Facet by facet, Martin’s Jewelers grew into a jewel in Main Street’s crown.

After a 133-year run, the fixture at 18 E Main St., initially a watchman’s bench in the Green & Jackson Drug Co. pharmacy, is closing.

A banner with tall red letters on a bright yellow field flapped in the breeze Saturday, Nov. 5, 2022, announcing to passersby that the store is going out of business. The shop’s recorded phone greeting says, “The rumors are true.”

Fourth-generation owner Erin Mason announced the planned closure Friday, Nov. 4.

Posts appeared on several Facebook pages that day, stating store hours and letting readers know prices would be cut.

The store will stay open until the inventory is gone, Mason said amid the busy hum of customers flocking to the store’s lighted, sparkly showcases.

Mason said she’s leaving open-ended when they will formally close. It could remain open into January.

“Even if we have five things in the store I would stay open until Christmas. It will give people visiting and families a chance for one last walk-through. Our connection with customers is the best part of the business,” she said Tuesday.

The day after she announced on several Facebook platforms that they’re going out of business, the store’s inventory was moving fast.

“I am shocked, amazed and overwhelmed by the outreach in the community. It’s been overwhelming,” Mason said. “People come in daily, and say, ‘I bought this from your great-grandfather,’ or ‘My ears were pierced here in the 1940s.’ It’s our history, our town’s history. It’s so ingrained.”

She owns the building, which originally housed a bank.

“When I redid the flooring after dad retired, you could see outlines of teller stands in the concrete floor,” she said. “My office is a walk-in vault. Below that vault in the basement is a safe deposit room. My husband, Justin Mason, has been trying to get his hands on the double-locking vault door for years.”

For Mason, the family legacy and its relationship with the community both run deep. Yet, in essence, the difficult decision to close primarily comes down to a need to spend precious time with Justin and their 12-year-old daughter Addison.

By Tuesday, Nov. 8, the Facebook posts had elicited more than 600 emoji responses and more than 160 comments, some from those whose relatives purchased engagement rings or other gifts there.

“You opened the year my great-grandmother arrived from Prussia to marry my great-grandfather,” wrote Isabella Lopez. “Martin’s has been a big part of downtown history and everyone who grew up in Walla Walla. I will miss seeing your sign and the date reminder.”

Kandy Pressnall said she and her husband “would have been married 45 years this year. We bought our rings there. Sad to hear they are closing.”

“We got our wedding bands there in 1972. Just celebrated our 50th in 2022. Got my wife a really nice watch there. Margo (Kagels, sales associate) has been great to work with through the years. Erin, the owner, does really nice work and this can’t be easy on her having to close the store up. They will be missed in Walla Walla,” wrote Lee Lowery.

Mason’s great-grandfather Charles Martin founded the shop in 1889. It was first at 10 W. Main St. before moving to 119 W. Main, and then in 1949 to its current spot at 18 E. Main St. Following his death in 1947, Charles’ wife and son, Hazel and Port Martin, ran the operation.

Port knew watchmaking, jewelry repair, gemology, engraving and retail.

In 1972, Port Martin’s son-in-law and Erin Mason’s father, Paul Eagon, joined the business. In 1982, Martin retired and sold the business to a corporation made up of Eagon, his wife and Port Martin’s daughter, Mary Eagon; and Paul’s brother, Rich Eagon.

A nearly lifelong employee, Erin Mason became owner in 2014. “Dad wanted me to know how to run every part of the business so I could step into anyone’s shoes, say if someone was ill, for example.”

Also important to her was being trained in gemology at a school in California, she said.

For a few years Martin’s could claim to be the oldest jewelry store in Washington state under the continuous ownership of the founding family. That was after a jewelry store in Spokane, established in 1888, sold to a non-family member a few years ago.

Great-grandpa Charles Martin ordered and had a clock transported to Walla Walla on muleback, Erin said. They kept it wound and set in the shop for local railroad workers who came in every day and checked their watches to the regulator.

“Back when we had a train station in Walla Walla, my grandpa, Port Martin, serviced all the railroad workers’ watches and set them. You could take out the insides and pick a case for them, build your own watch,” she said.

This and many other stories came from Erin’s grandma, Edith Chandler Martin, who was the best storyteller, Erin said. “We sat around for hours when she brought out the tintypes. She had a story for every image. It was amazing.”

Paul Eagon began paying Erin when she was 14, in 1996.

“I wrapped packages at Christmas — the ladies in the store were so busy then and needed a helping hand,” she said.

The women, Georgene Grant, Carm Foltz and Jean Stiller, are directly responsible for nurturing her love for the business.

