b'Harvey and Maddy RovinskyGuiding Through TransitionsThat was a lifestyle change, Harvey says, with the family ulti-Bernie Robbins got its start when Maddys father, Bernie Rosen- mately deciding there were enough middle-of-the-road jewelers berg (better known as Bernie Robbins), got a job as an appliancebut too few luxury retailers. salesman in Philadelphia.Thats when they really began to elevate the business, bringing in When the store passed him over for abrands and building the Bernie Robbins promotion to manager, Maddys mother,the industry knows today. Lorraine Rosenberg, decided it was timeThey didnt have a lot of money to for the family to go out on its own.We have drivenspend on advertising then, Harvey says, The original Bernie Robbins carried notexcept for the money Rolex gave the store only appliances but also Timex watches.ourselves in a veryfor advertising, but they used it wisely. Maddys uncle had a jewelry store twonimble way. We keepThe way that I believed we should neighborhoods away from them in Phil- on changing the way wegrow and market was to link our name adelphia. He gave them a little tray ofdo things because thewith Rolex, with David Yurman, with charms and pendants, Maddy says, andCartier. Then people would understand they put those in the case too, markingmarketplace is changingwe were good at what we do. their introduction to jewelry.and has been changing.It was these kinds of ideas that would Her father would eventually comeMADDY ROVINSKY prove Maddys father made the right de-to realize appliancescision bringing Harvey, a werent a good businessthird-generation jeweler, and the store neededinto the family business. to change.My father was smart He hired Harveyenough and confident in 1966, and with hisenough to let Harvey do guidance, the store wenthis thing, Maddy says. through several stagesThough Maddy grew of reinvention. (Har- up helping her parents vey also became familyat the store, retail wasnt along the way; he andher first choice. She Maddy married in 1969.)worked as a teacher for After starting outa while, which she called as an appliance shop,her fairy-tale career.Bernie Robbins addedI loved it when I low-end jewelry in thestarted, and I loved it early 1970s, primarilywhen I left, she says. 10-karat gold.Maddy helped at The stores third lifethe store after school dawned in the mid- The Bernie Robbins Jewelers store in Somers Point, New Jersey and on weekends but 1970s when it relocatedeventually realized she to a larger space inhad to choose. Philadelphia, added more jewelry, and became a little bit better of aShe joined the family business full time in 1994 as it was going jeweler, Harvey says.through significant changes and needed a buyer. And that is how Bernie Robbins was a catalog showroom then, which provided a bigHarvey and Maddy became business partners. boost for the store and created a lot more volume for them, he notes.It was a wave they rode for a few years, until catalog showroomsAdapting and Innovating started going out of business in the 80s.Being open to change is one of the traits Maddy, Harvey, and their By the middle of the decade, Bernie Robbins was essentially a mid- employees all say has contributed to the stores success and longevity. dle-of-the-road jeweler, he says, though the store still sold appliances. We have driven ourselves in a very, as [Harvey] says, nimble way. The retailers Somers Point, New Jersey storeits second We keep on changing the way we do things because the marketplace opened in 1984, but the Bernie Robbins team quickly found cus- is changing and has been changing, Maddy says. tomers werent interested in a jewelry store with appliances. So, forOne prime example is their recent decision to start carrying lab-its fifth and final iteration, the retailer made the move to become agrown diamonds at all Bernie Robbins stores. The move was made luxury jeweler in 1992.reluctantly on Harveys part, he admits, but both he and Maddy This decision coincided with Bernie Robbins becoming anacknowledge customers are asking for them, and they need to respond. Official Rolex Jeweler. Im not going to turn clients away, he says.Continued on page 1412 RETAILER HALL OF FAME 2022'