- April 25, 2024
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Georgiene Groves has helped a lot of people celebrate special occasions, including silver wedding anniversaries. Now it's her turn to celebrate a 25th anniversary – the number of years she has owned Southeast Jewelry in Flagler Beach.
In 1991 she and her family were on their way to the Keys from Woodstock, New York to look at houses and open a jewelry store. They had owned a jewelry store in upstate New York since 1981.
“My step son was getting irritated because he wasn't getting to play on his vacation,” Groves said. “We saw a sign for Marineland and came over the bridge.”
After watching dolphins doing tricks, they headed south and found exactly what they were looking for in a new community – Flagler Beach.
“The ocean was on one side and the Intracoastal on the other. What wasn't to like?” she said. “We came from a small town and Flagler Beach was a small town.”
Southeast Jewelry opened on State Road 100 and stayed there for a short time -- just long enough for her to meet Muriel Hoffman, who Groves recalls as the first person to come into her store.
“A friend of mine, also a jewelry addict, took me in there,” Hoffman said. “Ever since, wherever Georgie’s moved I went too,” Hoffman said.
Southeast Jewelry moved to a small corner shop directly across from the Flagler Beach Pier.
“We had a lot of people in that little store,” Groves said. “Our jewelry line, that we manufactured, was done in the tiny room in the back. The space in the front was our store until the hurricanes of 2004.”
Many businesses in Flagler Beach shared the same fate. The hurricanes did extensive structural damage to local businesses. Groves was not deterred. She packed up her shop and moved to South 6th St.
“It was the only building in town that was not damaged,” Groves said. “We moved here (411 S. Central Ave.) when they finished the downtown development.”
Many retail shops have moved in and out of Flagler Beach in the past 25 years. There are many places to purchase jewelry – big box stores, other jewelers, and the Internet – and yet Groves has a loyal customer base, like Hoffman.
Hoffman recalled when her late husband Irving would head to Southeast Jewelry to buy her “another piece of hardware,” as he called her jewelry.
“He would go in and they would sit and talk,” Hoffman said “She is just fun to talk to and always has a smile on her face.
The nautical theme attracts tourists who are looking for a souvenir for themselves, or maybe something to take home to the person watching their dog.
“You have beach jewelry on the beach,” Groves said. “We have plenty of fine jewelry here, but nobody gets dressed up per se. We're more 'garden party' jewelry people.'”
The atmosphere is casual, friendly and playful. Decorative frogs are displayed on glass display cases, and giant black ants “crawl” up the wall. Groves attends conventions and goes jewelry shopping several times a year. She also makes room for a select group of local artists.
“These are not just customers, they are the people we see all the time,” Groves said. “It’s our town and we all do our best to support the other people in town. There's no reason to go over the bridge. You can get pretty much whatever you want right here.”
“I am proud to say that a lot of my customers come to the shop because their friends say this is a place they can trust. That's a big deal in the jewelry business.”
