Jean and Bill Carter are retiring from the jewellery business after operating in downtown Nanaimo since 1985. (Spencer Sterritt/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Spencer Sterritt

gem

Downtown icon Bastion Jewellers closing

May 7, 2021 | 5:33 AM

NANAIMO — “You’ll always have work when you work for the community” is a motto Nanaimo jeweller Bill Carter kept close to his heart for nearly 40 years.

Carter and his wife Jean are now retiring and closing their Bastion Jewellers shop on Commercial St. knowing they’ve worked hard for the downtown Nanaimo community. They’ve been in business since 1985, making them one of the oldest continuously run stores in the area.

Carter said the COVID-19 pandemic gave him a glimpse of the blissfully retired life when their store closed for two-and-a-half months in early 2020.

“I just ran around like a chicken with my head cut off, tidying my yard and finishing all the things I never got around to finishing,” he told NanaimoNewsNOW. “Then it was time to get back to work and at the same time I was thinking ‘Hey, I could get used to having some time off.'”

The store is closing and not being sold to someone else.

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Carter said he had someone in mind to take over, but closing entirely is a quicker path to retirement.

“I’m 65 and once you make a decision you want to move on it. It was almost spur of the moment.”

Carter was involved in numerous downtown Nanaimo initiatives in his time on Commercial St., from business improvement associations to events.

He was a founding member of the new BIA being formulated but didn’t put his name forward for any leadership roles.

“It’s time for the new people down here to step up and be the people they’ll become. That’s the natural progression of things. I’ll always sit and have my coffee with my friends down here but I won’t be involved. I’m feeling quite content with things.”

Carter said he’s seen both good times and bad in downtown Nanaimo, but he believes it’s on its way back up.

“It’ll come back in its own time. Everything goes down and up in a cycle. New people will carry on.”

The store is expected to fully close by the end of June.

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spencer@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @SpencerSterritt