Kingoff's last stop? Iconic Wilmington jeweler to move to new location

The clock could be moving for the last time.

For more than a century, the iconic Kingoff's Jewelers clock has stood watch in front of the jewelry store as it's moved from the heart of downtown Wilmington to The Forum and Hanover Center.

Kingoff's Jewelers will move next month from its Hanover Center storefront to the former Albert F. Rhodes Jewelers building on Floral Parkway. For Michael Kingoff, the new building will be his "last stop."

“That’s the last time I am moving that clock,” he said.

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Kingoff is the third generation to run his family's jewelry store — one of just a few Wilmington institutions that's surpassed 100 years in business.

The jewelry store was established in 1919 by Michael Kingoff's great-grandfather Ben Kingoff, who immigrated to the U.S. from Russia at 11 years old.

For decades, Kingoff's Jewelers sold engagement rings, diamonds and bracelets in the heart of downtown Wilmington. The business initially operated at the corner of Chestnut and Front Streets before moving to a storefront at 10 N. Front St. where it stayed for 90 years.

Michael Kingoff's parents William Kingoff and Janice Kingoff later took over the business and Michael Kingoff started working there in the 1980s.

The jewelry store moved to its current spot in Hanover Center in 2009, as it followed its customer base out of downtown to the shopping center.

Today, the store is sandwiched between the chain K&W cafeteria and decoration and furniture store niche. Decor and gifts.

In recent years, questions have swirled about the future of Hanover Center as it lost business anchors Stein Mart and Pier 1, went under new ownership and endured the COVID-19 pandemic. Hanover Center, which was built in 1956, was Wilmington's first suburban shopping center.

Initially, the thought of leaving the center was scary, Michael Kingoff said.

“Sometimes going free-standing is a little scary because you don't have all your neighbors around you for the support,” he said.

But Michael Kingoff said the move — which he estimates is about 200 yards west of their current location — will help the store draw both its existing customers and the former Rhodes Jewelers customer base.

Rhodes Jewelers closed earlier this year when owners Wayne Rhodes and his sister Betsy Rhodes Herring retired from the business. The pair took over from their father Albert Rhodes in 1989. Albert Rhodes founded the business in 1948.

Michael Kingoff said the Rhodes approached him about a year ago to see if he was interested in purchasing the building. He told them he was.

Michael Kingoff hopes to open in the new building in mid-June. Before moving in, Michael Kingoff has worked to upfit the store's interior with new flooring, fresh paint and four new air conditioning units.

With 3,600 square feet, the new store will double the space Michael Kingoff has in Hanover Center, which will allow him to carry more merchandise and new product lines, he said.

Michael Kingoff said Kingoff's Jewelers most closely mirrors the business model of Rhodes Jewelers and that the two were "friendly competitors" over the years.

If a customer urgently needed a piece of jewelry Kingoff's Jewelers didn't have, the Kingoffs would send them to Rhodes Jewelers, and Rhodes would send customers to Kingoff's.

“That’s kind of unheard of in the jewelry business,” Michael Kingoff said. “Because most of your jewelers are like lone wolves. They don't want anybody to know their business. They do their own thing.”

The new store might be the last stop of Kingoff's Jewelers. So far, none of Michael Kingoff's relatives have expressed interest in taking over the store when he retires, but he does have some college-aged Kingoff cousins he plans to dangle the opportunity before.

“It's possible we could just end up at three generations,” he said. “Most businesses don’t make it to 100 years.”

Reporter Emma Dill can be reached at 910-343-2096 or edill@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Kingoff's Jewelers to move into Rhodes Jewelers building next month