Long-running Pinecrest business, Maurice’s Jewelers, relocates, expands

By Jose Cassola
josecassola@gmail.com

http://communitynewspapers.com

Family-owned and operated Maurice’s Jewelers relocated to a larger Pinecrest location at the end of September 2011. Pictured, from left, are matriarch Leah Koppel, son & owner Andrew Koppel and daughters Erin and Meaghan Koppel.

Lynn Maupin of Kendall has been a customer of Maurice’s Jewelers for as long as she can remember.
For 23 years, the long-running Pinecrest jewelry store operated from a 2,500 square-foot space off South Dixie Highway and Southwest 136th Street.
So imagine Maupin’s surprise when she visited the store one day and found the lot empty.
“I thought maybe they had been robbed. I wasn’t aware they had moved,” Maupin, 49, said. “I’m glad that wasn’t the case.”
In September, Maurice’s Jewelers moved roughly 20 blocks north to a larger location — a 4,000 square-foot space at 11865 S. Dixie Hwy with “more parking and better visibility,” said owner Andrew Koppel, 53. The store held an official grand opening event on Nov. 30.
“We had been telling our customers about the move for almost a year now, emailing them,” said Koppel, who lives near the Falls. “But I guess Lynn hadn’t been around for a while.”
Indeed, Maupin admits she hadn’t visited the store for at least a year because she was caring for sick relatives.
“Yes, it had been a while since I had visited here,” Maupin said. “But I’ve been coming to Maurice’s Jewelers a long time. They’ve maintained my business for more than 20 years — buying, cleaning, fixing my jewelry — because the owners here are trustworthy and I like their quality and service.”
Maurice’s Jewelers was founded more than 75 years ago by watchmaker Maurice Koppel, a native New Yorker who opened his first store in Downtown Miami in 1935. Throughout nearly 50 years, the late patriarch operated the business with wife Leah Koppel, 77, and son Andrew from the original Downtown location, then another location on Bird Road until his death in 1984. The business eventually settled in Pinecrest, where it is now run by Andrew and his daughters, Meaghan, 27, Erin, 25 and Kierstin, 22.
“This is truly a family business in every sense of the word,” Andrew Koppel said. “We have three generations of Koppels running this store my father originally built from scratch. I think he would be proud at what we’ve accomplished and how we’ve transformed his original vision.”
Maurice’s Jewelers not only sells watches, bracelets, rings and necklaces, the store also “makes, fixes and custom designs whatever you want,” the Koppel patriarch said.
The store even buys gold, silver and diamonds and also carries the exclusive PANDORA line designed for and dedicated to Breast Cancer awareness.
On Dec. 10, Maurice’s Jewelers is opening a PANDORA store in the Falls Shopping Center on South Dixie Highway and Southwest 136th Street near its old stomping grounds.
Oldest daughter Meaghan said the store is “open for business just in time for the holiday season.”
Middle daughter Erin also sells her own line of affordable and inexpensive handmade jewelry — stackable bracelets made of charms, stones, gold and stirling silver. She picked up the craft through fashion school last year and decided to sell her creations at the store level.
“We take this family business very seriously,” she said.
Father Andrew said the Koppels’ goal is to “continue passing on the torch from generation to generation and be around for several more decades. Even centuries.”
“Why not?” he laughs.

Koppel matriarch Leah, 77, and granddaughter Meaghan, 27, help long-time customer Lynn Maupin, 49, place an order at Maurice’s Jewelers, 11865 S. Dixie Hwy.

Customer Carolyn Manash, 36, of Kendall is shown some rings by employee Aileen Rodriguez, 19, at Maurice’s Jewelers, 11865 S. Dixie Hwy.

Pictured from left, jewelers and repairers Jose Soto, 56, and David Perez, 46, work on customer orders at Maurice’s Jewelers, 11865 S. Dixie Hwy.

Pictured from left, Koppel family members Leah, 77, Andrew, 53, Erin, 25, and Meaghan, 27, gather at the front of their family business, Maurice’s Jewelers, 11865 S. Dixie Hwy.