opening. Bob O'Maley said he has been replacing the carpets, putting up walls to create two small workrooms behind the showroom, renovating the bathroom, and bringing in four display counters.

"Although the showcase space will be smaller, the back rooms needed for (jewelry and watch) repairs will be bigger, which will allow us to do what we do best - repairs," he said. Currently, the business does an average of 75 jewelry repairs a week. Bob O'Maley said he hopes to be able to increase the quantity of jewelry and watch repairs in the new store.

Although the O'Maleys will look to focus on repairs, custom jewelry and appraisals for insurance in their new store, they will maintain a large variety of jewelry for sale. Their four display cases will contain 14-karat gold, colored stones, sterling silver and diamond jewelry. Bob O'Maley said he would like to expand and add more shelving and showcases later.

The move has not been without its sacrifices. The O'Maleys have been forced to cut back on products as well as on staff. Linda O'Maley said the business has streamlined the merchandise from 25 display cases as well as several shelf cases into the four cases that will be at the new store. The smaller size of the new store has also forced the displacement of four of the six employees. With the holiday shopping season approaching, Linda O'Maley said she would keep two part-time workers to help her husband in the store.

"This has been an emotional move," she said. "Ever since my father got involved in the business in 1958, the store has been a large part of our family. It will be sad to see it go."