January 8, 2021
As I do every year, I would like to start 2021 by paying tribute to all the jewelers who closed their physical stores over the last year.
Some worried that a unprecedented number of jewelry stores would close in 2020, given the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting strain on the economy. Yet, like the Jewelers Board of Trade, I didn’t find as many closures this year as I had in the past, and I am not sure why.
Perhaps some retailers decided it just wasn’t a great time to shut their doors. Maybe it was a little easier to make deals with landlords. And, most of the information here is gathered from local news sources; a store closing isn’t always a big story these days, especially with so many other businesses going under. It’s also a little tougher to determine who is closed, given so many stores have limited hours, and people, including reporters, are staying home.
compiled by Josh Bootsma
LANSING, Ill. (December 30, 2020) – Throughout 2020, The Lansing Journal has documented the many ways life has changed due to COVID-19, from the earliest cases of the virus in Illinois to how holiday plans have changed because of it. At the end of a year unlike any other in Lansing, The Lansing Journal has continued to add to a coronavirus timeline going back to the first Illinois case in January, with particular attention given to the virus’s impact on Lansing. Links to original stories or relevant websites are included in the timeline:
January
24 – Illinois health officials report the first case of coronavirus in Illinois and the second in the United States: a woman who returned from Wuhan, China, where she was caring for her sick father.