Richard Rosenblum and his older brother, Bob, are the third generation of a 118-year-old Jacksonville-based family business, Rosenblums, whose tagline is, “Experience Fine Clothing.”
Their grandfather, Frank, founded the business Downtown in 1898 with a pushcart of wares. After the Great Fire of 1901, he opened one of the first men’s clothing stores in Jacksonville.
His three sons later joined the business, and by the 1960s, they sold men’s and women’s fashions at four locations.
In the early 1980s, grandsons Bob and Richard joined the company. They opened along the riverfront on San Jose Boulevard in 1996 and in Jacksonville Beach seven years later, the locations now of Duval County’s two Rosenblums stores.
Rosenblums is known for its high-fashion brands and customer service, and is one of the original Jacksonville boutiques bringing designer clothing to the area.
Brother Tom, 58, also grew up in the business and is a Jacksonville attorney.
Richard Rosenblum, 54, recently talked about the historic company.
How did Rosenblums decide high fashion and designer clothing was its niche?
My grandfather passed away in the ‘40s. From what I understand through my dad and uncles, it always had been a desire of his not only to provide service but to be in the better clothing business.
That inspiration is something that we’ve carried on from generation to generation. I think back in the day of the ‘40s and ‘50s and ‘60s, dressing was definitely more important. That was probably the catalyst for being in the better clothing business.
What did your grandfather sell from his cart and how did that evolve into what we know today?
He came from Romania with his wife and two of his six children. He settled in the (Florida) Keys in the 1890s.
The story is there was a family here that was known to help Jewish immigrants. There wasn’t the railroad, so he walked and made it here.
He borrowed a cart and buggy and sold pots and pans, as many immigrants did, and had that ethic to work and assimilate into our society.
He had a small storefront before the Great Fire of 1901 and eventually brought all his family up. My dad was born here.
I don’t think they were truly just a men’s clothing store at that point. By the ‘30s they were at Main and Duval. In 1937 is when we opened at Adams and Hogan Downtown and that was the beginning of many great years.
He walked here?
He walked here. Yep. Four or 500 miles from the Keys. I don’t know if it was Key West or the northern part of the Keys, but I’m sure it was a very hard trip.
Why did Rosenblums close Downtown?
Suburban America started in the ‘60s so that was the beginning of it.
We went to Regency Square first and then Roosevelt Mall, and then Lakewood, and Downtown was not the spot once the suburban malls opened.
Over the years crime and parking became an issue for Downtown, especially on the weekends.
Is there any thought of returning?
We’ve had many thoughts of going back Downtown. Every great city needs a vibrant downtown.
You’re seeing some exciting things happening with the Jacksonville Jaguars, with owner Shad Khan and the amphitheater and the things that he’s doing.
Look at Jacques Klempf with the Cowford Chophouse. Look at what Ben Davis is doing with Intuition Ale Works trying to be a catalyst from the Sports Complex going west.
Mayor John Peyton said at one time that you have to have 24/7 living before you can have a retail environment. We’re starting to get that, slowly but surely.
Look at the things happening in Brooklyn. You’re starting to see pockets of it and it’s just got to make its way eventually Downtown.
As far as full retail, where it was, I don’t think we’ll ever see it with this city being so big. My heart would love it, but I think those days are gone. It would be different.
Where would you look?
We’d like to be in an area with some synergy. We love being at the beach and the feeling of the beach. We’ve been out there almost 15 years.
Where that is — Avondale, Brooklyn, Downtown, Southbank — we’re actively open to options.
We’ve had our eye on San Marco. We’d love to see if the Publix and the East San Marco project take hold soon. We don’t need the space we’re in now (along San Jose Boulevard). It’s a big location — 4,200 square feet.
What is the environment today for designer clothing?
It’s healthy here in Jacksonville. There’s an educated consumer here, for many reasons. We have so many new people in the last 10 to 20 years from bigger cities that are used to shopping some of the bigger brands. It’s always been here.
The internet has played a role. Today’s consumers are very well informed. Trends seem to take hold quicker.
Our customer base travels and when you travel, you shop, you see other stores.
There’s an awareness. There’s a taste level for it here. It’s quality.
Do you have a customer profile?
Our core customer is probably 35, 40 and up, not to say we don’t have pockets of younger customers, the ones that have jobs now and can afford to shop.
It’s male and female. They’re executives, they’re professionals, they’re doctors, they have an appreciation for what fine clothes can do for them and their appearance.
How did the 2005 opening of the St. Johns Town Center and the recession of 2007-09 affect you?
To us, 2008 gave us some good lessons on how to look at our business and how to watch things. It was a wake-up call.
Town Center is good for Jacksonville — you can keep people shopping in Jacksonville. The bigger stores and some of the newer stores brought more brand awareness of what we already carry.
It’s affected shopping in general, more so for women’s clothing. Our strength is more men’s. But men typically, at least in our customer base, want parking, they want ease. They don’t want to fight traffic. They don’t want aggravation. Time is of the essence. I think that’s the advantage that we have at our two locations.
