Petti, Johnson, Shebik and Stone

Marriages are traditionally sealed with an exchange of jewelry. For the families that have owned Stones Jewelry, though, marriages have also been defined by the exchange of a jewelry store; twice in its history Stones Jewelry has passed from a father-in-law to his son-in-law.

Stones Jewelry was first opened in 1911 by Charles Stone. Over the course of 50 years, he built the store into a respected and trusted part of the Wheaton community. During that time his daughter, Phyllis, married a man named Emil Shebik. Shebik apparently made a good impression both as a son-in-law and as a business man, because in 1961, when Stone stepped down from running the store, he sold the store to Shebik. Shebik would continue his father-in-law’s tradition of great customer service for eleven years.

Shebik and Phyllis had a son, Steve, who did not follow his father into the jewelry business. As Shebik prepared for retirement, though, he still wanted a community oriented owner to carry on the business in the same spirit. After interviewing several prospective buyers he found Jason Johnson, who bought the store from Shebik in the early 1970’s.

Shebik chose well, as Johnson and his wife Marilyn grew the business, continuing the warm relationship the store had with Stones’ customers and Wheaton. In 1981 Johnson’s son-in-law, David Petti, began working at Stones Jewelry. Petti had been working at IBM, but the appeal of learning about jewelry and working in a family business drew him to his father-in-law’s side. Petti learned from Johnson how to run the business with the same consistent service and excellence, and he purchased the store from his father-in-law in 1985.

Petti and his family continue to carry on the tradition that began over 100 years ago with Charles Stone. This store has been an enormous and wonderful part of our lives, and we will continue to work hard every day to make it a memorable part of yours.

Check back in the future for closer looks at other key moments in Stones history.