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Duluth
News Tribune (MN) - Monday, October 7, 2013
After 110 years in
downtown Duluth, Garon Bros. Jewelers will close its store
at the end of the month, with its inventory to be liquidated in the next few
weeks.
But the business will continue with an office downtown and an online presence
through which customers can make appointments for custom-made rings and other
jewelry.
“We’re trying to reinvent ourselves,” said majority owner Dave Blustin. “This
opens up a whole new opportunity for us.”
Most of their business lately has been by appointment anyway, Blustin said.
“Most customers are using (the website) like an online showroom of our
offerings and making appointments with us,” he said.
The store at 217 W. First St. is one of three in downtown Duluth with
histories dating back nearly 100 years or more — Bagley & Co. has
operated for 128 years, and Security Jewelers has been in business for nearly
90 years. The transition at Garon Bros. follows last month’s
closing of downtown’s John Marxhausen Jewelry after its owner retired.
Another independent jeweler, The Jewelers Bench, has operated in downtown
Duluth since 1987.
Jack Seiler, a co-owner of Security Jewelers, was dismayed to hear of Garon
’s closing.
“It’s one less store in downtown Duluth,” he said. “Doggone it. Even though
they’re competitors, I hate to see competitors go out. Duluth needs more
business, not less.”
Rick Heimbach, co-owner of Bagley & Co, also was sad to hear the news.
“We’ve always been proud to send people to Garon Bros. for
services and always been proud of their longevity and their good reputation,”
he said, complimenting Blustin on carrying on the family business so well.
Garon Bros. specializes in diamonds, gold and custom jewelry
and has offered full service jewelry repair. Its history goes back to 1903,
when Abe and Julius Garon opened the store on First Street
in the building next door to the present location. (In recent years, that
building has housed Blustin Optical Center, formerly owned and operated by
Dave Blustin’s cousin and uncle).
Garon Bros. moved to its present location in about 1915.
Dave Blustin’s grandfather, Mort Blustin, was hired in 1927 to be the store
manager. During World War II, he and a nephew of the Garon
brothers bought the business. Mort Blustin’s son, Robert, joined the business
after the war, and Robert’s son, Dave, joined the business in 1976 when the Garon
brothers’ nephew retired. Dave Blustin took over the business when his father
died in 1983.
Over the years, traffic has dwindled for the business as the number of retail
stores declined — on First Street in particular and in downtown Duluth in
general.
“We’re out of the beaten path for retailing,” Blustin said. “We’ve always
been a destination store. We’re not on the main street, Superior Street.”
Like a lot of businesses that have built an online presence, the need for a
brick-and-mortar store has lessened for Garon Bros.
“Lot of people in the old days were walking; they’d come in, take a
brochure,” Blustin said. “Now they’re doing so much of that online. People
seem to narrow down their choices in the comfort of their homes and offices.
They narrow down their choices with online looking. They make an appointment.
And then they come in and make a decision.”
Security Jewelers has been online for 20 years and also sells through
Amazon.com. But because the physical store is on Superior Street, it still
draws in walk-in customers even as its online business has grown.
”We do both,” Seiler said. “Online is all about price, and walk-in is all
about price and sales.”
Meanwhile, Bagley & Co.’s website remains more informational.
“It’s not really an e-commerce site,” Heimbach said. “It’s used for product
display and appointment scheduling.”
At Garon Bros., Blustin, 61, also was looking to slow down.
And although the store’s building, which he owned, was not listed for sale,
an offer came to him recently that was too good to refuse, he said.
Blustin declined to reveal details of the property sale that closed last
week, and which hasn’t yet appeared in online city and county property
records. But he said it sold to a local real estate investor and developer
for less than the estimated market value of $255,400.
That’s not unusual for downtown buildings, he said of below-market-value
sales.
The new owner probably will be looking for a new tenant in the first-floor
storefront. On the second floor, longtime tenant Payroll Processing Plus will
remain, Blustin said.
He’s looking for a small downtown office to work with clients. Longtime Garon
Bros. employee and minority owner Jason Goldfine, and Brandon Kolquist, who
is Blustin’s son-in-law, will continue with the business under the new
format.
The business should move out of the storefront by the end of the month. Until
then, they’ll sell as much inventory as possible.
“We have good sale prices on what we have,” Blustin said. “People will know
they’re getting a deal.”
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