W.O. Jeweler Bids Farewell to Community

Gala Jewelers winding down business after 77 years

By Stacy Alderman
The Tube City Almanac
March 20, 2025
Posted in: White Oak News

Gala Jewelers owner Chuck Gala is saying farewell to longtime customers after more than 40 years in the jewelry business. With an eye toward retirement, his store in Oak Park Mall is for sale. (Photo special to Tube City Almanac)

When Gala Jewelers announced via social media that the store would soon be closing, calls, emails and texts from customers and well-wishers started pouring in almost immediately.

Owner Chuck Gala couldn’t be more grateful. “I am so thankful and blessed to be a part of peoples’ happy moments,” he said, remembering gifts that were purchased for engagements, weddings and holidays. “The community has been so good to us.”

His father opened Gala Jewelers in McKeesport in 1948 and spent decades at various locations on Fifth Avenue.

Multiple family members worked for the business over the years, and Chuck began attending trade shows when he was just fourteen. In 1994, the store moved to its Oak Park Mall location in White Oak and it’s been a staple for the community ever since.

Gala Jewelers in McKeesport, shown in the 1950s. (Submitted photos)

With more than 40 years of experience in the industry, Gala’s expertise goes beyond the store itself. He has attended more than one hundred trade shows, served as president of the State Jewelers Association, president of the American Gem Society Group in Western Pennsylvania, and traveled to Belgium multiple times to hand-select gems for his customers.

While he’s looking forward to retiring and spending more time with family, Chuck Gala has fond memories of selling diamonds to three generations of customers. Balancing the end of one life phase with the beginning of another is something he’s used to and is handling it with grace.

“We’re no strangers to change,” he said. “Moving (the store) was a big change. There was a lot of trepidation but also excitement. It was a big jump, and so is retirement. But such is life.”

Though he doesn’t know who will take over the space in Oak Park Mall, Gala is open to the possibility of another jeweler moving in.

“The store is for sale, so if someone is interested, they can take over the lease and the equipment,” he said. 

When asked if he had any advice about running a successful independent business in a world of corporations, Gala said, “Being a small business is easy and it’s hard. It’s easy if you’re providing great service and a good product and are willing to put the hours in to give people that personal touch. That’s the part that makes it easy to succeed.

“The hard part is when you’re a small business, the owner wears a lot of hats,” Gala said. “I’m HR, accounting, a manager, a buyer, and a salesperson.”

In a world of big box stores where these values and challenges seem to be fading, Gala had encouraging information about the jewelry world. He quickly rattled off a number of other independently owned jewelry stores from Rostraver and New Kensington to the North Hills and Greensburg.

“The jewelry and small business community is very tight,” he said, warmly. “For the most part, everyone is close. We have friends in the industry and share whatever we can whenever possible. We’re more than happy to help other jewelers out.”

While this may be the end of the road for Gala Jewelers, their longtime success is a legacy that customers will surely remember and perhaps inspire a new generation of jewelers or small business owners.

“Our success is not about Chuck Gala,” the owner said. “It’s about all the awesome people I have working for me.”

Stacy Alderman is a White Oak-based freelance writer whose work has appeared in Heather Christie's Love Notes, THEMA Literary, inScribe Journal, Minerva Rising, and several others. She is the recipient of the Children of Steel fiction award.

From the Archives:

Chuck Gala was a guest on our talk show, “Two Rivers, 30 Minutes,” in 2023 (Download):

Originally published March 20, 2025.

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