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Roberson’s Fine Jewelry: After A Devastating Armed Robbery, The Show Still Goes On! | September 30, 2015 (0 comments)
Little Rock, AR—An armed robbery is any jeweler’s biggest fear. Last week, the nightmare came true at Roberson’s Fine Jewelry, which was robbed at gunpoint on Tuesday, September 22 shortly before noon.
The luxury jeweler reopened the following day—and two days later went ahead with its “Runway To Roberson’s,” a special first-ever jewelry fashion trend event held September 24. The jeweler's special niche is affluent, fashion-forward female shoppers, and storeowner and president Trish Roberson said the event was designed to show how Roberson’s is working in advance of the trends, so their customers can be at the forefront before these trends hit. (Image at left: Roberson, right, with blogger Danielle Miele of Gem Gossip.)
“This is how we buy for our customers to keep them not only au courant, but ahead of the curve,” she said.
Vice president Julie Maddox added, “Our customers want to know what’s happening, before it’s happening, and we are their resource. This elegant and exciting trend-focused fete was an opportunity for our clients to learn and experience the trends in an intimate and interactive way.”
But before the guests could come, the jeweler had to recover from the shock and destruction of an armed smash-and-grab robbery barely two days prior to the fashion show. Nobody was injured in the incident, but showcases in the front of the store were demolished in less than two minutes, and their inventory taken by the thieves. According to KTHV TV, the five suspects who committed the robbery are still on the loose.
Christy Martin, who works in a shop next door to Roberson’s in the Pleasant Ridge Town Center, witnessed most of the robbery. It was she who called 911.
"They had already bashed all the cases on the wall, and they had their bags and they were stuffing the jewelry in the bags," Martin told TV reporters, adding that she was scared her shop would be next.
Police say four masked thieves used hammers to smash the display case closest to the front door. A fifth person waited outside in a tan extended-cab pickup truck, also a stolen vehicle. The thieves ditched the truck at a nearby church and got into a black sedan and were still at large at press time.
It was bad luck—or possibly prior work on the part of the thieves—that of 24 surveillance cameras in the shopping center parking lot, the only camera not working was the one facing Roberson's. But the jeweler’s own internal surveillance cameras captured images of the robbery and of the suspects, all black males. Here are some of those images:
Martin told reporters she thought the thieves must have cased the store prior to the robbery because “they knew exactly what they were going for."
A similar robbery occurred at the Little Rock branch of Sissy’s Log Cabin in January of this year; those thieves also are still at large and Little Rock police say that while the MO was similar, there’s no way to determine if the perpetrators are the same.
But as they say in both show business and the jewelry business, “the show must go on!” By Wednesday, Roberson’s had taken inventory, repaired the glass, was working with both authorities and their insurance provider, and was ready to unroll the red carpet for its trend event on Thursday.
The private event featured small-group trend forecast discussions with two special guest luxury experts, The Robey Partnership’s Nancy Robey, and Jen Cullen Williams of the Luxury Brand Group. Roberson, Maddox, and the entire store team introduced the event and guest experts.
It was a highly educational experience, not just a list of what’s in and out. Customers learned how trends originate and become part of culture, crossing categories into apparel, accessories, and home décor markets. Customers also explored how Boomer and Millennial generations interpret and adapt these trends differently to suit their own personal styles. To reflect the cross-generational appeal, many guests were mothers and daughters who came together. Renowned jewelry blogger Danielle Miele of Gem Gossip, named by Millennial-centric Lucky magazine as a top jewelry blogger to follow, also was in attendance. Robey presented the Boomer viewpoint, and Williams presented the Millennial viewpoint.
Nancy Robey (right, red dress) of The Robey Partnership gave customers the Boomer view of fine jewelry styling, while Jen Cullen Williams of the Luxury Brand Group (center, white blouse) gave a Millennial perspective to customers at Roberson's trend event.
With the use of visual props, model photography, and the Trend Book produced by TRENDVISION + Forecasting, an independent international research observatory, the experts discussed four major trends:
- Airy Perspective – The Essentialist
- Dramatic Poetry – The Romantic
- Global Delights – The Exoticist
- Digital East – The Digitalist
Each trend was illustrated by Roberson’s curated collection of designers, including Armenta, Roberto Coin, Erica Courtney, Suzy Landa, Jewels by Star, Gurhan, Arman, Monica Rich Kosann, John Hardy, Jude Frances, Steven Webster, Penny Preville, Gumuchian, Lana, Stephen Dweck, A. Link and Susan Sadler. Many designers presented special product exclusives just for the event. Customers were encouraged to ask questions of the experts, try on pieces and describe what they saw in the designs, aided by Trendvision 2016 books places as visual props around the store.
And, of course, they had the opportunity to purchase their favorite pieces. Customers were treated like celebrities, arriving on a red carpet outside the store at scheduled times throughout the day, posing for photos in front of a step-and-repeat backdrop, and later taking photos of their jewelry-adorned hands on the “Jewel-Cam,” a mani-cam like the one seen on E! Entertainment during award shows.
Trish Roberson, second from right, poses with some of her guests on the red carpet.
Williams was amazed at how quickly the jeweler was able to brush off the terrifying incident and move on with the event. “Trish Roberson, Julie Maddox and the entire staff are some of the most hard-working, uplifting and positive people I've ever met. It was very scary and unfortunate, but they moved forward with grace and elegance,” she told The Centurion.
“The event was extremely successful. Customers loved hearing about trends—and truly cared that the Roberson's staff was ok. I was also in awe of the community. I could not believe how many cupcakes, pies, desserts, and meals were sent by local businesses--including other Arkansas jewelers! It was very special,” she said.
Other guests in attendance with Williams, Robey, and Miele included prestigious out-of-state jewelers and local media.
The event was a huge success, perhaps even more so because of the traumatic events of 36 hours earlier. The jeweler later thanked well-wishers after the robbery and posted trend event photos on Facebook. The store was closed on Saturday, September 25 to give staff a day to recuperate, and reopened this Monday.
Watch a TV news report about the robbery here and here and read a local newspaper account here. Anyone with information about the crime is asked to call the Little Rock Police Department, (501) 371-4660.