"He and Paul complement each other because of their personalities," she said. "Paul is very hands-on. He likes to be involved in everything going on.
And Nick kind of stays back and does his own thing around his desk." But that's not the only difference. "They are very different in the fact that Paul is a neat freak and he likes everything in order and Nick is just kind of .
.. well, you'd have to see from his room and his closet.
He knows where everything is, but he doesn't put anything back in place." Gayle Wibben said her husband's laid-back demeanor somehow finds a match with his partner's. Sure, Paul likes everything in its place and Nick, as she said, loses everything, but they combine their knowledge of their business to put together a package that attracts a loyal customer base.
Louisiana Coin Exchange started in 1958, with each of the current partners coming on years later. Wibben started as an employee in the 1970s before joining as a partner in the '80s. Pons, an avid coin collector, began as a customer but found his way into ownership in the 1980s.
The business expanded from its coin focus to jewelry, which comprises about 50 percent of operations now, said Paul Pons. "It wasn't planned," Pons said. "It kind of happened that way.
" They received jewelry requests and found a whole new area of business. "We're a destination-type business," Pons said. "Customers come in here with a purpose in mind.
" Louisiana Coin Exchange serves investors, coin collectors and individuals seeking interesting pieces of jewelry. Business comes in from local walk-in traffic as well as over the Internet. I've been coming here probably as long as they've been doing this," said Anna Dickson, who dropped in to do holiday shopping on a recent Friday.
Her reason for passing up other businesses is simple: "I like the people who work here and they are always courteous and helpful," she said. "And they have beautiful pieces of jewelry." On this day, she was after a journey necklace and grabbed coins as gifts "" plus a little something for herself.
"My husband died so I decided I'd give myself something for Christmas." Paul Pons said longtime customers are important: "Most of my customers, I know on a firsthand basis." The husbands work the business six days a week, with another day off during the week, while the wives alternate weeks.
That's during the rest of the year. During the holiday season, everybody is on hand to take care of the increased workflow. "When you come by our store, you are liable to see anything," Nick Wibben said.
"From coins 2,000 years old to diamonds, to exotic gemstones, to a metal detector." The rare coins, customers expect. But the working relationships seem to be more the unexpected element in this place of unusual things.
"A lot of people seem shocked," said Brenda Pons. "People seem amazed that we all work together. We've never had any problems.
It is kind of amazing even to me sometimes.
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