Leighton’s Jewelers has been a mainstay in Downtown Madera since 1956, which was two years before Chris Miller was born.
Miller grew up in the business and officially bought his father out in 1991 before retiring, and closing Leighton’s in 2024. The store has since reopened under a different, but same name (Leightons Custom Jewelry Repair) and is shifting its business profile with Miller’s daughter Suzie Gran and longtime jeweler Virgil Anderson.
“Retail is not what it used to be,” Miller said. “I told them if I wasn’t ready to retire, this is what I would do. I would downsize the inventory, eliminate a lot of the overhead and concentrate on the things you can make a living at — repairing jewelry and doing custom work. You don’t need a couple million dollars of inventory staring at you because nobody is buying it. You need to provide the service the community is looking for. That’s what they are doing and they are doing a great job.”