January 19, 2025 • 34 mins
Matt Fink, from Fink’s Jewelers, joins Trent and guest host, David McGuire, on “At Home with Roby”. Matt shares the fascinating history of Fink’s Jewelers, a fourth-generation family business founded in 1930 by his great grandfather, Nathan Fink. The company’s journey began with a pushcart in Roanoke, VA, and has grown into a renowned name in the jewelry business. Tune in to hear Matt recount the company's humble beginnings and its incredible growth and expansion over nearly 100 years.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
Good morning, and welcome to the At Home with Roby Show.
I am Trent Hastening today filling in as your guest
host for Patrick mckayzak, and my guest host today is
David McGuire. That was going, are you talking to me
or talking to our listening audience?
Speaker 2 (00:26):
I'm talking to everyone.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
But me or them?
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (00:32):
MRI, Who am I? I don't know. I feel like
I'm in control today because I'm back in the driver's
seat over here, got David McGuire back with me. I
would say, probably our most in eight and a half
(00:52):
nine years, our most utilized co host.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Yeah, say that right, the backup guy. You know, I'm
a second team, but I come in and you know what,
I'll give you about fifteen fifteen points, eight rebounds, you know,
solid up.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Wow, he's proud of himself at and he TJ Goodness
doesn't knock out job. I mean he's always given these
hockey analogies.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
That was basketball.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
Oh oh, that would be pretty impressive in hockey. I
mean he scored fifteen. It's a dang, are you the goat?
Speaker 3 (01:28):
No?
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Not good on skates?
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Well, I got a couple duke basketball fan buddies dupe
buddies that they're talking about this kid, Cooper Flag.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
I don't know, man, listen to me and you both
the tar Hills. But I try to block that out,
and I start thinking about the Hornets. Maybe they could
get this guy. He's pretty special. I hope he scores
two points.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
Against Anytime the Hornets pull anybody from the Carolinas, it
doesn't seem to work out. I mean, that was a
guy back in the Dame named Kelly Tripuka that no,
he didn't come from the Carolina. I'm has never worked out.
I'm not. I'm not. Uh, Gerald Henderson.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Even the Duke guys, I mean, Gerald's probably the most successful,
you know.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
But well, uh, how you been? How was your holiday day?
Speaker 2 (02:19):
It was good, man, it was good. Spent some time
in Charlotte, saw the family, then went up saw my
wife's family in northern Virginia. But uh, blessed, thank you?
How about you?
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Well? Good, Yeah, it was great. We just so you know,
we've already had a couple of shows since since the
holiday season, so the audience knows where I stand. Yeah. No,
but it has been uh, it has been pretty cold
down here in the Carolina's lately.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Yeah, it's getting colder. It'll be colder next week.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
I don't know the southeast, and and I want to
I want to give a a prayer out to uh,
to the folks now in southern California.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Man, it's just just heartbreaking, unbelievable wins. Yeah, and then
prayers out to the to the families in California.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
Yes, it's so sad. And then and then we still
got the folks from the hurricanes that came up Helene
and such in the in the mountains, the Blue Ridge
Parkway area through there so many people struggling through this
through this season that we got we gotta lift up.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Yeah, it's it's a community effort. And it makes my
heart warm every day to know that there's so many
people in this community and across the really across the country,
but nor North Carolina. People have really stepped up to
help Western and you know Roby's been a part of
that too, So it's pretty special.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
Yeah. So how old are your kids now?
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Dave seventeen, thirteen and seven.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
And everybody doesn't know this. David and I met in
the ninth grade. We've said that before, and we lived
our freshman year at UNC Chapel Hill together in Morrison Dorn.
We called it Moat Town. I think it's still there, refurbished,
they've got it was a long time ago.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
They have ac and all the all the rooms. Now.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
That was nineteen ninety six, so we're twenty and twenty five,
so we're going to go twenty nine years.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
You know. I was thinking about that the other day, like,
how close we are to fifty is just unbelievable.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
But I stay, that was a good memory. And then
right after school we lived together in the location that
I currently live out there on the river.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
We talk about a lot of the house looks different,
but same location. Yeah, that was fun living down in
the basement pants.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
And your bedroom is my closet now.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Yeah, yeah, no, that was fun. Man. Yeah, a long
time ago, but that was man.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
I was trying to stick it to you as hard
as I could on the rent. But I do think
you would be below market rate today.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
I think it was really fair right, especially today, It
was fair back then. Oh, I didn't fuss.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
I think I charged it was four hundred dollars a
month plus a third of the utilities, and the utilities
were real low. They're not real low anymore.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
It was a good de It's a lot. It was
a lot less expensive than a mortgage in full utilities.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
With my expanded size of house and my five kids.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
Trent kicked me out when he got engaged to Reagan.
He said, you gotta roll out, bro, I said, all right.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
And then I have a good buddy that asked me,
after Reagan and I were married, before kids, if he
could live in that same basement Dan Bailey. And I
was dumb enough to even mention it to my wife,
and she is like, are you don't hit your head?
And I have a couple of times, so I was
(05:36):
able to openly and honestly say yeah, maybe. So what
do you think if I'm one thing that's.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Been persistent amen in my life all about you know,
offsetting expenses. That's good.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
Yeah, yeah, I remember Dad and I used to go
over there and paint. We get off work about seven thirty.
Every about eight, my roomies be living downstairs and it'd
be crock pots with with week old roasting them and
stuff all in the kitchen. He said, he said, I
gotta clean this up before we were boy. So we'd
(06:14):
spend our first thirty minutes they got a cleaning, uh
service with their with their money.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Dude, like some fright guys living in your basement.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Uh yeah, I think it was actually uh you know who.
They were so old harding Ram guys, us harding Ram
our alma mater high school. We stick together, so that's good.
I think we still got a pretty little sticky situation.
Dan Bailey's assistant basketball coach.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Oh is he yeah?
Speaker 1 (06:44):
So? Uh yeah. So today our guest is Matt Fink
uh Fink's Jewelers, and he I think his third generation.
I'll let him clear that up. But they got a
couple of locations in Charlotte and hell's from rolling over
r Ginia Fellow I po or here we go at
Home with Roby. Welcome back to the At Home with
(07:09):
Ruby Show. I am Trent Hasten, Uh your host with
my guest host today David McGuire.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Hey, everybody, you are looking good.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
I'm not gonna compare you to Patrick, but you're looking good.
You got a you got a very deep voice. That's good.
Just don't take off your hat because he's got gray hair.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
You got better hair, way better.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
Here and uh we just chatted it up a second
with him before we went on air. We have our
guests Matt Fink. Hey Matt, how you doing doing good?
Speaker 3 (07:42):
Thanks for having me, really appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
Glad for you to be here. I've been nudging you
for a while. And we were on a YPO trip
and we had a dinner together, and my whole goal
for this whole dinner was to get you on the radio.
And maybe Jose Costa, who has already been on the
radio days over here. I said, but he just came
on a couple of weeks ago to raving fans. Nothing,
(08:07):
nothing of pressure that you need to live live up to.
