Linda Starbuck arranges items displayed Thursday in a window at L. Tardif Jeweler at 62 Main St. in downtown Waterville. The business is expected to close by the end of the year after 87 years. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

WATERVILLE — After 87 years downtown, L. Tardif Jeweler is closing its doors, but not before offering its inventory at discounted prices and taking time to say goodbye to customers who span three generations.

Opened in 1935 by Lionel L. Tardif and his wife, Evangeline, the jewelry store was operated many years by their son, Lionel M. Tardif, who left the business last winter for health reasons. He later decided to retire to focus on his health and enjoy his camp on Great Pond, according to his sister, Anne-Marie Tardif.

“He very much misses his customers and helping people in the store,” she said.

Ursula Chamberland worked as manager at the 62 Main St. business before leaving in 2018, but returned recently to help out as it enters the final stretch. The store is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

Chamberland said Lionel M. Tardif was devoted to the public and dedicated to his job. She also said he has a big heart.

Customers have been visiting the store and talking fondly about the family-oriented business, which until 2019 would light a fire in the fireplace during the holiday season and customers would come in, sit, have tea and relax, according to Chamberland.

“It really was a family area,” she said. “Nobody was rushed out the door.”

Items at the store are selling at 10% off regular prices, but pieces in one case are 40% to 60% off, according to Chamberland. High-end pieces crafted by Lionel M. Tardif and goldsmith Jimmy Delorenzo are moving quickly, she said.

Anne-Marie Tardif, who lives in Florida and Boothbay, said she does not know when the store will close, but she and others anticipate it could be around Christmas, after which the building is to be sold.

“If there is a potential buyer for the business, we are open to that,” she said. “If people feel that they want to purchase the building and the business, or they want to purchase just the business or the building, I’m open to all of those ideas.”

Recalling the store’s history, Anne-Marie Tardif said her father wanted to be an airplane engineer mechanic when he was young, but there were no jobs in Maine for that and his future wife did not want to move away. Both had come from families of 10 children.

An undated photograph of L. Tardif Jeweler when at 40 Main St. in downtown Waterville. Members of the Tardif family have announced the store will close, likely by year’s end. Courtesy L. Tardif Jeweler

Lionel L. Tardif went to watchmaking school instead, so he could have a profession in Waterville, where they both grew up, according to his daughter. In 1935, during the Great Depression, he worked repairing watches at a store on Main Street that eventually came up for sale.

“My father bought the business, put the name Tardif on it and married my mother in the same year,” Anne-Marie Tardif said.

An undated photograph shows Lionel L. Tardif, right, with store staff members at L. Tardif Jeweler when at 40 Main St. in downtown Waterville. The business opened in 1935 and is now at 62 Main St. Members of the Tardif family have announced the store will close, likely by year’s end. Courtesy L. Tardif Jeweler

In 1940, as the economy began to improve, Tardif moved the business into 40 Main St., just down the street, and then in 1986 he bought the former Dunham’s of Maine building at 62 Main St. and moved everything there, according to Anne-Marie Tardif, who was in college at the time.

Lionel M. Tardif, now 75, had graduated from college and came back to take over the business, according to his sister, who has been spending time in Waterville to help at the store.

“I see the loyalty of the customers, not just to Lionel himself — there is tremendous affection and loyalty to Lionel — but to the other staff as well,” she said. “It’s like a family.”

Ursula Chamberland removes jewelry from a display case Thursday while assisting a customer at L. Tardif Jeweler at 62 Main St. in downtown Waterville. The business, which opened in 1935, is expected to close later this year. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel