Mann's Jewelers' staff has planned prize drawings throughout July 23, the grand prize being a half-carat diamond. The store, located in downtown Willow Glen, is already decorated for the anniversary luau scheduled for the same day. La Villa Delicatessen is set to cater the event.

"The staff will be in Hawaiian dress, but everyone else can come as they please," said store manager Lea Sanchez.

Mann's Jewelers moved to its current location on Lincoln Avenue 28 years ago. Eight years later Merel Heggelund took over the store from his parents. It's their business principles that still guide him, he said.

"The main principle I've always been taught is that you give back to the community that gives to you and that the customers always come first," he said. "We've always lived by that policy. I think that's the reason we're successful."

Heggelund honored his parents' philosophy by sponsoring various fundraisers and promoting organizations such as the Diabetes Society of Santa Clara Valley, supporting a San Jose girls softball team and battered women's organizations.

Sanchez, who has known Heggelund for 20 years, and started working for him five years ago, says the store weathered some tough times when downtown Willow Glen underwent a revitalization effort that initially led to some empty storefronts.

"There were times we'd look out across the street and there would be nobody in the shops over there," she said.

But one key ingredient to Mann's staying power has been the store's faithful customers, many of whom are from Willow Glen, Sanchez said.

"We have quite a few second-generation customers," she said. "We have customers who are sending in their grandchildren to us."

And she added, "Our customers are so nice and people are in a good mood when they come in to buy jewelry."

Heggelund agrees.

"The times I enjoy most are when a customer comes in to pick up jewelry, and the wife or mother is emotional enough to be crying," he says. "It's really a good feeling when you see them so happy over what you've done."

Some people, however, are overwhelmed by the task of creating a custom piece of jewelry, says Sanchez, who helps customers develop their designs. She says women tend to have too many ideas about what they want a piece to look like, while men tend to have too few.

"When a woman comes in here and is all over the spectrum, I work with her to nail it down," Sanchez says. "Some guys who come in here don't want to be here but know they have to be. In both those situations, it comes down to listening to what they want."

Sanchez says Heggelund's skills and knowledge of the business were a help when it came to a personal piece of family jewelry. Heggelund helped her figure out how to turn a family heirloom into a piece she loves.

"My grandma left me a cocktail ring when she died that was hideous," she says. "I was never going to wear it because it was huge and not my style. Merel talked me into taking it apart and making a pendant out of it. Now it's something I wear all the time."

Mann's Jewelers, 1347 Lincoln Ave, celebrates its 75th anniversary on July 23 from 10 a.m.- 4 p.m. For more information, call 408.387.7858.