Stein’s Jewelers plans to reopen

Jewelry, loans offered on downtown west side

The owner of Robert Haack Diamonds plans to soon reopen Stein’s Jewelers, a longtime downtown Milwaukee fixture, after temporarily closing the store a few years ago.

Bret Eulberg, owner of both stores, recently received approval from the Board of Zoning Appeals to reopen Stein’s as a jewelry and short-term loan store at 715 W. Wisconsin Ave.

Customers will be able to bring in jewelry they own to use as collateral for 30-day loans. They will also be able to sell and buy back their jewelry.

Eulberg said he is close to opening, but still needs a city license. He hopes to receive the license by the end of June.

“We have been fighting the city for a very long time, and now it seems like the pieces of the puzzle are coming together,” Eulberg said.

The Westown Business Improvement District, which focuses on downtown’s west side, supports the plan to reopen Stein’s.

“It’s never good to have an empty storefront,” said Claude Krawczyk, Westown Association board president. “Having an active business is going to be a positive step for Wisconsin Avenue.”

Before offering its support, the Westown Association negotiated terms with Eulberg, and his manager, Robert Pack.

One of the main points of concern was the two security gates in front of the store, which the pair agreed to remove.

“Security gates give the impression that it’s a rough neighborhood,” Krawczyk said. “That’s not the case anymore.”

Downtown’s west side has seen a burst of investment in recent years.

Along with the new Milwaukee Bucks arena, and the Grand Avenue mall’s ongoing redevelopment, hundreds of new apartments, including upscale units, have been created in former office buildings. Among the most recent projects is 735 West, a 12-story office building being converted into 144 apartments at 735 W. Wisconsin Ave., next to Stein’s.

Eulberg and Pack also agreed to rebuild the store’s exterior vestibule, update the awnings and to not use the word “pawn” in any advertisements.

The association had concerns about plans to reopen the store a couple years ago when Eulberg and Pack were working with investors from Chicago to turn the store into a full pawn shop.

“They were planning to run a very different operation from (longtime owner) Ken Stein,” said Krawczyk. “It was not a positive step.”

Eulberg plans to keep the Stein’s name and use a similar business model for the store as Stein did years ago.

“We are going back to the same concept Ken Stein had for decades,” he said.