Silver jewelry store to open in Maplewood

A jewelry store plans to open its third area location in the former Gisele’s spot at 7318 Manchester Road, which closed on Christmas Eve.

The Silver Lady, in business for 30 years, already has locations in the University City Loop and the Central West End. The owners signed a lease on Wednesday, according to real estate broker, Kay Basta, who said the store will be a great complement to downtown Maplewood.

They specialize in unique, original silver jewelry, and semi-precious stones that they hand-pick from all over the world, co-owner, Jeff Weintrop said Thursday. Weintrop is married to Lori Shifter, who is the “Silver Lady.” Weintrop is a trained gemologist with about 12 different gem stone degrees, he said.

“We’ll try to make the (Maplewood) store a little unique from the other stores. It will be the same artists, but different pieces,” Weintrop said. “The two stores we have now, nothing is the same,” he said.

Weintrop said he and Shifter got married 14 years ago. “I was actually a plumbing engineer and she needed help one day, and asked me to come in and fill in and I absolutely fell in love with the business, and two years later walked away from my business to do this with her.”

He said the shop needs a total make-over: “Floors, paint, lighting, ceiling, jewelry cases — things built specifically for our industry.” They hope to open in April.