Elmira, Ont. jewellery store closing after nearly 100 years in business following robbery

After nearly a century of serving the community, an Elmira, Ont. jewellery store is closing its doors for good.

The family-owned business, which has been a fixture on Arthur Street South since 1927, made the difficult decision to shut down following a smash and grab robbery back in June that left the store devastated.

In an email to CTV News Tuesday, co-owner of the store Lisa Mulligan said in part: “We had hoped to celebrate our 100^th year in business in 2027. The break and enter we experienced has changed that. We are closing our store at the end of this year. The store closing signs are up.”

The robbery

The owners of the store were woken up on the morning of June 18, 2024, to a call saying their store had been robbed.

“We got a call from Waterloo Regional Police around 4:30 a.m. They said that there was glass in front of the store and that we needed to get down here,” co-owner Stephen Meyer told CTV News.

Robbers smashed door at Hartman Jewellers in Elmira on June 18, 2024. (Stefanie Davis/CTV Kitchener)Meyer and his wife, Mulligan, learned someone had broken through the front door of their business, a jewellery display case and taken some of the merchandise.

Meyer shared video surveillance from the store with police, which he said showed two suspects.

Police are looking to identify two people seen near an Elmira jewelry store on June 18, 2024. (Submitted)According to Meyer, it wasn’t the first time the store had been targeted.

“In 2001, we had an armed robbery. That was more similar to the robberies that have been going on recently in the shopping malls,” Meyer said. “I’m not saying this [instance] isn’t terrible, because it is. But it’s nothing like having a gun to your head which is what happened in 2001.”

The arrests

Waterloo Regional Police arrested two men back in August. The arrests were made two months after police released photos of two suspects they were looking to identity in connection to the theft.

Police said two suspects went to the store near Arthur Street South and Church Street East between 3:30 a.m. and 3:45 a.m. on June 18. They returned around 4 a.m. wearing different clothing.

On Aug. 26, officers arrested a 52-year-old man and a 46-year-old man, both from Waterloo. They were charged with break and enter to commit a theft.

- With reporting by Stefanie Davis.