by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
When you have a good idea, first you make sure all the pieces are in place for success. Then you just go for it.
That’s the business plan that drives Hemming Plaza Jewelers.
In 1999, store owner Juan Gonzalez and his family were in the restaurant business, operating the Stadium Club on Beach Boulevard. One day, he said, someone offered to sell them a pawn shop and jewelry store.
The obstacle? They didn’t know anything about the retail merchandise business. Gonzalez and his brother, Kirk, decided to learn.
“We went to school in Miami day and night five days a week, then we’d drive back to Jacksonville and run the restaurant on the weekend. Then we’d drive to Miami Sunday night and park at the school and sleep for a couple of hours. In the morning, the teacher would wake us up and we’d do it all over again. We finished a four-year program in nine months. I think it was a record,” said Gonzalez.
After their crash course in jewelry repair and design, the brothers went into business in a garage, and then in 2003 opened their first store on Hogan Street Downtown.
“After a while, we knew we could do this for real,” said Gonzalez.
In 2007, the store moved into a larger space a few doors away on the corner of Hogan and Monroe streets at Hemming Plaza. The timing couldn’t have been better, said Gonzalez.
“We expanded just as the recession was beginning, but our business has increased every year,” he said.
Gonzalez attributes the success to aggressive advertising, something he learned in the restaurant business, and being able to do things other jewelry stores can’t or won’t do.
“We do repair work for 14 other stores. We get their nightmare jobs, the jobs they don’t want to touch. We’ve got the equipment and the people,” he said.
He said another reason the store is always busy is the variety of items it offers in all price ranges. Gonzalez also travels the world, looking for new merchandise at jewelry shows. His most recent adventure to Thailand helped him ease into the wholesale business.
“I found some really distinctive items that we could have exclusively. We’re selling them here in the store and also selling them to other stores,” said Gonzalez.
The next addition to the operation is a foundry, which Gonzalez is setting up in the basement to process the gold and other precious metals he buys from consumers. He said he plans to be fully operational within six months.
“I know the longer I wait, the more money I’m losing,” said Gonzalez.
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