Lords of the Rings: Robbins Bros. has become a key force in the area's jewelry sector.

IN chipper advertising banter that is ubiquitous on L.A.-area radio, brothers and business partners Steve and Skip Robbins merrily hawk the rings their Robbins Bros. stores sell to the newly engaged.

But about 10 years ago at a critical corporate strategy meeting, the mood was stem.

Dressed in fatigues as generals Douglas MacArthur and George Patton, the Robbinses charged their staff with redirecting the retailer, even though it was a money maker. It would no longer be a company of mall-based general merchandise jewelry stores. It would turn its concentration to its strength--engagement rings--and it would aim to dominate that niche market.

"We had this concept that was profitable, everyone thought was a great regional chain, and here we are completely changing it. Everyone thought we were nuts," said Steve Robbins. "We had to convince them."

In this case, it turned out the money talked.

The chain, then called William Pitt Jewelers, had 14 outlets across Southern California. But the business-model shift has pushed the Glendale-based retailer to an enterprise with nine enormous destination stores that are projected to pull in $100 million this year, up from $15 million with the old format.

Robbins Bros. now holds 23 percent of the market share of engagement rings in Southern California, putting it above its nearest competitors locally, which are Irving, Tex.-based Zale Corp. and New York-based Tiffany & Co.

Still, Steve Robbins keeps giving marching orders. He's spearheading expansion at Robbins Bros., betting the company can grow to about 40 units in the next four years and eventually up to 100 units nationwide.

The company first expanded to San Diego about five years ago and recently put its first two units outside California in Texas, with a third one planned there for September.

And the time may not be better to build a presence in engagement ring sales.

Those offspring of baby boomers, called Echo Boomers, are getting to marrying age--men marry, on average, at 27, and women at 25--and are ready to plunk down money for rings to seal to deal. By some estimates, the number of weddings will increase about 30 percent between now and around 2016.

"They are certainly smart to focus on the bridal business that is rapidly growing," said Kenneth Gassman, president of the Jewelry Industry Research Institute and a former Wall Street analyst. "There is room for people to get into the bridal business, and a lot of independent jewelers haven't figured that out."

Attractive concept

Robbins Bros. isn't going into expansion mode empty handed. Two years ago, San Francisco-based firms Dorset Capital Management LLC and Weston Presidio Capital, which has invested in such notable companies as Guitar Center Inc. and JetBlue Airways Corp., bought a minority stake in the company. Robbins retains majority ownership.

John Berg, a partner at Weston Presidio, went through his checklist of three things when he evaluated whether to invest in Robbins Bros.: leadership, concept and execution. On all three, he said the company got an above-passing grade and exhibited an ability to build up the infrastructure needed to carry out a nationwide rollout. On top of that ability, he said, Robbins Bros. doesn't have a Southern California-specific concept, and it can attract customers outside of its home base.

"We felt they were appealing to a very broad audience," he said. "Engagement rings are bought across the country. There is not a tremendous amount of difference in taste from market to market, so we felt confident that they could go elsewhere."

But Robbins is finding a few differences in consumer tastes in the latest market he's entered. Texans, famous for their outsized tastes, like their diamonds bigger too. And he's also finding that expansion isn't as easy as checking some items off a list.

With so much on the company's plate, getting the first Houston area store completed turned out to be quite a task. There was a new designer--Todd Belle, who had fashioned Niketown stores--and a new prototype store to lay out. The location ended up being 50 percent over budget and eight months late.

"One of the lessons we learned was not to do too many things at once," said Robbins. "The next store got open on time, and it was pretty close to on budget."

The newer stores, all being built from the ground up, have style features to create a warmer environment that are due to be incorporated in the older stores. There is brick inside the stores to give them a residential look and the feel of a living room more than a ring superstore. All the features mean they don't come cheap. They cost $1.5 million to build, and range from 5,000 to 10,000 square feet.

But Robbins believes the money is well spent, because getting engaged can be a trying time in a couple's life. Engagement rings also are one of the largest purchases a young adult ever makes. At Robbins Bros., the average diamond ring sale is $4,500. That's well above the U.S. engagement ring average of about $2,700, with prices rising about $100 a year.

About 1 percent of the population is getting engaged at any given time and, for the chain to draw them, it helps to do everything possible to make people feel comfortable. That includes a cappuccino bar and, specifically for guys, a television tuned into ESPN. (About 60 percent of the clientele is male.) The stores also provide a slew of amenities, including wedding planning services and engagement photos and announcements.

Robbins Bros. has seen a lot of store changes over the years. The family originally got into the jewelry industry in the 1920s when Ben Tipp, the grandfather of Skip and Steve, began Ben Tipp Jewelers in Seattle. Eugene, Skip and Steve's father, later moved into the business in Pasadena, where he bought William Pitt Jewelers. The brothers took over the company in the 1970s and grew it to a chain of 14 shopping center stores.

But Steve believed the company didn't have the edge that would keep loyal customers. By focusing on engagement alone, he said the company can improve the experience for customers and give them a reason--beyond the ring alone--to shop at Robbins Bros.

"We got the whole company completely focused on customers getting engaged," Robbins said.