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Solomon Brothers Acquires Mervis Diamond Importers
Solomon Brothers, which has three stores in the Metro Atlanta area, said it may continue to acquire other independent jewelers.
Atlanta-based Solomon Brothers has acquired Mervis Diamond Importers, an independent jeweler based in the Washington, D.C. area. (Image courtesy of Mervis Diamond Importers’ website)
Washington—Solomon Brothers announced Monday that it has acquired Mervis Diamond Importers and left the door open for more acquisitions to follow.
Based in the Washington, D.C. region, Mervis Diamond Importers is an independent jeweler with stores in Tysons, Virginia; Washington, D.C.; and Rockville, Maryland.
It will continue to operate under its own name from its own showrooms with its current team.
“Same stores, same people, same name on the door,” said Mervis Diamond Importers CEO Ronnie Mervis, who runs the business alongside his brother, Zed Mervis.
“Zed and I will still be here, serving the customers and friends who helped us build Mervis. The difference is that we will have more resources behind us and more to offer.”
The combined companies now operate six showrooms: three in Georgia under the Solomon Brothers name and three across the D.C., Maryland, and Virginia market under Mervis Diamond Importers.
Terms of the acquisition, which has been completed, were not disclosed.
Based in the Washington, D.C. region, Mervis Diamond Importers is an independent jeweler with stores in Tysons, Virginia; Washington, D.C.; and Rockville, Maryland.
It will continue to operate under its own name from its own showrooms with its current team.
“Same stores, same people, same name on the door,” said Mervis Diamond Importers CEO Ronnie Mervis, who runs the business alongside his brother, Zed Mervis.
“Zed and I will still be here, serving the customers and friends who helped us build Mervis. The difference is that we will have more resources behind us and more to offer.”
The combined companies now operate six showrooms: three in Georgia under the Solomon Brothers name and three across the D.C., Maryland, and Virginia market under Mervis Diamond Importers.
Terms of the acquisition, which has been completed, were not disclosed.
“These brands matter. Their histories matter. Their customer relationships matter. Those legacies deserve stewardship, not replacement.” –Jaron Solomon, Solomon Brothers
Solomon Brothers said it intends to invest in areas where scale helps an independent jeweler compete, including inventory access and diamond sourcing, e-commerce and website capability, marketing measurement and reporting, and the necessary operation and technology support, which can be expensive for a single-market retailer.
“Working alongside Solomon Brothers gives us access to a much broader selection of diamonds, bridal jewelry, fine jewelry designers, and inventory than we could support on our own,” said Zed, who will continue to lead the company’s diamond buying.
Ronnie will continue to serve as the voice of Mervis’ long-running ads on Washington radio.
The company said Mervis will undergo a “disciplined transition” rather than a quick change to preserve the customer experience as well as the family’s legacy.
“Succession is the quiet crisis in our industry,” said Jaron Solomon, president of Solomon Brothers Jewelers.
“A family spends 40 or 50 years earning a community’s trust, and then the options narrow to two: sell to a consolidator that strips the name off the building or close the doors. We believe there is a third path. These brands matter. Their histories matter. Their customer relationships matter. Those legacies deserve stewardship, not replacement.”
The two jewelers share a common history, as both trace their roots to South Africa.
Both founders, Zed Mervis and Ivan Solomon, immigrated to the United States from South Africa to build their businesses.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Zed and Ivan worked for the same diamond company in New York, though they never met.
Each eventually left to start their own businesses.
In 1981, Zed and his brother Ronnie settled in Washington, D.C., importing South African diamonds wholesale. They soon opened their first retail store in Rockville, Maryland.
“My father taught my brother and me this business before either of us was old enough to work in it,” Ronnie said.
Morris Mervis opened his first store in Johannesburg in the 1930s, later training his sons in the family business.
“Zed and I settled in Washington in 1981 to import and distribute diamonds, and what we ultimately built was a business grounded in relationships. Many of our long-time customers are more than customers today. They are friends,” Ronnie said.
In 1982, Ivan Solomon opened his first store in Atlanta, with the business growing to three locations in Buckhead, Alpharetta, and Sharpsburg.
Jaron, who is Ivan’s son, appreciates a jeweler with a good story and strong community ties.
“Mervis is one of the great American diamond stories, and it belongs to Washington,” he said.
“Ronnie and Zed spent more than four decades earning the trust of that market, one customer at a time. Putting our name on it was never the point. Our job is to make sure Mervis is still here in another 40 years, with the same name over the door and the same people behind the counter.”
This acquisition is the first for Solomon Brothers outside of its home market, but may not be its last.
It is “intended as a template” for a broader model of acquiring independent jewelers, preserving their legacies, and providing them with the support needed to compete with national chains and online retailers, Solomon Brothers said.
“The test of this is not what we say today, it is what Mervis looks like in five years,” Jaron said.
“If the name is still on the building, the staff is still there, and the business is stronger than we found it, then we have built something worth repeating.”
Jaron shared more about the acquisition on the jeweler’s “Legacy of Luxury” podcast.
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