Our History

Every story has a beginning and Janina’s started when Andrzej and Janina immigrated from Poland to Canada. Upon their arrival on a winter night in 1982, Andrzej and Janina both were determined to make a home in Grande Prairie for themselves.

With no time to spare, Janina joined the local Queen Elizabeth II hospital as a nurse while Andrzej took on a variety of jobs for local businesses, including a position at Safeway. After years of incredible hard work, they began to strive for more and explored opportunities in which they could grow and develop a business on their own. A firm believer in acquiring transferable skills, Andrzej gravitated towards the art of goldsmithing, which eventually led him to take a course through the Toronto Art School. It was then that Andrzej put his focus on opening his own jewellery store – and soon after his efforts paid off.

After acquiring a small space in the basement of the old Coop, Janina’s Jewellers opened its doors in October of 1986. Thriving on exceptional service and excellent goldsmithing, the business began to grow and loyal clients kept coming back through the door again and again. By the time 1995 rolled around, Andrzej and Janina had their eyes set on expanding the business and opening a second location in the K-Mart Plaza. This expansion meant that Andrzej and Janina could welcome more clients to their stores and grow their business even more.

But in 2000, Janina’s was faced with an insurmountable challenge: when the Coop mall revealed its plans to demolish the entire building, Andrzej and Janina had less than one month to close the doors on the store they had built and operated for over a decade. To give back to their loyal customers, Andrzej and Janina hosted the biggest four-week sale they had ever had.

After consolidating their business into one location, K-Mart Plaza eventually became known as the Sears Centre. All focus was now put into building up this location, and the results are clear. In 2006, Janina’s Jewellers expanded to double in size. Bringing in very exclusive jewellery collections from companies such as Tacori, Simon G., as well as Maple Leaf Diamonds, Janina’s continued to grow.

In 2008, Janina’s had an amazing reason to celebrate: achieving the highest Tacori’s sales in North America, only after one year of carrying the brand in-store. Adding more exquisite brands to its collections, Janina’s has continued to create long-lasting relationships with jewellers and offering more brands in-store.