“They had a story about every customer. They loved jewelry and finding things to help people celebrate,” she said.

“Those women basically raised me. Every Wednesday was polishing day and not my favorite — we had a lot of silver then. Through their stories and passion they helped my love of the jewelry industry grow.”

Equally important to Mason has been the relationship with her employees.

“We have been so lucky with our staff, most of the staff all have worked more than 10 years for us, some 25, 35 or 40 years. It becomes an instant family,” she said.

“We share all our lives together. You don’t just clock in and clock out; it’s like coming to a friend’s house and enjoying our day. So it will be one of the hardest parts not to have anymore.

“Even the salesmen who come through saw me walk around in diapers. Not having that in my life is kind of a downer.”

She treasures the time spent working with her father. “We’re very close, have very similar personalities. When he retired it changed. Most of my passion was being around him,” she said.

Mason tried to find someone to manage the store so she could be more present with her family.

“That was most of the root of this decision,” she said.

“Finding people has been difficult. We’re in an industry that’s slowly fading away — the brick and mortar, the moms and pops. It’s changed vastly in the last decade or so,” she said.

“I wanted this to be a positive, be in a good place and not something we have to do because we’re struggling. I wanted there to be some joy in the decision to close.”

The store’s closure is part of a national trend, she said.

“We’re part of this national organization for mom and pops around the nation who gather to talk about trends, ups and downs. Even before COVID, the amount of jewelry stores shutting down has been staggering,” Mason said.

“One small part is advertising. We used to put an ad in the newspaper and everyone saw. Everything now is so digitalized you throw it up in the air and hope it sticks.

“After the country went through COVID, we saw a huge change in how people view our small town. They really came out for all these businesses downtown, a huge outpouring, it was so heartening.”

Closing is also wrapped around the chronic migraines Mason could suffer three to four times per week.

“It got to the point where if I wasn’t trying to hide in a dark spot at work I’d be doing so at home,” she said. “It’s been over 20 years of suffering.”

And Addison, then 11, “said, ‘mommy why are you sick all the time?’ I was not at her games or helping with homework or making dinner or being present in her life.

“This lightbulb went on. I’m running the business and trying to be a wife and mother, I was missing her life. With COVID I decided life is short, I didn’t want any shoulda, coulda or wouldas.”

It was a difficult decision.

“I went through a grieving process about my life and legacy, also my dad’s, grandpa’s and great-grandpa’s legacy, and I let it go. That was really hard to go through,” she said.

Mason’s sister, Laura Johnson, held her hand through it all.

“She let me know that even without me it never would have continued. She said, ‘Do you want the weight on your daughter’s shoulders?’ It was resonating,” she said.

Much support has come from Laura and their brother, Scott Eagon, and parents Paul and Mary Martin Eagon.

“My family has always been close. Our little family that we built is the same. Addison wants to spend time with me and I know that time is short,” Mason said.

“Customers say, ‘I’m really sorry you guys are leaving, you’re a big part of my life, but I’m happy for you.’ They’re upset but supportive and understanding. That has been very helpful for finishing this grieving process. All of those emotions have been bottled up.”

And when the shop finally closes?

“I always say, I have one daughter, one husband, one dog — just the right amount. So 130 years is a good run. All good things come to an end,” she said.

Erin Mason, a gemologist, has owned Martin’s Jewelers since July 1, 2014.

Mason is the great-granddaughter of Charles D. Martin, who founded the business in 1889. Martin’s 1888 watchmaking school diploma is still displayed in the store.

Following Charles’ death in 1947, his wife and son, Hazel and Port Martin, ran the operation. Port later passed it on to his daughter and son-in-law, Erin’s parents Mary and Paul Eagon. Paul’s brother, Rich Eagon, joined in 1983.

• Martin’s Jewelers opens in downtown Walla Walla in 1889.

• March 4: Benjamin Harrison (R-Indiana), takes the helm from President Grover Cleveland, (D-New York).

• March 31: Construction of the Eiffel Tower in Paris is completed.

• May 31: Fork Dam collapses, causing the Johnstown (Pennsylvania) Flood that killed more than 2,200 people.

• June 3: Willamette Falls and downtown Portland, 14 miles distant, are connected by the country’s first long-distance electric power transmission line.

• June 6: No one dies when the Great Seattle Fire ravaged the downtown area.

• July 7: A fire devastates Bakersfield, California, destroying 196 buildings and killing one person.

• July 8: The first issue of The Wall Street Journal is published in New York City.

• Nov. 11: Washington becomes the 42nd U.S. state. Territories of North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana also achieve statehood that year.