A lot of people who recall the glory days of retailing in downtown New London first remember Mallove's Jewelers, which was an anchor on lower State Street for so many years.

Indeed, the familiar Mallove's marquee still hangs over the State Street sidewalk, but the neon-like letters of the sign are gone and the empty storefront is a temporary campaign headquarters.

Mallove's, which was a New London retailing landmark starting in 1919, has moved to the suburbs, to a strip mall in Waterford.

It is appropriate, when you click on an "About Us" tab on the store's current website, that you get mostly pictures and a description of the former store in New London, Mallove's "back in the day," as it says, a reference to what clearly were the glory years.

One of the veterans of the old New London Mallove's is Tony Suarez, who went to work for the family business fresh out of New London High School, as a mail clerk.

He worked his way up, and over 16 years of affiliation with what was then the region's premier jewelry store, he became a prominent downtown retailer in his own right, serving at one point as president of the downtown merchants' association.

Suarez eventually parted ways with the Mallove family business, and in 1991 he opened his own store in Mystic, Northern Light Gems. It prospered, and he opened a second branch, in Niantic.

By this January, Suarez plans to open a new store in New London, at 60 State St., just a few doors down from the shuttered Mallove's, and to close his Mystic store. He will keep the Niantic location of Northern Light Gems.

I caught up with Suarez this week, and it was good to hear him speak so enthusiastically about the new spirit of downtown New London and the bright retailing prospects here.

I spoke with him just after enjoying a jalapeno bagel with garlic cream cheese from the excellent new bakery at 184 State St., Little Sister's Bake Shop, which opened two weeks ago. There's nothing like a good bakery to prove a retail center's good health.

"I have been paying very close attention to New London, and there is a lot of good stuff going on," Suarez told me. "It looks remarkably better than it has in years.

"Quite honestly, I have been wanting to go back to New London for a long while, and the time is right now."

Suarez also said more expensive rent and the prospect of two more years of road construction in Mystic were factors in his decision to move.

But I most wanted to hear about his enthusiasm about New London.

He said he has spoken to many loyal customers who, he says, will find it easier to get to the store in New London.

Some small niche store owners and good restaurants are helping making downtown a unique destination for diners and shoppers and strollers. And Suarez's experience with fine jewelry will help give the retail district more gravitas.

His return is not just about a New London guy coming home to make good, but also about a new generation of retail in downtown New London, one with a nod to the past.

This is the opinion of David Collins.