But everybody's been telling me how smart Jose is. Way
to go, Jose. And then my daughter Tatum, who just
turned seventeen in December, is a little business lady and
she's just in the last couple of days on her own, said, hey, Dad,
(08:29):
I guess what I've been listening to. I just I
just listened to three shows and told me who And
then she told me last night she listened to two more.
So she's on fire Man love It.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
That's awesome. That's awesome. I can't wait till my daughter
gets to that age. You know, mine are so young.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
But I hope.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
I hope she'll be interested in business. I don't know.
I'm trying to slowly introduce her stuff. But she's only three,
so we'll see how it goes.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
So you have have a three year old daughter and
a younger son.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
Yeah yeah, and you can already tell that he's like
a typical second kid because I mean just everything rolls
off his back. I mean, no Gie's he gets clothes
wined by his sister. I mean, he's just he's so
good with the flow. I mean he's completely opposite. I
mean you can already see the personality come out at
about a year. It's pretty crazy.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
What Yeah. So, yeah, so you corrected me during to
break your second generation, not third, right.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
I'm fourth fourth generation?
Speaker 1 (09:30):
That up?
Speaker 3 (09:33):
Yeah, yeah, No, I'm so. I'm fourth generation. We were
actually started in the middle of a great depression by
my great grandfather Nathan. And uh, you know, I was
telling you as we were talking, family businesses are typically
third generations where family businesses usually get screwed up. And uh,
I don't really know what the fourth generation is supposed
(09:54):
to do. Maybe it's really really screw it up. But
you know what I like to say is just my
dad and I are really lucky, and I'm even more
lucky than him that We've just had some smart, really
hard working family members, you know, to have this business.
It's it's a really fun business. I love I love
what I do every day. So I'm very lucky.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
So tell us about the business. How did how did
your great grandfather start it? And how did you grow
up around the business and all that stuff.
Speaker 3 (10:25):
Yeah, so my great grandfather is actually a pharmacist in Selma, Alabama,
and he had one of those old fashioned pharmacy stores
on Main Street. I don't know if that was the
street in Selma, but you know, the photo pop and
you know, kind of like a general store. And the
twenties were kind of not great for Selma, and he
(10:48):
his business went under and he was looking for somewhere
a little bit more, you know, with a better economy
to move to. And Roanoke kind of had a really
booming economy with the railroad and he kind of knew, uh,
someone from the same culture as Lithuanian that was in
(11:08):
the jewelry industry, and he went he moved to Roanoke
and worked under him and that business. The gentleman named
Alabash he had all his money in the stock market,
and of course, you know what happened at the end
of the twenties, and he lost everything because of the
Great Depression. So my grandfather had just lost My great
grandfather just lost his business. You know, he had just
(11:32):
come to work to run a jewelry store, managed a
jewelry store, and that business went under, and he created
this idea that you know, back then there were two
types of jewelers, and he was really more of a
kind of a guild jeweler, a high quality jeweler, and
back then those jewelers took cash, and then there were
kind of jewelers that sold things that were maybe lower priced,
(11:56):
and they were credit jewelers. You know, they basically you know, know,
no money changed hands, and he used the relationships that
he made with people in the industry. In the short time.
This gentleman's business was active to uh to get merchandise
on consignment, so he didn't pay for it until he
sold it, and then he would sell that on credit.
But but it was a it was a guild jeweler
(12:18):
as a quality jeweler on credit, and he didn't have
any money. So we actually started with a push cart
in downtown Ronoke. That's actually how we started in the
middle of the Great Depression, and uh, he eventually saved
up enough money and opened a storefront and the rest
was kind of history. But but he's he was a
real just a entrepreneur, a good old fashioned entrepreneur. My
(12:42):
grandfather was a visionary. He really wanted to trade our
business up, start carrying brands. My dad kind of kept
moving us forward in that direction and he really grew
the business kind of regionally in different different cities. My grandfather, Alvin,
was actually the one that was the first to bring
us to Charlotte. We bought a company back in the
(13:04):
late sixties called Garibaldi and Bruns and we were actually
called that until early two thousands. We were original tenant
actually at South Park Mall for our Charlotte history. But
my dad and I, over the last ten years, the
jewordan industry has experienced a lot of change, and you know,
the world is more interested in Swiss watches. That business
(13:27):
has really picked up for us. We've started carrying more brands.
The brands that we do carry, there's a lot of
demand for them, so that's become a huge emphasis for us.
And and we have grown in certain markets, We've we've
entered some new markets. With me and my dad, we
still work together, and you know, we've been very fortunate.
(13:49):
We've had had some good years over the last few years.
It's been been some pretty good times for us. But
we're coming up on our hundredth year in twenty thirty,
so I'm looking forward to to make it to them.
So I think it's been a special on hundred years.
We celebrate a lot of great memories of our customers
and and it's fun. Wow.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
So the word a gilded jeweler is a high end jeweler.
Is that correct, right?
Speaker 3 (14:18):
So, yeah, the term guilt jeweler is kind of like
a high quality jeweler. It used to actually mean that,
you know, the jeweler would carry platinum and gold versus
you know, silver, non precious metals. Wow, it's kind of
a dated term. I wouldn't really say it means a
whole lot to people now, but yeah, that was more
(14:38):
of a period term, you know, something that's kind of
not really spoken about anymore unless it's in the industry.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
Yeah. Man, your great grandfather was a hustler.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
Oh well, you know, our business now has kind of gotten.
We've become very focused with the experience, you know, making
sure people have their favorite bourbon when they come by,
or get a cappuccino or something like that in the store.
And uh, you know white glove service. Well, back then,
you know, my great grandfather he was so focused on
(15:07):
you know, could someone pay him back. My dad used
to say, I've just heard this from my dad. I
didn't ever meet my great grandfather. He would kind of
run his hands along the glass case and if for
some reason, as he'd size someone up, he didn't think
they were trustworthy or they'd pay him back, he'd shut
the case and walk away. And it's funny. I mean
he had to do that back then. You know, he
(15:28):
couldn't afford to write a bat loan. But you know
that's not how our businesses anymore. But it's it's funny
how times changed. You know, he need different skills for
different times, right, So so yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
So how so how many push carts did he grow too?
Speaker 3 (15:44):
He probably had was a boom and little town back then.
And uh, you know, he really had his eyes focused
on brick and mortar. He wanted to have He didn't
want to be like the jewelry food truck back. You know,
back before food trucks, he didn't really want to have
a lot of those. I think he really wanted to
have a storefront with his name on it, and he
(16:04):
got it pretty quickly.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
That is so cool. Was the name of his first
STOREX Jewelers.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
Yes, I think Jewelers. Our logo is a little different
back then, but yeah, yeah, thinks Jewelers. Our first stores
on Campbell Avenue and downtown Rono. That was our first
first brick and mortar store.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
Wow, that is so unique. Uh, And y'all were Garrel,
Garbaldi and Runs. Y'all purchased in Charlotte. Was was an
original tenant at South Park Mall where y'all are still
at today. Correct, that's right.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
We're actually still in the same location. We've been in
that same location for you know, now, it's been about
fifty five years. Back then, actually, you know, Belk and
Ivy were developing the mall, and you know, it was
it was hard to get in malls back then, and
we really had to kind of campaign them why we
wanted to be in the mall and why Garabadium Runs
made sense, and you know, we were so excited to
(17:00):
get in that mall, and it's incredible how long that
place is sustained and how incredible that property is. We're
really lucky to be a part of South Park. You know,
it's quite a retail force in Charlotte and in the southeast.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
You know, yeah, it is lucky. That is awesome. Hang tight,
We're gonna go pay some bills and we'll be back.
