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A Nice Ring to It Olmaz Jewelers owners reflect on opening their dream store By Hannah Lee
hen Elie AbouRjeileh and Jack Daoud cut the ribbon stamped with The Chamber for a Greater Chapel HillCarrboro logo on it, it finally kicked in. This store, Olmaz Jewelers, was theirs – and no
Elie and Jack have known each other since the early 2000s, when they met during their college years at Michigan State University.
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one else’s. They looked up laughing toward the camera, standing alongside Mayor Pam Hemminger and Chamber President & CEO Aaron Nelson during their grand opening at Eastgate Crossing in November 2019. Both say nothing can or will compare to what they felt in that moment. “That was, to me, a big deal,” Elie says. “Jack and I had worked so hard for five years nonstop, even when we had other jobs. Even on our days off, we would go and work on building this business. And we put everything into it – everything we had and didn’t have.” After working for more than 15 years in the jewelry business, employed by the same family but at different stores in Lansing, Michigan, Elie and Jack knew exactly what they wanted. This included planting roots in