Rolland's Jewelers to close at Westfield Hawthorn

Rolland's Jewelers, a longtime family-owned store at Westfield Hawthorn Shopping Mall, plans to close by late December.

But that won't be the last you'll hear from owner Kenneth Luskin, of Long Grove, who already has four Pandora jewelry store franchises with another expected to open next year.

While Luskin is trading in the traditional, high-end jewelry store in Vernon Hills to focus more on a franchise, that doesn't mean it's the end for such independents. He's mulling the possibility of reopening Rolland's or a similar high-end store in another location.

Rolland's had $2.5 million in revenue this year, slightly more than last year, which provides the incentive to look at future options. But nothing's definite yet, said Luskin.

“There's room for both,” Luskin said of different stores catering to different tastes and price ranges.

Luskin said the cost of a new lease played into his decision. “It just came down to economics,” he said.

A Westfield Hawthorn spokeswoman said matters between the landlord and tenant are confidential and declined further comment.

Nationwide, there are about 22,000 jewelry firms, and the U.S. market will lose 300 to 400 specialty jewelry businesses this year. In 2009, 441 closed, based on data from the Jewelers Board of Trade, the jewelry industry's credit bureau and keeper of the business census, and IDEX Online Research.

“Fine jewelers continue to endure and many customers want to go to jewelers to see what they're getting,” said Helena Krodel, spokeswoman for Jewelers of America, an industry association.

Still, Rolland's already has notified customers of reductions ranging from 30 percent to 60 percent, with later discounts aimed at clearing out his remaining inventory, said Luskin.

The store's dozen employees likely will transfer to one of four Pandora jewelry stores already franchised by Luskin, including one in the same shopping mall. No layoffs are expected, said Luskin.

Besides Hawthorn, other Luskin-franchised Pandora stores are in Water Tower Place in downtown Chicago, Westfield Fox Valley in Aurora and Orland Square in South Suburban Orland Park. A fifth Pandora will open next year in Oakbrook Center, he said.

The close of Rolland's ends an era for area families who purchased unique diamonds or other fine jewelry since the store opened in Chicago in 1934 under owner and founder Rolland Trocky.

By 1980, Trocky wanted to retire and sold the business to Kenneth Luskin and his father, Abraham. They moved the store to the Vernon Hills mall in 1989 and have remained there since.

“Most jewelry stores in the mall are chains and they offer mid- to lower-grade quality jewelry,” said Luskin. “We had mid- to upper- quality and different designers. We also had a jeweler on site, who could work on pieces for customers who wanted to wait.”

Over the years, Luskin said some well-known people stopped in to buy special pieces, including Chicago Bulls legend Scottie Pippen, who bought a tennis bracelet for his wife.

“We always tried to keep it low key,” said Luskin. “That's why they came.”

Rolland's Ladies' Nights had a strong following. The annual event was held in November and included about 150 women who would spend an evening at the store, which was closed to the public for that event. They all ate, drank and looked at the latest arrivals.

“The ladies loved it like a candy store,” Luskin said.

After his father died in 2002, Luskin continued running Rolland's and later invested in the Pandora franchises.

Luskin said that Rolland's, a larger store that attracted more high-end customers, wasn't a good fit at Hawthorn. But Pandora, which appeals to all types of customers, has been successful there with a prime center court location. The smaller Pandora store also has a smaller lease, Luskin added.

Still, his ties with Rolland's runs deep.

“There's always a chance we'll open one day somewhere else,” said Luskin.