Emilie in front of the former Bachrach’s storefront on West Broad Street. (J. Elias O’Neal)
RICHMOND, Va. — Emilie Kiritsis knew something was awry last year when her mother didn’t purchase the family’s annual holiday serving silver from Bachrach’s Jewelers.
“(My mom) had gotten a call saying they were going to close,” Kiritsis recalled. “We’ve been getting our silver from Bachrach’s since I was child.”
After nearly 130 years in Richmond and more than 50 years at 111 E. Broad St., Bachrach’s closed on Halloween in 2016, liquidating its remaining assets and placing its three-story, 5,250-square-foot building up for sale by Christmas.
At the same time, business was booming for Emilie, who owns and operates fitness and health website GoFor20.com and was looking for more space for her business.
She searched all over the city, including Manchester and Scott’s Addition, but a nostalgic walk downtown led her toward what she was looking for.
“I grew up in Midlothian, so I remember coming downtown to get new shoes, and taking pictures with Santa at Christmas time,” Emilie said. “My dad bought my mother’s engagement ring from Schwartzchild Jewelers when they were down here.”
That’s when she noticed the “for sale” sign at the shuttered Bachrach’s building.
The former Bachrach’s Jewelers building at 111 E. Broad St. sold for $392,000. (J. Elias O’Neal)
“It’s such a beautiful building that still retained original Richmond architecture from when it was built in 1886,” Emilie said. “It seemed like this was where we needed to be.”
Emilie and her husband Paul Kiritsis, an orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist with Richmond-based OrthoVirginia, purchased the building last month for $392,000, according to city tax records.
Tap here to read more about Emilie Kiritsis’s plan for the downtown Richmond building.