I want to talk about present day, where you're at,
what you got going on? Will you stick with us, Matt?
Speaker 3 (17:24):
Of course, let's do it all right.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
You're listening to Matt Pink on At Home with Ruby
and welcome back to the At Home with Ruby Show.
I am Trent Haston filling in for my co host
or my leite host Patrick mcazac. Today, David McGuire's filling
in for me on the side we are hosting. If
you missed our first couple of segments, find us on
(17:48):
all the social media stuff. You can find us anywhere
podcast is found. How about that. I'm gonna just sum
it up. We have Matt Fink of Fink's Jewelers, talking history,
talking fortune, talking to his grandfather man, so fascinating and
in during the break, I want him to say a
(18:09):
little bit about it. Uh, the jewelry store Garibaldi and
Bruns that that your family business purchased it in Charlotte
was one of the original tenants of South Park Mall.
Walk us through that a little bit.
Speaker 3 (18:25):
Yes, so we were. We were one of the original
tenants at Soutain Court at South Park Mall. You know,
my grandfather really had to position the belkan Ivy family
to get us in. They were the developers that built
them all. And you know, we had some really great years.
You know, the people of Charlotte really embraced the Garabaldi
(18:46):
and Bruns name. It was a local jeweler in the
community for a long time. We actually expanded to Raleigh
and I built some stores in that market and kept
the name. And you know, early two thousands, the Internet
ages coming along, and my dad just felt like it
was a mouthful and the name didn't really mean anything
to people. And Rally, you know, my there from Charlotte
(19:07):
and he caught a bunch of a bank executives just
to get some advice, and you know the kind of
the unanimous uh advice that he got was just rip
the band aid off. You know, people change their names
all the time. You know, customers care about it less
than you care about it, and thinks was just a
better things dot com was just a better r L
name and uh and it was simplistic for us, you know,
(19:30):
two of everything. So so we did that and we
had the best Christan who ever had, and we kind
of never looked back. You know, people still know that
we were Gailbaldi and Bruns. A lot of our longtime
customers and a lot of times people just walk in
the store, buy something and are like, wait, is this
a different store? You know, people don't even realize that
the name of the doors changed. So it was.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
It was.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
It was funny hearing about it as a kid.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
So where did what was Garibaldi and Bruns? Number one?
Was it found that out of Charlotte? Number two? When
was it found?
Speaker 3 (20:01):
Okay, so I don't one hundred percent know the date,
but it was founded in Charlotte. There was a store
in Uptown and it was found in the early nineteen hundreds.
It actually is an older business and fakes jewelers. But
enough wow, yeah, early early nineteen hundreds. So so yeah,
very very long history pedigree. But you know, we just
(20:24):
felt like thinks Thinks Jewelers was a simpler brand name
and easier to remember. And uh, and that's why we
changed the name. And it didn't affect our business when
that happened. I'm sure some people miss the name, but
you know, most people just kind of you know, our
business is the strongest the people that work for us,
and we have great people, and they just kept providing
good customer service and the world moved on.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
So, so did you grow up working in the jewelry store?
Speaker 3 (20:51):
So? I I did things in for the business, like
I did odd jobs, you know, like taking out the
trash and you know, making merchandise runs. It was one
of my first jobs. I did some other jobs as
a kid, but you know, my first memories of the
of the business were my dad would always be a
(21:12):
road warrior in December, you know, travel to all of
our stores and I and I was so into numbers
as a kid, you know, I'd like look at box
scores for baseball games and you know, memorized stats. I was.
I was obsessed with numbers. And I would he would
always call me, you know, and I would I would
be able to recall all the stores and I would
(21:32):
tell them how much business they were doing, and I
would remember how much business they had done a year ago.
And and I was, you know, eight nine years old
when when this was happening, maybe even younger. But I
was always so fascinated with the business, especially in December,
it's a big month for us. And I've always been
fascinated with the business, just learning about the people that
are buying things from us, in their stories and you
(21:54):
know why they're visiting us. So yeah, always always been
been fascinated by it.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Are you the only four generation in the business, Matt.
Speaker 3 (22:06):
I am. So. I have two sisters. One's in medical
school right now. She's a light huger than me, she's
about ten years hunger than me. And then I have
a sister in marketing in Chicago. But yeah, it's just
me and my dad. So yeah, for now, maybe someday
we'll have me and my sister, but for now, it's
just me and my dad.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
I hear you. So, how many locations do you guys have? Now,
thinks Jewelers.
Speaker 3 (22:33):
So we have ten stores for North Carolina. We have
the one in Huntersville, Lake Norman, and Charlotte, Raley and Durham.
We're based in Roanoke, a store there, we're in Lynchburg, Virginia,
Beach in Richmond in Virginia, so four in Virginia. And
then in twenty twenty we bought a jeweler in Chattanooga
(22:53):
called Brun Regency and immediately rebranded the Spinks Jewelers kind
of like Everybody and Bruns. And then we also built
a store in Franklin, which is just outside in Nashville,
and that was in twenty twenty three. So we have
ten Fink Stewelers locations. And then we also have a
few dedicated Rolex stores. So we have a dedicated Rolllex
store in Charlotte and South Park Mall's connected to our store.
(23:16):
We have a dedicated Rolex watch store in Raleigh in
a North Hills shopping center and we just built that store,
just open in November of this past year. And then
we also have a Brightling Watch and a Tutor Watch
dedicated store kind of like franchise stores. If you will,
you know, you walk in, it looks like the brand,
it feels like the brand, and you get that immersive
(23:40):
experience for the brand that's becoming a huge, huge trend
in our industry. And so three of those watch stores
are all in Charlotte, and we have one in Raleigh,
and then you know the Raleigh and the Charlotte Wine
both of the Rolex stores connect to the Fink stores
and then the Tutor and Brettlinger standalone.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
How has that been successful, that transition to the roll
up stores in addition to your stores, Well.
Speaker 3 (24:06):
Rolex has in precedented demand right now. It's it's an
incredible brand, the number one luxury brand in the world
by a lot of metrics. They have the largest market
share and watches, and they have as much market share
as brands two through eleven. In fact, no brand in
luxury has more market share than Rolex has and watches.
(24:28):
Incredible brand and there's been a tremendous amount of growth
and it's been a huge privilege for my family to
represent them in some some incredible markets. So that's so
that's been been a great success. And we've been really
fortunate to have a partner like Rolex, and that's been
been a really good business move for my family. And
and uh uh, you know, the other the other watch
(24:49):
brands have all grown a lot since Covid. I think
there's been a lot of a building of awareness for
watches in general. They've been collector you know, page is
on Instagram. There's been kind of like editorial publications that
have really expanded the awareness of watches and collecting things.
I think collecting things like really became more prevalent during COVID.