My head is not in the sand that there’s not business at the Town Center. There’s just opportunity for all of us.
What has been your greatest success?
Our greatest success probably is still having the reputation for which our dad and uncles and grandad laid the foundation — how to treat customers and having those relationships. My brother and I have been in the business almost 35 years.
We have the great stories of the Greatest Generation that come in. An attorney that’s 89 years old and still practices told me he came to town right out of college and out of the service. He was in the Korean War.
And he said he had no money; he was working for the soon-to-be chief judge of the Supreme Court, Ray Ehrlich.
He said he got an invitation to (the Ye Mystic) Revellers (Pageant & Ball.) He didn’t have a tuxedo, didn’t know what to do, so he handed the invitation to Ehrlich.
“What do I do with this?” he asks. “You go see Sheldon at Rosenblums” — my dad.
Sure enough he did. He went in and said, “Ray said come see you. I need a tuxedo.”
My dad said, “I got you covered. I knew you were coming.”
He already had the tuxedo out, he’s doing the whole ensemble.
The lawyer is starting to sweat, got real nervous and he’s like, “How am I going to pay for all this? I’m a young lawyer.”
Dad said, “First off, I talked to Ray. He says you’re a good lawyer. You’re going to do fine. Second, you just pay me as you can.”
That was that. There are countless stories of the Greatest Generation that came back from the war and didn’t have a dime.
“Pay me as you can.” That’s the culture that we came out of.
We have similar stories like that now, customers come back and say “I moved here in 1985, ’86, and I’ve been shopping with you ever since.”
Now their children are shopping with us. That’s probably our greatest success.
Moving to the beach, I’d say that was as well a success. My brother was a catalyst for that. He lives at the beach and saw the opportunity out there.
What about your greatest challenge?
The challenges are many. We say if it was easy everybody would be doing it. The challenge is the environment today, the casualness of the world today, the internet. The way the city is so spread out is a challenge.
Probably one of the biggest for us is the dynamic of a generational business, a family business.
A gentleman named Ray Rizzo moved here from Connecticut and came to the opening of our beach store. He had a relationship marketing company for 35 years in Connecticut. He had been on the advisory board of the No. 1 family-owned store in America called Mitchells.
We were fortunate to recognize the challenges of being brothers and in a family business and how to navigate that. Ray has been our advisory board –– a father figure, business adviser, marketing adviser, more so sometimes than he wanted to be. It was very helpful for us.
You grew up in the business. Is that what you and your brother wanted to do for the rest of your lives?
You know, we always did, probably learned more at the dinner table than anywhere. It was something we did during the holidays and loved doing. We have seven kids — I have four, he has three. His children, teenagers, they enjoy the business. They like even going to market. They’re probably the only two 15- and 16-year-olds that are constantly in the New York market. They’ve got a feel for the business.
My kids are a little bit younger, one about to graduate high school and go to college, but they’re not as interested in the business, and that’s fine. It is a hard business.
So there’s a fourth generation?
There is a fourth generation, and we do have a rule that — it’s not formal yet — that you’ve got to spend five years outside the business before you come into the business. We think that would be very helpful.
You talked about changes in consumer trends and fashions. What are you seeing?
We’re seeing significant changes in the last 12-24 months. You kind of put the blinders on, because every day at both of our stores we’re selling a suit or a sport coat, whether it be made-to-measure — which is a big part of our business — or off the rack.
But you see it when you’re out and about at restaurants, weddings, funerals, church, synagogue, country clubs, traveling — people are dressing down.
Lawyers say, “I just don’t wear a suit anymore. I just don’t wear a suit unless I go to court.”
Somehow we’re still selling, but it is more casual. It might be a suit without a tie, with a pocket square and a nice shirt, open collar. That’s how we’ve adapted.
Is it a blip? Is it permanent? I still think there are enough people that want to dress. When you do dress, people notice.
But our business has changed too. It’s event-driven. People come in to dress up with a suit or a coat if they have an interview, a party, a wedding or something. The old days with the Greatest Generation, every season it was time to change your wardrobe. You just did it.
You grew up here. What is your assessment of the Jacksonville economy?
My take from the clothing business and in talking to customers, a lot of people are holding onto their money. It’s on the sidelines. I think there is a lot of wealth in the city, a lot of good industry.
You look at many of my customers, and they are traveling. That’s a good sign.
Our economy is more fortunate because of the leadership. Mayor (Lenny) Curry is an extreme advocate of Jacksonville, bringing business here.
We’re fortunate that we are in Florida. We do have people that want to move down to our weather.
We need to get through the election year, too. We’ll get through November and hopefully get back to some normalcy.
What’s next for Rosenblums?
I’d probably say moving from San Jose to a new location in town. We’d like a web presence on the internet.
What else would you like to share?
The late Judge Frank Upchurch used to say, “Shopping at Rosenblums never felt like it was shopping. It was more like a social experience.” We pride ourselves on that.
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