Thank-you Elgin for the memories
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The couple who run one of Elgin's oldest businesses have spoken of how much they will miss their customers.
Witkowski Jewellers has been going in the town for the past 67 years.
However the business is set to close on September 12 when its lease in the St Giles Centre ends.
Yvonne and Zbig have taken the difficult decision to retire so they can devote more time to their seven grandchildren and the rest of their family.
Yvonne said: "We announced the decision last Monday and right the way through the week we had customers coming into the shop to say how sorry they were to hear the news.
"Over the years we've shared so many happy and sad stories with them. They have been a part of our lives.
"We want to thank them all."
The long story of the Elgin shop has its beginning in the Second World War.
Zbig's father, Czeslaw Witkowski, managed to escape Poland.
Arriving in Britain, he enlisted to fight the Nazis and became a mechanical engineer.
Stationed in Fife, he met a local girl, Ella, at a dance.
The pair married and, after the hostilities were over, came to live in Kinloss.
Possessing both a steady hand and a good eye, Czeslaw taught himself the delicate art of repairing jewellery and watches.
Then, in 1953, he moved to Elgin where he originally set up shop in the close which runs up besides the Bank of Scotland.
Czeslaw worked prodigiously hard to develop the business.
After manning the shop all day he would return home, where he would often wait until 10pm to start work on any repairs that needed doing.
The father of six children, this was the only time he could find the peace and quiet needed to concentrate on the job in hand.
By working into the early hours he ensured his customers could collect the repaired item the very next day.
Eventually, Czeslaw was joined in the business by his daughter Mairi.
In 1992, Witkowski Jewellers moved to another premises in Batchen Street.
Two years later Yvonne joined the business after Czeslaw finally retired. Although even then he continued working part-time for several years, taking home items for repair.
In 1997, Witkowski Jewellers moved again, this time to a larger shop in the St Giles Centre.
Mairi and Yvonne looked after the jewellers.
Meanwhile, their respective husbands, Brian and Zbig were also in business together, running a tyre store and MOT centre in Elgin.
Zbig joined his wife at Witkowski Jewellers in 2009 after Mairi decided to stop working.
Yvonne said: "Retirement is going to feel very strange – we know that already. We've been working for so many years.
"It's got nothing to do with coronavirus. It's just that neither of us is getting any younger.
"We have three sons – Mark, Ryan and Scott.
"But they all have good jobs in the emergency services and don't want to take on the business.
"So retirement is the right decision.
"I absolutely love the interaction with customers.
"We have husbands coming in around Christmas time asking us if we can remember what they bought their wives last year because they want something else that will go with it.
"Once, we even had a young man buy an engagement ring and propose to his girlfriend right there in the shop.
"Yes, we're going to miss it."
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