(25:12):
People were looking for hobbies and uh, you know, just
amazed by the craftsmanship and time that it takes to
make a watch. And so we've just opened Brightling and Tutor.
Those are very recent. In fact, Brightling opened in October
and Tutor in July, and they're both doing really well.
And it's but you know, as with any business, it's
it's early. You know, you can't make a decision or
(25:34):
a judgment about something in six months. So we'll, you know,
we'll continue to do our best. But but you know,
it's definitely a trend. You know, in cities the size
of Charlotte, a lot of the pop brands and in
the watch industry especially want their own standalone stores, whether
they operate those stores or you know, or one of
(25:55):
their retailers do so. So it's been a huge movement
in our industry. And you know, and of course it's
hit a city is as prosperous as Charlotte you know,
I hear.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
You, well, I'm gonna put you on the spot. It's
something I do to some of our folks. The show
has been awesome. I've learned so much. I did not
know I learned so much in twenty thirty b one
hundred years. That's awesome. Ten locations is so impeccable. What's
(26:28):
one thing that you live by, Matt, how and how
you do your business and how you handle your family
and just how you walk down the road every day.
What's one philosophy that you can hang your hat on
leave our audience with.
Speaker 3 (26:45):
Yeah, that's a great question. You know, I think that
I always like to go back to two things that
I really think are, you know, the north Star for Finx,
which is number one, the Golden Reel rule. You treat
people how how you want to be treated. I mean,
it just doesn't get simpler than that. But I don't
think there are a lot of things philosophies that can
(27:06):
be more impactful than that in business personal life just
just everything right. And then the other thing, And it's similar,
but it's a little different. Is you know, just care
about people. You know, when you care about people and
you put the work in, whether it's a customer or
someone that works for me on my team, or one
of our vendors, our partners. You know, if you put
(27:30):
out that care to them, and even if they don't reciprocate,
you get so much more out of out of business.
You're you're more successful, you're happier, and you know, that's
how I think our business has has been really grown
over the years with those those philosophies, and we're very
focused on them. It isn't that complicated, you know.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
Well, amen, you must have been listening to our shows.
I end every show with the Golden rule.
Speaker 3 (27:57):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
Thanks for your time and God speed to your business.
And please tell Andrea that I said hello. Please, well,
thanks for having me. All right, talk to you later, Matt,
Thank you so much. Bye bye.
Speaker 3 (28:12):
Thanks guys for having me. I really appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
Yes, sir, you were great, great stories. We'll be right
back on the At Home with Ruby shows. Welcome back
to the At Home with Ruby Show. I am Trent Hasten.
Jumped a position the head host today over Patrick mcaaac
who we pushed out of the country, and David maguire's
(28:36):
the guest host. If you didn't catch our first couple
segments go We're anywhere podcast is found, check it out
and as go look it up. At home with Ruby,
you can listen to all our old shows. They gave
a shout out to my dollar Tatums. She's been listening
to the shows. I get a lot of a lot
(28:58):
of early morning uh text about cool guests from my
buddies when they're exercising and stuff.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
So that's when I listened.
Speaker 1 (29:08):
Yeah, what'd you think about old Matt and FINX Jewelers, Dave?
Speaker 2 (29:11):
That just they're running a great I mean, I respect
any any business for generation great brand. Uh, emphasis on
service and quality. Uh, It's it's really special and he's
saying the right things. I mean, it really hit home
talking about what they he values, the golden rule, taking
care of people, treating him right. I mean it really does.
(29:33):
I mean, it's it's as simple as that. It's clearly
they have a strong fallowing with their clients and they're
doing something special. So it was really cool.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
Yeah, very very similar to the Roby family. A couple
of things I wrote down I want I want to
reiterate and and and just made me think about knowing
we're going to have this this last segment, Uh, white
glove service and the customer experience that it and just
about being being a commoditized builder or or remodeler or
(30:04):
service provider as the Roby Family of companies, it's about
the client experience and the relationship and providing them more
value than the commodity that we at the heart are
able to get an introduction from.
Speaker 2 (30:21):
Yeah, I mean we were building a house, where remodel
the house. We're putting in your generator, we're fixing a light.
But ultimately it's about the experience and taking care of people,
and it's it's personal and so that's that's what we're
all about.
Speaker 1 (30:33):
So I thought this is really cool. Uh, we're third
generation at the Roby family Andrew Roby and Matt said,
that's when his dad and his granddad said, you really
mess a business up. Uh, he is for generation talking
(30:54):
about his great grandfather having a pushcart and rolling out Virginia.
What an awesome story is cool said in I think
I'll get this right. In twenty thirty will be be
one hundred years and everybody knows. The last couple shows
of this year we've been really emphasizing. We did a
kickoff show our seventy fifth year anniversary from nineteen fifty.
(31:21):
But about I'm gonna mess this up. Six seven, eight
years ago, we bought a plumbing company called w H
Hobbes Plumbing. I bought it. They did my lifetime relationship
doing business with them. Ernie Tucker owned it during the
years that I did business with them. We did business
(31:42):
with them, and they were founded.
Speaker 3 (31:45):
W H.
Speaker 1 (31:45):
Hobbs Plumbing was founded in the twenties, nineteen twenty three.
So technically, and Matt was talking about Garybaldi and Bruns
was founded sooner, you know, would already be one hundred
years old. But they're going on when Finx was founded.
(32:05):
We go on when Andrew Roby was founded. But we've
talked about I think we've talked about this years ago. Uh.
I mean, we're technically one hundred plus years old, and
uh and it was always taboo, the same thing with Garibaldi.
Do we change w H hobbs name to Roby Services
Roby Plumbing? Uh can't do it. We were all worried
(32:29):
and uh, well, well we we paid for this legacy,
this name. We don't want to lose it. And uh,
I think I still see some things w H Hobs internally,
but I think outwardly we serve Roby Service service outwardly.
Speaker 2 (32:47):
Yes, there's a few things.
Speaker 1 (32:48):
Ruby Services does mechanical plumbing, electric and handyman and uh
and the services is w H. Chobs plumbing. That's right, right,
that is correct. Yeah, we don't. So you're telling me
we don't have letterheader in voices that say w H.
Child's plumbing.
Speaker 2 (33:06):
Come on, see there is an accounting cookbooks file that
still says offs. Other than that. No, it's uh yeah,
that's probably the last bastion to climb or to to defeat.
Speaker 1 (33:20):
There you go, Dave Patrick says w H. Childs Sometimes
I can't I catch you. I don't call him out.
Speaker 2 (33:26):
Well, you know, we but it evolved because you know,
we used to have you know, Roby Electric and we
had and then it was Roby Hvac and then it
was like do they go to Roby Plumbing or and
but now it's all Ruby Services. So it just kind
of all rolled up. We've evolved.
Speaker 1 (33:41):
Well, man, thanks for being here, Dave, Well, thanks for
having me. I mean, fortunately Matt did most of the talking.
Speaker 2 (33:48):
He was he's more interesting.
Speaker 1 (33:49):
I mean, what a story finks Jewelers Tennessee, Virginia and
the Carolina North Carolina ten Low locations, fourth generation, ninety
six years. Hey listen, check them out Matt Finks Jewelers.
