Daily Record Financial News &
Thursday, September 1, 2016
Vol. 103, No. 209 • One Section
35¢ www.jaxdailyrecord.com
Underwood closing Avenues store
Underwood Jewelers, citing changing shopping patterns among customers for its higherend merchandise, will close its store at The Avenues mall Sept. 27 as its lease expires Sept. 30. “This one doesn’t make sense anymore, so we are shutting it down,” said Underwood Jewelers President Clayton Bromberg. Jacksonville-based Underwood Jewelers will focus on its remaining stores that operate in San Marco, Avondale and Ponte Vedra Beach near affluent clients. “Malls are a very, very high cost place to operate and it’s our smallest store by volume by a long shot and it is no longer
growing,” Bromberg said. Underwood’s opened at The Avenues in 2010. It operates in a 1,100-square-foot space on the lower level at the center court. Bromberg said Underwood’s sent letters to customers Thursday and Friday and distributed an email late Tuesday about the closing. That email said the Avenues store’s closing sparks the company’s first storewide sale since 1996, when it closed its location at Regency Square Mall. Bromberg said other than Rolex and David Yurman, merchandise at The Avenues mall store will be marked down 20 to 50 percent.
“We have no room for this inventory in our other three stores so it must be liquidated,” Bromberg said in the email. It said the sale includes diamonds, designer jewelry, watches, pearls “and even our Waterford chandeliers,” but it will not be advertised other than through the mail and email to customers. The Avenues store operates 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Saturday,
longer hours than at the other locations, where Underwood’s opens at 10 a.m. but closes at 5:30 p.m. in town and at 6 p.m. at Ponte Vedra Beach. All four are closed Sunday. Bromberg said he would speak with his store manager at The Avenues about whether it would open on Sundays through the end of the month for the sale. He said the mall had asked if the store could remain open through the holidays, but the numbers didn’t work. A Simon Property Group spokesman referred questions to Underwood’s. Mathis continued on Page A-2
Underwood Jewelers President Clayton Bromberg at the flagship San Marco store.
Church to redevelop Belk site into HQ
Gov. Rick Scott, Mayor Lenny Curry, City Emergency Preparedness Division Chief Steve Woodard and Sheriff Mike Williams listen to updates from the National Weather Service on Tropical Storm Hermine. Curry later declared a state of emergency starting at 5 p.m. today.
Photo by Wes Lester / City of Jacksonville
By Karen Brune Mathis Managing Editor
Pre-emptive strike against weather
By Max Marbut Staff Writer When it comes to damage from severe weather, it’s best to head it off at the pass, if possible. That’s what JEA does as a matter of policy when it comes to electric service that might be interrupted by trees or limbs falling on power lines. And it’s what the utility has been doing for more than a week when it comes to sewer service issues in anticipation of Northeast Florida being in the path of Tropical Storm Hermine. Field crews work until weather conditions become unsafe and then are back at work as soon as it is safe, said JEA spokeswoman Gerri Boyce. She said JEA is expecting as much as 6 inches of rain and wind gusts up to 40 mph.
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“In any storm, you can expect some outages,” she said. In 2013, JEA began investing $17 million per year to “harden” the electric system to better withstand tropical storm winds and tornadoes. A lot of what’s been done in the past week was to ensure the system was ready for the storm. Boyce said the electric generating stations and transmission lines were inspected to make sure everything was working, including backup systems. Twenty-four line crews will be standing by to repair power lines, if needed. The first step, Boyce said, is to assess the damage and first repair electric generating stations, transmission lines and water and sewer facilities. After that, outages will be prioritized. Critical needs — such as hospitals, fire and JEA continued on Page A-3
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JEA crews working after Tropical Storm Fay in 2008.
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Water and sewer could be bigger issue than electricity
Impact Church announced early today it completed its acquisition of the former Belk store space at Regency Square Mall in Arlington. A news release said the purchase by the Arlington-based ministry is one of the largest local community investments in that area within the decade. The deed has not been recorded with the Duval County Clerk of Courts. No purchase price was announced. “We are so excited to not only grow in a new facility, but to also be a part of the renaissance of a mall that is near and dear to all our hearts,” said Bishop George Davis, senior pastor. The church said the almost 200,000-squarefoot space will become The Impact Center to function as the international headquarters for the church. It expects to complete Phase 1 of the new auditorium with plans to move in as early as the third quar- Davis ter of 2017. Impact Church said it wants to make the area a community asset. It will work with Regency Square ownership to provide a walkway between the West and East malls, which Belk had done. The West Mall is being redeveloped by International Décor Outlet with homeimprovement retailers. The East Mall is a retail corridor anchored by JCPenney. Regency Square, at 9501 Arlington Expressway, is the area’s oldest regional shopping center. Belk closed its store there in February 2015 and opened in a new center east along Atlantic Boulevard. Impact Church, now at 8985 Lone Star Road, said building plans will provide amenities for its members and the Arlington community that include: • A 2,500-seat performing arts center that will expand to 4,000 seats by 2020.
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