The 1st Generation
H.L. Gross & Bro. Jewelers was founded by the great grandfather of Michael Gross, the current President, and great-great grandfather of Vice President Brad Gross, Michael's son. He opened the store in 1910 along with his two sons, then 15 & 19 years of age. He passed away four years later, leaving the two young brothers with all the responsibilities of running the new business.
The 2nd Generation
This first store was located in Brooklyn, New York, six blocks from a jewelry store owned by their uncle. The brothers displayed jewelry on a board supported by two sugar barrels outside on the sidewalk in front of the store. If a customer requested an item they did not have, they would tell them to wait a minute. One brother would engage the customer in conversation while the other would walk into the store and immediately exit out the back door, run to their uncle's store to get the item, run back again and attempt to make the sale. Before long the two brothers were able to open their own storefront and were quite successful running the store on their own.
By the mid 1920's they opened a second store in Jamaica, Queens, and shortly thereafter moved further out on Long Island to Hempstead where they opened a third store. By the late 60's the business was being run by Howard Gross, the third generation, who was the son of the younger of the two original brothers. At this time they were doing their own diamond cutting in the Hempstead store and averaging a dozen diamond engagement ring sales a day.
The 3rd & 4th Generation
In 1969, Howard Gross and his wife Helene opened the Garden City, Long Island store which is the present location of H.L. Gross & Bro. Howard's son, Michael Gross, graduated from Rennselaer in 1971 with an engineering degree and joined his father to become the fourth generation to enter the business. He would work days while attending NYU graduate business school in the evenings. Michael is a member of the Garden City-Mineola Rotary Club, has served numerous terms on the Board of Directors of the Garden City Chamber of Commerce and was honored by the Nassau Council Chambers of Commerce as 16th annual small business person of the year.
In 1992, Howard Gross tragically lost his life in an accident while racing his sailboat. This left Michael in full control of the business, assisted by his mother Helene, and his wife Diane.
The 5th Generation
In 2001, Michael's son Brad entered into the business. Brad received a business degree from Arizona State University and then spent 6 months attending classes at the Gemological Institute of America where he attained certification as a graduate gemologist. Brad is the fifth generation to follow the family tradition of joining H.L. Gross & Bro.
Current family members include 3rd generation Helene Gross, fourth generation Michael and Diane Gross, and fifth generation Brad Gross.