Jewelry store planned for former Bank Square Books location in Mystic

Mystic — Lux Bond & Green has announced it has purchased the former Bank Square Books buildings at 49-53 West Main Street and plans to open its sixth jewelry store location there. Bank Square Books has moved to a new location at 80 Stonington Road. Lux Bond & Green, described as a 127-year-old family-owned luxury jeweler, has stores in West Hartford, Glastonbury, Westport, Mohegan Sun, and Wellesley, Mass, according to a news release. "The Mystic/Groton/Stonington area has been rapidly growing with exciting new restaurants, shops, hotels, and attractions," John Green, who is Lux Bond & Green's fourth generation of family leadership, said in a statement. "Our family looks forward to collaborating closely with the community to enhance the already exceptional experiences that make this award-winning area so special. We are excited to bring our nationally recognized, customer-focused environment to this beautiful shoreline destination." The sale price for the two buildings was $2.95 million, according to the town's property records. Charlie Green, director of stores for Lux Bond & Green and the fifth generation of the business, said Friday that the business wants to expand to Mystic because it's a beautiful area with a great community. He said his parents have a home in the Westerly, R.I., area, not far from Mystic, that the family enjoys visiting in the summer and the family has always loved Mystic. He said when the opportunity arose for a store in Mystic — which he said is home to award-winning restaurants, a great community, and in the future, the new Delamar hotel — it was a natural fit for Lux Bond & Green to continue its growth. "We're really excited. This is going to be a fun, different location for us," he said. "Most of the time we try to find a place that will have that foot traffic, and this really is a place that has tourists and locals alike that come regularly, whether it's for Mystic Pizza across the street or one of the other many restaurants and great stores that they have there, so it's really exciting for us to have this place." Sarah Karp Ward, marketing director for Lux Bond & Green, said the company sells fine jewelry, gifts and watches, and each store is curated to the community where it is located. She said Lux Bond & Green's buyers pay attention to what people are buying and the style of the area to tailor its merchandise to the community. Charlie Green said the opening of the new Mystic store will be at least a year away. He said the next steps are for the business to discuss what it wants to do with the space. He said the business also plans to talk to people in the Mystic area and analyze the community to see how the store can add value. He said many customers venture to Lux Bond & Green jewelry stores in West Hartford or Glastonbury from the Groton and New London area, so the business will be talking to them to see what they are visiting the stores for. As far as local approvals, Deb Jones, the town's assistant director of planning and development services, said the business would at least need Historic District approval for new signage, a building permit for the interior work, and potentially site plan approval, depending on the extent of the proposed work. Bruce Flax, president of the Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber is excited to see Lux Bond & Green move into the space. While the area is already home to a number of jewelry stores, he thinks the family owned business will be "welcomed with open arms" to Mystic. He added that there is a lot of business interest in Mystic, with the chamber getting calls weekly from entrepreneurs and business owners. k.drelich@theday.com