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Jewelry store plans to open near theater By DAVID PRESZLER The space surplus around Tinseltown Theatres at the Medford Center has shrunk. A local jewelry store, J. Michaels Fine Jewelry, has agreed to lease the corner retail space next to Circuit City at the south entrance to Tinseltown. The new business, owned by Michael Hansen and his wife, Noriko, is expected to open July 1. The lease was signed Tuesday and work on the 2,200-square-foot store should begin next week, Hansen said Wednesday. Hansen is general manager of his family's business, Gold & Gems of Ashland, but has decided to strike out on his own. "We're a really tight family, but I've always wanted my own business and my dad's still a young man," Hansen said. Hansen plans to open an upscale store with special features for customers such as an electronic "wish list" they can start so spouses and the like know what they want, and a playroom for children. Space has also been set aside for a goldsmith and watchmaker. J. Michaels Fine Jewelry will join Special Designs as the second store to move into the dozen retail spaces around Tinseltown Theatres. The theater complex opened more than 15 months ago and much has been made of the slow pace at which spaces have been filled. Howard Wong of Center Trust, the California company that owns the center, has made it clear that the company is taking its time to secure the right tenants. Wong said negotiations with other tenants are continuing and he hopes to announce another local tenant within a few weeks. He said J. Michaels fits their vision for the center very well. "We're very excited," he said. "It's the perfect tenant and the perfect use. It really sets the tone." Hansen said he was somewhat hesitant because so many spaces were still vacant but said his reluctance faded after his discussions with Wong and Bill Leever (whose company, Pulver and Leever Real Estate, is handling local leases). Noriko Hansen said she was sold on the center as soon as she saw it. "It's such a wonderful place," she said. "This can be such a wonderful shopping center." Today's Business Index Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA