Jewelers Mutual Expands to NC Office Tower, Warns About Store Break-ins Nationwide
Jewelers Mutual Insurance, one of the largest and oldest jeweler-focused insurers in the country, plans to lease a full floor of a new officer tower in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, a move that will create about 200 jobs, according to multiple news outlets.
The Wisconsin-headquartered Jewelers Mutual Group, founded in 1913, already has regional offices in Dallas and Miami. The 31,000-square-foot Raleigh expansion, almost a $6 million investment, was facilitated by some $3 million in economic development and tax incentives approved by the North Carolina Economic Investment Committee last month, Axios Raleigh and other news sites reported.
Another $150,000 in incentives will come from city and county governments in Raleigh. The capital city edged out other cities in the running, including Dallas, the Raleigh News & Observer noted.
“Sophisticated, organized traveling groups, believed to be linked to South America, are executing burglaries with historic frequency and severity and remain at large, targeting jewelers nationwide. The danger is real, and the threat is growing,” Jewelers Mutual said in a bulletin.
The burglar gangs have been targeting jewel shops by breaking in through rooftops and the walls of neighboring stores, using torches, grinders, pry bars and other tools. The insurer urged stores to test their alarm and camera systems and to work with local law enforcement.
Prosecutors in Georgia said this week that multiple robberies were orchestrated by a prison inmate who is serving a 20-year sentence for armed robbery, an Atlanta TV station reported.