Vendors sit behind the counters of jeweler’s booths at the International Jewelry Mart located on 7th Street in Downtown Los Angeles. The warehouse is filled with numerous jewelry counters, of which maybe half are filled. One or two patrons wander from counter to counter, occasionally stopping to admire a piece and chat with its vendor. Though it’s December and only weeks away from Christmas, business is slow.

“Five years ago we didn’t even have time to eat. We would have to eat lunch at four or five,” said Wendy Diego. “Now we can have lunch anytime we want.”

This has been the fate of many businesses in Los Angeles’s once renowned Jewelry District since 2007 when the Great Recession hit. Diego, a jewelry vendor for Kami’s Jewelry, has been selling jewelry for 20 years and has noticed the considerable shift in the area since the economy’s decline.

“The district isn’t as big as it used to be,” said Diego. “A lot of jewelry stores closed and were converted into lofts, which is concerning because we don’t know what’s going to happen with our own business.”

The district is part of the larger Historic Core neighborhood and spans the area bounded by 5th Street, 8th Street, Broadway and Olive Street. Before the market crashed, Downtown Los Angeles boasted the largest Jewelry District in the world, with annual sales reported at almost $3 billion. During the Great Recession, the entire jewelry industry saw an 11% drop in sales, which impacted Downtown’s businesses drastically.

“The strong people held on in 2007 after the crash,” said business owner Burton. “That’s probably when it went from 5 thousand jewelers to about half. That’s what you’re seeing right now and it gets smaller every year. It fluctuates because this is not something you need, it’s a luxury.”

Burton is the owner of The Jeweler’s Line and has been in the jewelry business since he was a kid. He started his company in 1987 when there were only a few buildings in the area. As the neighborhood’s profits increased, he witnessed its growth into a recognized area with 15 buildings housing over 5 thousand jewelers. However, in recent years after the recession, he’s seen it gradually shrink back to its original size as jewelers go out of business.

“When times are bad, times are horrible,” said Burton. “It was like 9/11 all over again, no joke. When we lost, we lost. Period.”

Although the recession ended in 2009, it took longer for many parts of the economy to turn around due to the severity of the situation; for many businesses, those consequences are still being felt.