Thanks for listening to the At Home with Ruby Show.
(34:10):
Go do the Golden rule today. Treat others the way
you want to be treated, per Matt Fink, and carry
a smile around on your face. Take care,
Good morning, and welcome to the At Home with Roby Show.
I am Trent Hastening today filling in as your guest
host for Patrick mckayzak, and my guest host today is
David McGuire. That was going, are you talking to me
or talking to our listening audience?
Speaker 2 (00:26):
I'm talking to everyone.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
But me or them?
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (00:32):
MRI, Who am I? I don't know. I feel like
I'm in control today because I'm back in the driver's
seat over here, got David McGuire back with me. I
would say, probably our most in eight and a half
(00:52):
nine years, our most utilized co host.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Yeah, say that right, the backup guy. You know, I'm
a second team, but I come in and you know what,
I'll give you about fifteen fifteen points, eight rebounds, you know,
solid up.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Wow, he's proud of himself at and he TJ Goodness
doesn't knock out job. I mean he's always given these
hockey analogies.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
That was basketball.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
Oh oh, that would be pretty impressive in hockey. I
mean he scored fifteen. It's a dang, are you the goat?
Speaker 3 (01:28):
No?
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Not good on skates?
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Well, I got a couple duke basketball fan buddies dupe
buddies that they're talking about this kid, Cooper Flag.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
I don't know, man, listen to me and you both
the tar Hills. But I try to block that out,
and I start thinking about the Hornets. Maybe they could
get this guy. He's pretty special. I hope he scores
two points.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
Against Anytime the Hornets pull anybody from the Carolinas, it
doesn't seem to work out. I mean, that was a
guy back in the Dame named Kelly Tripuka that no,
he didn't come from the Carolina. I'm has never worked out.
I'm not. I'm not. Uh, Gerald Henderson.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Even the Duke guys, I mean, Gerald's probably the most successful,
you know.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
But well, uh, how you been? How was your holiday day?
Speaker 2 (02:19):
It was good, man, it was good. Spent some time
in Charlotte, saw the family, then went up saw my
wife's family in northern Virginia. But uh, blessed, thank you?
How about you?
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Well? Good, Yeah, it was great. We just so you know,
we've already had a couple of shows since since the
holiday season, so the audience knows where I stand. Yeah. No,
but it has been uh, it has been pretty cold
down here in the Carolina's lately.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Yeah, it's getting colder. It'll be colder next week.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
I don't know the southeast, and and I want to
I want to give a a prayer out to uh,
to the folks now in southern California.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Man, it's just just heartbreaking, unbelievable wins. Yeah, and then
prayers out to the to the families in California.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
Yes, it's so sad. And then and then we still
got the folks from the hurricanes that came up Helene
and such in the in the mountains, the Blue Ridge
Parkway area through there so many people struggling through this
through this season that we got we gotta lift up.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Yeah, it's it's a community effort. And it makes my
heart warm every day to know that there's so many
people in this community and across the really across the country,
but nor North Carolina. People have really stepped up to
help Western and you know Roby's been a part of
that too, So it's pretty special.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
Yeah. So how old are your kids now?
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Dave seventeen, thirteen and seven.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
And everybody doesn't know this. David and I met in
the ninth grade. We've said that before, and we lived
our freshman year at UNC Chapel Hill together in Morrison Dorn.
We called it Moat Town. I think it's still there, refurbished,
they've got it was a long time ago.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
They have ac and all the all the rooms. Now.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
That was nineteen ninety six, so we're twenty and twenty five,
so we're going to go twenty nine years.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
You know. I was thinking about that the other day, like,
how close we are to fifty is just unbelievable.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
But I stay, that was a good memory. And then
right after school we lived together in the location that
I currently live out there on the river.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
We talk about a lot of the house looks different,
but same location. Yeah, that was fun living down in
the basement pants.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
And your bedroom is my closet now.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Yeah, yeah, no, that was fun. Man. Yeah, a long
time ago, but that was man.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
I was trying to stick it to you as hard
as I could on the rent. But I do think
you would be below market rate today.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
I think it was really fair right, especially today, It
was fair back then. Oh, I didn't fuss.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
I think I charged it was four hundred dollars a
month plus a third of the utilities, and the utilities
were real low. They're not real low anymore.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
It was a good de It's a lot. It was
a lot less expensive than a mortgage in full utilities.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
With my expanded size of house and my five kids.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
Trent kicked me out when he got engaged to Reagan.
He said, you gotta roll out, bro, I said, all right.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
And then I have a good buddy that asked me,
after Reagan and I were married, before kids, if he
could live in that same basement Dan Bailey. And I
was dumb enough to even mention it to my wife,
and she is like, are you don't hit your head?
And I have a couple of times, so I was
(05:36):
able to openly and honestly say yeah, maybe. So what
do you think if I'm one thing that's.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Been persistent amen in my life all about you know,
offsetting expenses. That's good.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
Yeah, yeah, I remember Dad and I used to go
over there and paint. We get off work about seven thirty.
Every about eight, my roomies be living downstairs and it'd
be crock pots with with week old roasting them and
stuff all in the kitchen. He said, he said, I
gotta clean this up before we were boy. So we'd
(06:14):
spend our first thirty minutes they got a cleaning, uh
service with their with their money.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Dude, like some fright guys living in your basement.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Uh yeah, I think it was actually uh you know who.
They were so old harding Ram guys, us harding Ram
our alma mater high school. We stick together, so that's good.
I think we still got a pretty little sticky situation.
Dan Bailey's assistant basketball coach.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Oh is he yeah?
Speaker 1 (06:44):
So? Uh yeah. So today our guest is Matt Fink
uh Fink's Jewelers, and he I think his third generation.
I'll let him clear that up. But they got a
couple of locations in Charlotte and hell's from rolling over
r Ginia Fellow I po or here we go at
Home with Roby. Welcome back to the At Home with
(07:09):
Ruby Show. I am Trent Hasten, Uh your host with
my guest host today David McGuire.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Hey, everybody, you are looking good.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
I'm not gonna compare you to Patrick, but you're looking good.
You got a you got a very deep voice. That's good.
Just don't take off your hat because he's got gray hair.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
You got better hair, way better.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
Here and uh we just chatted it up a second
with him before we went on air. We have our
guests Matt Fink. Hey Matt, how you doing doing good?
Speaker 3 (07:42):
Thanks for having me, really appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
Glad for you to be here. I've been nudging you
for a while. And we were on a YPO trip
and we had a dinner together, and my whole goal
for this whole dinner was to get you on the radio.
And maybe Jose Costa, who has already been on the
radio days over here. I said, but he just came
on a couple of weeks ago to raving fans. Nothing,
(08:07):
nothing of pressure that you need to live live up to.
But everybody's been telling me how smart Jose is. Way
to go, Jose. And then my daughter Tatum, who just
turned seventeen in December, is a little business lady and
she's just in the last couple of days on her own, said, hey, Dad,
(08:29):
I guess what I've been listening to. I just I
just listened to three shows and told me who And
then she told me last night she listened to two more.
