Maitland Jewelers opens its doors

Maitland Jewelers is located at 500 E. Horatio Ave. Suite 1 in Maitland. Visit www.maitlandjewelers.com or call 407-628-0615.

Diamonds are a girl’s best friend, and she can continue to look to Maitland Jewelers to quench her gem obsession.

About 200 people attended Friday’s grand reopening of the jewelry store — formerly known as Jewelers of Maitland — under new ownership in the same storefront at 500 E. Horatio Ave. in Maitland.

The store had been run for 26 years by the husband and wife team of Mark and Hedy Blinderman until they decided to retire.

Hedy’s daughter Elin Shenk, who now owns the store with her husband, Matt Shenk, had worked in the store for 22 years, and spent the last 12 years in the store as a trained graduate gemologist. She saw the closing as an opportunity to open a jewelry store of her own, and her husband supported her decision.

“She hated to see it go,” Matt said. “We actually didn’t make up our mind until during the closing down sale, and she just said, ‘I think I want to do it.’”

The Shenks reopened the business and renamed it Maitland Jewelers.

Hedy said the store started out small and was originally more of a repair shop, and has since grown to a full-service jewelry store. She said she traveled at least once, sometimes twice a year, to Antwerp, Belgium, to purchase diamonds in person, which she viewed as critical to her work.

“I like to see what I buy,” she said. “You need to see it. Especially diamond that has a quality that’s visual.”

The business has catered to many Maitland residents, including its mayor, Howard Schieferdecker. He was on hand to celebrate the reopening. He said his wife has shopped there for many years, and he wants to do everything he can to encourage entrepreneurship in the city.

“We need business in Maitland,” he said. “We’re open for business. We’ve been working hard, we’ve streamlined our permitting process to help this, we’re redoing our land development code, all for the purpose of enticing new businesses to come in.”

For many people, Maitland Jewelers is a place that shares part of the history of their lives.

Phyllis Cragin has been shopping there for 10 years. She said she discovered the store upon her many travels down Horatio Avenue. Cragin purchased her 25th wedding anniversary ring here. Though she’s no longer married, she continues to wear the ring — on a different finger now — because she enjoys the quality of the product.

“I loved the ring, and [Hedy] suggested I resize it, and I thought it was appropriate,” she said.

Cragin is one of many customers excited to see the return of this establishment.

“It’s great to continue the business here in Maitland. It’s a strong presence, great quality, family atmosphere,” she said.

Rita Thomas has been shopping at Maitland Jewelers for eight years. She said the original news of the closing took her by surprise.

“I remember driving down when I saw [Maitland Jewelers] closing. I was shocked. And so we started making the phone calls around. ‘Did you know they were closing?’” Thomas said.

She said she is glad they are back open for business. Thomas said that she and her husband will be resetting their wedding bands here to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary. She is drawn to the intimate relationship that a store like Maitland Jewelers can provide.

“There’s no other small one-on-one place. You can go to the chains, but you don’t feel comfortable leaving your jewelry there, and you don’t feel like they’re talking to you,” she said. “There’s a camaraderie that you have with a small, in-town shop that you don’t get with the national chains.”

For her part, Hedy and her husband are looking forward to enjoying their retirement, with their legacy in good hands.

“We plan to travel the world. We traveled the world for business. Now we want to go back to some of those places.”