Longtime Chapel Hill jewelry store Grimball Jewelers is closing.

Owner Berkley Grimball made the announcement official in a Facebook post on Saturday.

Grimball said this has been “the most difficult decision of my life” when determining whether to close the store or move to a new location. The move would be necessary because, Grimball says, the company’s lease at Village Plaza in Chapel Hill was not being renewed by the landlord.

Regency Centers is the landlord of the shopping center, which is anchored by Whole Foods. The area is in the newly named Blue Hill District – formerly known as the Ephesus-Fordham District – which has been undergoing renovations under the town’s new form-based code.

The code is meant to provide an outline of what town officials would like to see in the area. Developers can then submit proposals that can be approved by the town manager if they meet the specifications, rather than having to go before the town council.

Grimball said that he was “sad and disappointed” that the lease would not be renewed.

“I will miss so much,” Grimball wrote, “the joy on the face of someone the first time they see their completed custom piece, a new client saying ‘everyone says we should come to you’, the opportunity to fix someone’s little problem and not charge them, and, not least, the fact that my name is on the building — twice!”

Grimball Jewlers initially opened in Carr Mill Mall in 1985 before moving to Village Plaza.

Regency Centers never responded to a request for comment from WCHL in May 2017 on the possibility that businesses – including Grimball Jewelers – would not have their leases renewed.

Grimball Jewlers is reopening for a going-out-of-business sale at noon on Thursday, Nov 16, according to the Facebook post.

Photo via Google Maps

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