NASHUA – Burque’s Jewelers is moving from its current West Pearl Street location to the corner of Main Street and East Pearl, above the former Villa Banca Restaurant, leaving West Pearl Street for the first time in more than a century.

Ken Mermer, whose family has run the business since 1909, said the plan is to reduce the business’s focus on retail sales.

“Every business has to determine, ‘what is your core skill, what are your core abilities? What do you do best?’ What we do best is design, create, restore, repair and we’ve been doing that for 105 years,” said Mermer, who retired from day-to-day operation of the landmark store in 2011.

Mermer said in the past 10-12 years Burque’s has been “doing more and more custom work – designing things that people want,” he said.

“To put it very simply, one of the advantages we have as a small business is that we have the flexibility that a large business doesn’t have. When we see that the market is changing we can turn on a dime. The market’s changed. It’s changed dramatically,” said Mermer.

Mermer said the store has been in its current location since 1967 and on West Pearl Street since 1909.

“Our lease here ends on December 31 and our lease begins at the Masonic Temple on January 1,” he said, adding the new space will be about a 1,000 square feet, “completely different than the current space”, said Mermer.

Mermer said the new space will have “a couple of display cases, a lot of prototypes. We are going to go heavy into engagement and bridal,” he said.

At the new location, the store will feature a four room suite and include a “professional studio,” where people can sit down with staff and use the CAD software to design exactly what they want.

“It’s a very, very interesting space. It’s a delightful building,” he said.

A banner announcing the move now hangs from the new space. Brightly colored signs both inside and out on West Pearl Street shout savings and price reductions.

“We’re getting rid of inventory because inventory drags us down. That’s all we’re doing,” he said.

Mermer said he wasn’t sure if he’d add staff after the move. “I don’t know yet, it depends on volume,” said Mermer.

The work, he explained, takes “vision, clarity and ability to see things artistically and creatively. To find that kind of employee is difficult I think,” said Mermer.

“Why does somebody paint by numbers and somebody else paints a beautiful masterpiece? It comes down to vision and skill,” said Mermer.

Don Himsel can be reached at 594-6590 or DHimsel@nashua
telegraph.com. Also, follow Himsel on Twitter (@Telegraph_DonH).