Amid a changing retail landscape in Coconut Grove, the family-owned jewelry store Robin in the Grove finds new life just a few blocks from the old.
After 30 years at their prime storefront location on Main Highway, family-owned jewelry and watch specialists Robin in the Grove has moved to a new home on Commodore Plaza.
The move highlights a broader trend in the Grove’s evolving retail sector, with many small, independently owned operations closing their doors or relocating to cheaper locations.
“An area builds itself up organically with mom-and-pop businesses, grassroots-style, and inevitably the money catches wind of that area’s growing popularity,” says Robin in the Grove co-owner Philippe Azoulay. “Then the money moves in and everything that was organic starts to get pushed out.”
Azoulay says the move was not their choice. The landlord told him he’d be making way for a national tenant with deep pockets.
“We were ready to double our rent payment and spend big money to modernize and jazz up the store, but [the landlord] didn’t even consider us for the space. I don’t fault the market. A place grows and while it worked for us here for many years, when the hammer drops, the hammer drops.”
The shop’s new location – a second-floor retail space at 3162 Commodore Plaza – suits Azoulay and co-owner Henri Azoulay, Philippe’s father, just fine. Business has been brisk, he says.
Henri got his start in the jewelry business in his hometown of Montreal in 1967.
After moving to South Florida in 1975 he opened a retail store in downtown Miami’s Seybold Building – then and now a kind of jewelry supercenter – where he sold his original designs and custom-made pieces. He later sold jewelry through the Home Shopping Network.
In 1994 Henri, along with son Philippe, moved the operation to Main Highway, steps away from what is now a Starbucks location at the corner of Main Highway and Grand Avenue, and they renamed the store Robin in the Grove, in memory of another son who passed away early in life.
Over the years the pair have witnessed the mix of Coconut Grove’s retail sector evolve from small, eclectic homespun shops to national brands and high-end boutiques. The customer base, Henri notes, has changed with it.
In the 1980s – what he calls the Miami Vice era – cash was king and the gaudy, gold bling of the drug dealer stereotype was a hot seller.
A decade later, with the Grove in something of an economic slump, the Azoulays survived a shoot-out (one of the robbers was wounded, Henri notes, somewhat proudly). The crooks were later captured by police.
Father and son attribute the store’s endurance through the retail highs and lows of Coconut Grove to a loyal base of customers who return again and again.
“We’re in the trust business,” says Philippe. “My father and I have built up a loyal following over the years because people know who they’re dealing with when it comes to their priceless family heirloom jewelry. We can handle every type of customer, ranging from the guy wanting to buy a $50,000 Rolex to the swimming instructor who needs a battery replaced in her stopwatch.”
Much of Robin in the Grove’s business these days is pre-owned luxury watches such as Rolex, Breitling, Omega and TAG Heuer. Much of their inventory comes from customers selling their watches and jewelry. The Azoulays also do watch overhauls and fine jewelry repair.
Gabriel Castaño, who visited the store one day last week to pick out a Rolex – a gift for his son, Juan – may be typical of the store’s customer base. Thirteen years ago, he says, he bought one for himself from Henri and Phillipe. A few years later he bought yet another for his wife.
Why does he return? Castaño sums it up in a word: “Trust.”