So she's on fire Man love It.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
That's awesome. That's awesome. I can't wait till my daughter
gets to that age. You know, mine are so young.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
But I hope.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
I hope she'll be interested in business. I don't know.
I'm trying to slowly introduce her stuff. But she's only three,
so we'll see how it goes.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
So you have have a three year old daughter and
a younger son.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
Yeah yeah, and you can already tell that he's like
a typical second kid because I mean just everything rolls
off his back. I mean, no Gie's he gets clothes
wined by his sister. I mean, he's just he's so
good with the flow. I mean he's completely opposite. I
mean you can already see the personality come out at
about a year. It's pretty crazy.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
What Yeah. So, yeah, so you corrected me during to
break your second generation, not third, right.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
I'm fourth fourth generation?
Speaker 1 (09:30):
That up?
Speaker 3 (09:33):
Yeah, yeah, No, I'm so. I'm fourth generation. We were
actually started in the middle of a great depression by
my great grandfather Nathan. And uh, you know, I was
telling you as we were talking, family businesses are typically
third generations where family businesses usually get screwed up. And uh,
I don't really know what the fourth generation is supposed
(09:54):
to do. Maybe it's really really screw it up. But
you know what I like to say is just my
dad and I are really lucky, and I'm even more
lucky than him that We've just had some smart, really
hard working family members, you know, to have this business.
It's it's a really fun business. I love I love
what I do every day. So I'm very lucky.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
So tell us about the business. How did how did
your great grandfather start it? And how did you grow
up around the business and all that stuff.
Speaker 3 (10:25):
Yeah, so my great grandfather is actually a pharmacist in Selma, Alabama,
and he had one of those old fashioned pharmacy stores
on Main Street. I don't know if that was the
street in Selma, but you know, the photo pop and
you know, kind of like a general store. And the
twenties were kind of not great for Selma, and he
(10:48):
his business went under and he was looking for somewhere
a little bit more, you know, with a better economy
to move to. And Roanoke kind of had a really
booming economy with the railroad and he kind of knew, uh,
someone from the same culture as Lithuanian that was in
(11:08):
the jewelry industry, and he went he moved to Roanoke
and worked under him and that business. The gentleman named
Alabash he had all his money in the stock market,
and of course, you know what happened at the end
of the twenties, and he lost everything because of the
Great Depression. So my grandfather had just lost My great
grandfather just lost his business. You know, he had just
(11:32):
come to work to run a jewelry store, managed a
jewelry store, and that business went under, and he created
this idea that you know, back then there were two
types of jewelers, and he was really more of a
kind of a guild jeweler, a high quality jeweler, and
back then those jewelers took cash, and then there were
kind of jewelers that sold things that were maybe lower priced,
(11:56):
and they were credit jewelers. You know, they basically you know, know,
no money changed hands, and he used the relationships that
he made with people in the industry. In the short time.
This gentleman's business was active to uh to get merchandise
on consignment, so he didn't pay for it until he
sold it, and then he would sell that on credit.
But but it was a it was a guild jeweler
(12:18):
as a quality jeweler on credit, and he didn't have
any money. So we actually started with a push cart
in downtown Ronoke. That's actually how we started in the
middle of the Great Depression, and uh, he eventually saved
up enough money and opened a storefront and the rest
was kind of history. But but he's he was a
real just a entrepreneur, a good old fashioned entrepreneur. My
(12:42):
grandfather was a visionary. He really wanted to trade our
business up, start carrying brands. My dad kind of kept
moving us forward in that direction and he really grew
the business kind of regionally in different different cities. My grandfather, Alvin,
was actually the one that was the first to bring
us to Charlotte. We bought a company back in the
(13:04):
late sixties called Garibaldi and Bruns and we were actually
called that until early two thousands. We were original tenant
actually at South Park Mall for our Charlotte history. But
my dad and I, over the last ten years, the
jewordan industry has experienced a lot of change, and you know,
the world is more interested in Swiss watches. That business
(13:27):
has really picked up for us. We've started carrying more brands.
The brands that we do carry, there's a lot of
demand for them, so that's become a huge emphasis for us.
And and we have grown in certain markets, We've we've
entered some new markets. With me and my dad, we
still work together, and you know, we've been very fortunate.
(13:49):
We've had had some good years over the last few years.
It's been been some pretty good times for us. But
we're coming up on our hundredth year in twenty thirty,
so I'm looking forward to to make it to them.
So I think it's been a special on hundred years.
We celebrate a lot of great memories of our customers
and and it's fun. Wow.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
So the word a gilded jeweler is a high end jeweler.
Is that correct, right?
Speaker 3 (14:18):
So, yeah, the term guilt jeweler is kind of like
a high quality jeweler. It used to actually mean that,
you know, the jeweler would carry platinum and gold versus
you know, silver, non precious metals. Wow, it's kind of
a dated term. I wouldn't really say it means a
whole lot to people now, but yeah, that was more
(14:38):
of a period term, you know, something that's kind of
not really spoken about anymore unless it's in the industry.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
Yeah. Man, your great grandfather was a hustler.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
Oh well, you know, our business now has kind of gotten.
We've become very focused with the experience, you know, making
sure people have their favorite bourbon when they come by,
or get a cappuccino or something like that in the store.
And uh, you know white glove service. Well, back then,
you know, my great grandfather he was so focused on
(15:07):
you know, could someone pay him back. My dad used
to say, I've just heard this from my dad. I
didn't ever meet my great grandfather. He would kind of
run his hands along the glass case and if for
some reason, as he'd size someone up, he didn't think
they were trustworthy or they'd pay him back, he'd shut
the case and walk away. And it's funny. I mean
he had to do that back then. You know, he
(15:28):
couldn't afford to write a bat loan. But you know
that's not how our businesses anymore. But it's it's funny
how times changed. You know, he need different skills for
different times, right, So so yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
So how so how many push carts did he grow too?
Speaker 3 (15:44):
He probably had was a boom and little town back then.
And uh, you know, he really had his eyes focused
on brick and mortar. He wanted to have He didn't
want to be like the jewelry food truck back. You know,
back before food trucks, he didn't really want to have
a lot of those. I think he really wanted to
have a storefront with his name on it, and he
(16:04):
got it pretty quickly.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
That is so cool. Was the name of his first
STOREX Jewelers.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
Yes, I think Jewelers. Our logo is a little different
back then, but yeah, yeah, thinks Jewelers. Our first stores
on Campbell Avenue and downtown Rono. That was our first
first brick and mortar store.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
Wow, that is so unique. Uh, And y'all were Garrel,
Garbaldi and Runs. Y'all purchased in Charlotte. Was was an
original tenant at South Park Mall where y'all are still
at today. Correct, that's right.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
We're actually still in the same location. We've been in
that same location for you know, now, it's been about
fifty five years. Back then, actually, you know, Belk and
Ivy were developing the mall, and you know, it was
it was hard to get in malls back then, and
we really had to kind of campaign them why we
wanted to be in the mall and why Garabadium Runs
made sense, and you know, we were so excited to
(17:00):
get in that mall, and it's incredible how long that
place is sustained and how incredible that property is. We're
really lucky to be a part of South Park. You know,
it's quite a retail force in Charlotte and in the southeast.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
You know, yeah, it is lucky. That is awesome. Hang tight,
We're gonna go pay some bills and we'll be back.
