Westlake Gold owner Joel Richman has managed and owned several businesses since he started in his work career.
About the owner:
He is an accountant by trade and was in the insurance industry for 21 years as a controller/chief financial officer for mid-size brokerages. He went into the jewelry industry for a few years in the early 2000s and got “bit” by the retail bug.
Later an owner of a cycling business for seven years, he then landed in the precious metal business in 2009. For GoldFellow, he opened the first retail store for GoldFellow in the US, which was later used to model and open over 30 stores. The bubble “burst” when gold dropped in 2012, so he closed the California stores but kept the Westlake Village store open. GoldFellow finally “retired” the Westlake store in June of 2015, which encouraged him to open a new store under the Westlake Gold name. Westlake Gold will now provide the same great service and reputation, which GoldFellow maintained over eight years (Six years in Westlake Village at the same location).
Joel’s Vision:
“Westlake’s plan is to continue the same high quality and personalized service that I instilled on my staff in every store I managed for GoldFellow. I have always maintained that you treat every customer as if they were your only customer. I value my reputation in the community and hope to expand on what we have done in the past, and hopefully will add on more services or products that we can buy from the public.“
Joel lives in the Westlake community and has lived in the Conejo Valley since 1999. In his spare time, he volunteers for the local Westlake SCORE chapter. (SCORE provides assistance to people who either want to get into business or need help in running or growing their business, through workshops, and one-on-one mentoring).