Jack told to hit the road

George Jack has been celebrated a lot lately for sticking around. The 84-year-old owner of Jack’s Jewelers became the first tenant in the 5 Points Plaza shopping center 45 years ago, when he had already been in business on Main Street for more than a decade.

“What a pleasure it’s been all these years to serve and help the people of Huntington Beach,” he said Friday as he accepted a Legacy Award. “When I first came here there was a 5,000 population. Now it’s something like 200,000 — or a million, I don’t know.”

But in a month when Jack was recognized twice for his persistence — with the Legacy Award, and as Community Grand Marshal of the Fourth of July Parade — his business has been shuttered, and the storefront will be gone by the end of August. Some family members are furious the landlord won’t let them stay, while the property manager said she tried to help but had no choice.

“It was a big slap in the face when they told me to go,” Jack said. “One week you’re on top and the next week you’re on the bottom.”

It started with a death in the family. Linda Oase, Jack’s daughter who managed the store for decades, died of a heart attack in her sleep June 2, Linda’s son Daniel Oase said.

Shocked by the loss of his mother, 26-year-old Oase said he quit his finance job in San Francisco and moved to Huntington Beach with girlfriend Stephanie Koning to take over the family business.

But after the store was closed for funeral and estate arrangements, the couple received notice that they had to leave.

“I lose my mom, I unwind my entire life to come down here and turn this thing around, and those guys kick sand in my face,” Oase said.

But the property manager says Jack’s store has been having problems for years, and the center only let him stay on as an act of charity to a historic tenant. He hasn’t had a lease in nine years, and Jack has been paying rent at 1998 rates since then. Sales have been low for years, and the store has never been remodeled, said Maureen Sloan James, 5 Points Plaza’s manager.

“In 10 years I’ve never been in such an awkward situation,” she said. “I just feel so badly; my function is to keep the place clean and professional.”

James said she always helped Jack despite the problems, trying over and over to encourage him to retire gracefully — even nominating him for his recent awards to let him go out on top. But she says the family didn’t get the message, and when Linda Oase died she didn’t see how the store could go on.

“There’s just no one left to run it,” she said.

Koning says she and Oase never had a chance to explain they would get new capital, remodel and reopen the store with the help of Jack’s many friends and connections. But James said it was far too late for that, and she couldn’t wait for them to learn the ropes.

Proof of that, James says, is the number of phone calls she gets from angry customers wondering how to get back the jewelry they sent in for repairs.

Oase and Koning say they had answering machine problems at first but have fixed them and are trying their best.

They tracked down dozens of people, but they don’t have everyone’s contact information, Oase said. Those seeking their jewelry should call (714) 847-5380 and leave a message, he added.

The store won’t reopen in another location, Oase said. But he and Koning will stay in the area to take care of his grandparents.

“They took care of me for a great number of years,” he said. “Now I feel a moral sense of obligation to help them in their time of need and return the favor.”