I want to talk about present day, where you're at,
what you got going on? Will you stick with us, Matt?
Speaker 3 (17:24):
Of course, let's do it all right.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
You're listening to Matt Pink on At Home with Ruby
and welcome back to the At Home with Ruby Show.
I am Trent Haston filling in for my co host
or my leite host Patrick mcazac. Today, David McGuire's filling
in for me on the side we are hosting. If
you missed our first couple of segments, find us on
(17:48):
all the social media stuff. You can find us anywhere
podcast is found. How about that. I'm gonna just sum
it up. We have Matt Fink of Fink's Jewelers, talking history,
talking fortune, talking to his grandfather man, so fascinating and
in during the break, I want him to say a
(18:09):
little bit about it. Uh, the jewelry store Garibaldi and
Bruns that that your family business purchased it in Charlotte
was one of the original tenants of South Park Mall.
Walk us through that a little bit.
Speaker 3 (18:25):
Yes, so we were. We were one of the original
tenants at Soutain Court at South Park Mall. You know,
my grandfather really had to position the belkan Ivy family
to get us in. They were the developers that built
them all. And you know, we had some really great years.
You know, the people of Charlotte really embraced the Garabaldi
(18:46):
and Bruns name. It was a local jeweler in the
community for a long time. We actually expanded to Raleigh
and I built some stores in that market and kept
the name. And you know, early two thousands, the Internet
ages coming along, and my dad just felt like it
was a mouthful and the name didn't really mean anything
to people. And Rally, you know, my there from Charlotte
(19:07):
and he caught a bunch of a bank executives just
to get some advice, and you know the kind of
the unanimous uh advice that he got was just rip
the band aid off. You know, people change their names
all the time. You know, customers care about it less
than you care about it, and thinks was just a
better things dot com was just a better r L
name and uh and it was simplistic for us, you know,
(19:30):
two of everything. So so we did that and we
had the best Christan who ever had, and we kind
of never looked back. You know, people still know that
we were Gailbaldi and Bruns. A lot of our longtime
customers and a lot of times people just walk in
the store, buy something and are like, wait, is this
a different store? You know, people don't even realize that
the name of the doors changed. So it was.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
It was.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
It was funny hearing about it as a kid.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
So where did what was Garibaldi and Bruns? Number one?
Was it found that out of Charlotte? Number two? When
was it found?
Speaker 3 (20:01):
Okay, so I don't one hundred percent know the date,
but it was founded in Charlotte. There was a store
in Uptown and it was found in the early nineteen hundreds.
It actually is an older business and fakes jewelers. But
enough wow, yeah, early early nineteen hundreds. So so yeah,
very very long history pedigree. But you know, we just
(20:24):
felt like thinks Thinks Jewelers was a simpler brand name
and easier to remember. And uh, and that's why we
changed the name. And it didn't affect our business when
that happened. I'm sure some people miss the name, but
you know, most people just kind of you know, our
business is the strongest the people that work for us,
and we have great people, and they just kept providing
good customer service and the world moved on.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
So, so did you grow up working in the jewelry store?
Speaker 3 (20:51):
So? I I did things in for the business, like
I did odd jobs, you know, like taking out the
trash and you know, making merchandise runs. It was one
of my first jobs. I did some other jobs as
a kid, but you know, my first memories of the
of the business were my dad would always be a
(21:12):
road warrior in December, you know, travel to all of
our stores and I and I was so into numbers
as a kid, you know, I'd like look at box
scores for baseball games and you know, memorized stats. I was.
I was obsessed with numbers. And I would he would
always call me, you know, and I would I would
be able to recall all the stores and I would
(21:32):
tell them how much business they were doing, and I
would remember how much business they had done a year ago.
And and I was, you know, eight nine years old
when when this was happening, maybe even younger. But I
was always so fascinated with the business, especially in December,
it's a big month for us. And I've always been
fascinated with the business, just learning about the people that
are buying things from us, in their stories and you
(21:54):
know why they're visiting us. So yeah, always always been
been fascinated by it.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Are you the only four generation in the business, Matt.
Speaker 3 (22:06):
I am. So. I have two sisters. One's in medical
school right now. She's a light huger than me, she's
about ten years hunger than me. And then I have
a sister in marketing in Chicago. But yeah, it's just
me and my dad. So yeah, for now, maybe someday
we'll have me and my sister, but for now, it's
just me and my dad.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
I hear you. So, how many locations do you guys have? Now,
thinks Jewelers.
Speaker 3 (22:33):
So we have ten stores for North Carolina. We have
the one in Huntersville, Lake Norman, and Charlotte, Raley and Durham.
We're based in Roanoke, a store there, we're in Lynchburg, Virginia,
Beach in Richmond in Virginia, so four in Virginia. And
then in twenty twenty we bought a jeweler in Chattanooga
(22:53):
called Brun Regency and immediately rebranded the Spinks Jewelers kind
of like Everybody and Bruns. And then we also built
a store in Franklin, which is just outside in Nashville,
and that was in twenty twenty three. So we have
ten Fink Stewelers locations. And then we also have a
few dedicated Rolex stores. So we have a dedicated Rolllex
store in Charlotte and South Park Mall's connected to our store.
(23:16):
We have a dedicated Rolex watch store in Raleigh in
a North Hills shopping center and we just built that store,
just open in November of this past year. And then
we also have a Brightling Watch and a Tutor Watch
dedicated store kind of like franchise stores. If you will,
you know, you walk in, it looks like the brand,
it feels like the brand, and you get that immersive
(23:40):
experience for the brand that's becoming a huge, huge trend
in our industry. And so three of those watch stores
are all in Charlotte, and we have one in Raleigh,
and then you know the Raleigh and the Charlotte Wine
both of the Rolex stores connect to the Fink stores
and then the Tutor and Brettlinger standalone.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
How has that been successful, that transition to the roll
up stores in addition to your stores, Well.
Speaker 3 (24:06):
Rolex has in precedented demand right now. It's it's an
incredible brand, the number one luxury brand in the world
by a lot of metrics. They have the largest market
share and watches, and they have as much market share
as brands two through eleven. In fact, no brand in
luxury has more market share than Rolex has and watches.
(24:28):
Incredible brand and there's been a tremendous amount of growth
and it's been a huge privilege for my family to
represent them in some some incredible markets. So that's so
that's been been a great success. And we've been really
fortunate to have a partner like Rolex, and that's been
been a really good business move for my family. And
and uh uh, you know, the other the other watch
(24:49):
brands have all grown a lot since Covid. I think
there's been a lot of a building of awareness for
watches in general. They've been collector you know, page is
on Instagram. There's been kind of like editorial publications that
have really expanded the awareness of watches and collecting things.
I think collecting things like really became more prevalent during COVID.
(25:12):
People were looking for hobbies and uh, you know, just
amazed by the craftsmanship and time that it takes to
make a watch. And so we've just opened Brightling and Tutor.
Those are very recent. In fact, Brightling opened in October
and Tutor in July, and they're both doing really well.
