Sonny’s Diamonds & Jewelry in Denver is shutting its doors after nearly 30 years in business.

The store’s lease is ending, and after the owners couldn’t find a suitable new location, they decided to close the jewelry store operation, reports the Rocky Mountain News. The store-closing sale began Wednesday.

Sonny’s is named after Sonny Nedler, who started the business with his son, Michael, as a leased department in the women’s couture store Montaldo’s in the late 1970s, the newspaper reports. Michael remains a co-owner of the store with Mark Rutkowski. Sonny Nedler died in 1997.

After Montaldo’s went out of business in the early 1990s, Sonny’s moved to its current Cherry Creek North shopping center.

The economic turmoil played in the decision to close but it wasn’t the principal reason, Nedler told the newspaper.

Sonny’s will stay open until it has liquidated its entire $4 million inventory.

Six Sonny’s employees will lose their jobs. And Nedler and Rutkowski are trying to figure out what they’ll tackle for the next phases of their own lives.

Caption: Sonny’s Diamonds & Jewelry co-owners Michael Nedler (left) and Mark Rutkowski.

JCK