Grimball Jewelers closed last week after 33 years of operation, most of which was in Chapel Hill’s newly renamed Blue Hill District.

Owner Berkley Grimball called the public’s response in his final days of business at his current location “overwhelming”.

“I’ve probably gotten hundreds of hugs from people and people coming in and saying how much they’re going to miss us and saying how angry they are that it’s ending,” said Grimball. “There’s been a whole range of things.”

The primary reason for the store’s closing was that its landlord, Regency Centers, was not going to renew its lease on the building.

Grimball says moving to a new location at this stage of life would not be ideal.

“One of the reasons I didn’t decide to move is because I’d be spending a small fortune to move to a worse location,” said Grimball. “I’m 66 years old, so it didn’t seem worth the lift.”

Grimball assures that the closing of his current location will not mean the end of his brand.

“I’m going to take my workshop and studio home and kind of take it back to my beginnings,” said Grimball. “I started off in this business making jewelry from home, so it’s sort of full circle.”