And it's but you know, as with any business, it's
it's early. You know, you can't make a decision or
(25:34):
a judgment about something in six months. So we'll, you know,
we'll continue to do our best. But but you know,
it's definitely a trend. You know, in cities the size
of Charlotte, a lot of the pop brands and in
the watch industry especially want their own standalone stores, whether
they operate those stores or you know, or one of
(25:55):
their retailers do so. So it's been a huge movement
in our industry. And you know, and of course it's
hit a city is as prosperous as Charlotte you know,
I hear.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
You, well, I'm gonna put you on the spot. It's
something I do to some of our folks. The show
has been awesome. I've learned so much. I did not
know I learned so much in twenty thirty b one
hundred years. That's awesome. Ten locations is so impeccable. What's
(26:28):
one thing that you live by, Matt, how and how
you do your business and how you handle your family
and just how you walk down the road every day.
What's one philosophy that you can hang your hat on
leave our audience with.
Speaker 3 (26:45):
Yeah, that's a great question. You know, I think that
I always like to go back to two things that
I really think are, you know, the north Star for Finx,
which is number one, the Golden Reel rule. You treat
people how how you want to be treated. I mean,
it just doesn't get simpler than that. But I don't
think there are a lot of things philosophies that can
(27:06):
be more impactful than that in business personal life just
just everything right. And then the other thing, And it's similar,
but it's a little different. Is you know, just care
about people. You know, when you care about people and
you put the work in, whether it's a customer or
someone that works for me on my team, or one
of our vendors, our partners. You know, if you put
(27:30):
out that care to them, and even if they don't reciprocate,
you get so much more out of out of business.
You're you're more successful, you're happier, and you know, that's
how I think our business has has been really grown
over the years with those those philosophies, and we're very
focused on them. It isn't that complicated, you know.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
Well, amen, you must have been listening to our shows.
I end every show with the Golden rule.
Speaker 3 (27:57):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
Thanks for your time and God speed to your business.
And please tell Andrea that I said hello. Please, well,
thanks for having me. All right, talk to you later, Matt,
Thank you so much. Bye bye.
Speaker 3 (28:12):
Thanks guys for having me. I really appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
Yes, sir, you were great, great stories. We'll be right
back on the At Home with Ruby shows. Welcome back
to the At Home with Ruby Show. I am Trent Hasten.
Jumped a position the head host today over Patrick mcaaac
who we pushed out of the country, and David maguire's
(28:36):
the guest host. If you didn't catch our first couple
segments go We're anywhere podcast is found, check it out
and as go look it up. At home with Ruby,
you can listen to all our old shows. They gave
a shout out to my dollar Tatums. She's been listening
to the shows. I get a lot of a lot
(28:58):
of early morning uh text about cool guests from my
buddies when they're exercising and stuff.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
So that's when I listened.
Speaker 1 (29:08):
Yeah, what'd you think about old Matt and FINX Jewelers, Dave?
Speaker 2 (29:11):
That just they're running a great I mean, I respect
any any business for generation great brand. Uh, emphasis on
service and quality. Uh, It's it's really special and he's
saying the right things. I mean, it really hit home
talking about what they he values, the golden rule, taking
care of people, treating him right. I mean it really does.
(29:33):
I mean, it's it's as simple as that. It's clearly
they have a strong fallowing with their clients and they're
doing something special. So it was really cool.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
Yeah, very very similar to the Roby family. A couple
of things I wrote down I want I want to
reiterate and and and just made me think about knowing
we're going to have this this last segment, Uh, white
glove service and the customer experience that it and just
about being being a commoditized builder or or remodeler or
(30:04):
service provider as the Roby Family of companies, it's about
the client experience and the relationship and providing them more
value than the commodity that we at the heart are
able to get an introduction from.
Speaker 2 (30:21):
Yeah, I mean we were building a house, where remodel
the house. We're putting in your generator, we're fixing a light.
But ultimately it's about the experience and taking care of people,
and it's it's personal and so that's that's what we're
all about.
Speaker 1 (30:33):
So I thought this is really cool. Uh, we're third
generation at the Roby family Andrew Roby and Matt said,
that's when his dad and his granddad said, you really
mess a business up. Uh, he is for generation talking
(30:54):
about his great grandfather having a pushcart and rolling out Virginia.
What an awesome story is cool said in I think
I'll get this right. In twenty thirty will be be
one hundred years and everybody knows. The last couple shows
of this year we've been really emphasizing. We did a
kickoff show our seventy fifth year anniversary from nineteen fifty.
(31:21):
But about I'm gonna mess this up. Six seven, eight
years ago, we bought a plumbing company called w H
Hobbes Plumbing. I bought it. They did my lifetime relationship
doing business with them. Ernie Tucker owned it during the
years that I did business with them. We did business
(31:42):
with them, and they were founded.
Speaker 3 (31:45):
W H.
Speaker 1 (31:45):
Hobbs Plumbing was founded in the twenties, nineteen twenty three.
So technically, and Matt was talking about Garybaldi and Bruns
was founded sooner, you know, would already be one hundred
years old. But they're going on when Finx was founded.
(32:05):
We go on when Andrew Roby was founded. But we've
talked about I think we've talked about this years ago. Uh.
I mean, we're technically one hundred plus years old, and
uh and it was always taboo, the same thing with Garibaldi.
Do we change w H hobbs name to Roby Services
Roby Plumbing? Uh can't do it. We were all worried
(32:29):
and uh, well, well we we paid for this legacy,
this name. We don't want to lose it. And uh,
I think I still see some things w H Hobs internally,
but I think outwardly we serve Roby Service service outwardly.
Speaker 2 (32:47):
Yes, there's a few things.
Speaker 1 (32:48):
Ruby Services does mechanical plumbing, electric and handyman and uh
and the services is w H. Chobs plumbing. That's right, right,
that is correct. Yeah, we don't. So you're telling me
we don't have letterheader in voices that say w H.
Child's plumbing.
Speaker 2 (33:06):
Come on, see there is an accounting cookbooks file that
still says offs. Other than that. No, it's uh yeah,
that's probably the last bastion to climb or to to defeat.
Speaker 1 (33:20):
There you go, Dave Patrick says w H. Childs Sometimes
I can't I catch you. I don't call him out.
Speaker 2 (33:26):
Well, you know, we but it evolved because you know,
we used to have you know, Roby Electric and we
had and then it was Roby Hvac and then it
was like do they go to Roby Plumbing or and
but now it's all Ruby Services. So it just kind
of all rolled up. We've evolved.
Speaker 1 (33:41):
Well, man, thanks for being here, Dave, Well, thanks for
having me. I mean, fortunately Matt did most of the talking.
Speaker 2 (33:48):
He was he's more interesting.
Speaker 1 (33:49):
I mean, what a story finks Jewelers Tennessee, Virginia and
the Carolina North Carolina ten Low locations, fourth generation, ninety
six years. Hey listen, check them out Matt Finks Jewelers.
Thanks for listening to the At Home with Ruby Show.
(34:10):
Go do the Golden rule today. Treat others the way
you want to be treated, per Matt Fink, and carry
a smile around on your face. Take care,
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