Are diamonds Fo Hills’ best friend?

Posted by Mickie T on Monday, June 23rd, 2008

Returning NYC ex-pat Michael Jaye sure hopes so!

In about a week, he is opening NY Diamond Boutique, a new fine jewelry store on Austin Street - which happens to be diagonally across the street from Chateau Jewelers! Wow, talk about having big rocks!

While window-shopping on the strip this Sunday, I came across preparations already in progress at his new store. I had a short chat with Mr. Jaye about his store and business on Austin Street. He’s been in the fine jewelry business for 20 years and returned to NYC after business was flagging at his store in the tony Buckhead area of Atlanta, GA — “Where old money lives, new money parties.”

So, nu? Why Austin Street, when other small retailers are closing? Why put up with the high rents? Why so near other jewelry stores like Chateau, Stoa, GemStory?

Mr. Jaye was very relaxed and confident about competing with the other jewelry stores in the area. He told me that, after extensive research, he found Forest Hills to have the best demographic and parameters for his store: lots of pedestrian and street traffic, “buyers, not browsers,” and, in general, shoppers with “Manhattan tastes” who come to Austin Street from all over as a “shopping destination.”

Obviously, we had never met before. [RIMSHOT]

In the name of full-disclosure, I showed Mr. Jaye my engagement ring, which was indeed purchased at Chateau, and it garnered a moment of respectful admiration.

Mr. Jaye expects to open his store around July 1, and you’ll get a free gift that he promises to be “much better than a refrigerator magnet” just for stopping in.

Good luck to NY Diamond Boutique!
P.S. By the way, if anyone else was out shopping on Sunday and was lucky enough to enjoy the sunshine - despite typhoon-like rain predicted - who was that guy next to Giorgio’s who seemed to be selling something, talking up anything that moved? He was a tall, white, brown-haired, middle-aged guy, and his product was a bunch of flat rectangles that looked like packages of lox. He seemed to have a “posse” of 3 or 4 guys hanging on the stoop assisting him (mostly by sitting on the stoop and watching him.) My investigative journalistic energy having been spent, I didn’t take the time to inquire. As our eyes and ears, gentle readers, it’s up to you to gimme the scoop!

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