Headlines

Burglars Drilled All Night to Break Open Jeweler’s Safe

Published

7 years ago

January 13, 2017

INSTORE Staff

They took hundreds of thousands in merchandise.

Burglars apparently set up a drill on a tripod to break open a jeweler’s case-hardened steel safe in Lakewood Ranch, FL, YourObserver.com reports.

Because the safe would withstand hours of abuse even with high-powered tools, Murray Margolis, owner of The Family Jeweler, surmises: “They were here all night.”

The thieves took “a few hundred thousand dollars worth” of good from the safe and the rest of the store, Margolis told the news outlet. They had cut a hole in a wall to enter the store.

Margolis has been in the jewelry industry for well over five decades. He spent most of his career in Pennsylvania before retiring to Florida — he started The Family Jeweler because he missed the business and wanted to stay active.

Now Margolis and his wife, Ardene, are picking up the pieces with help from industry colleagues. But the burglary was a blow for them emotionally.

“… It took all the fun out of being in the business,” Murray Margolis told YourObserver.com. “Now I have to make myself come in.”

Read more at YourObserver.com

When There’s No Succession Plan, Call Wilkerson

Bob Wesley, owner of Robert C. Wesley Jewelers in Scottsdale, Ariz., was a third-generation jeweler. When it was time to enjoy life on the other side of the counter, he weighed his options. His lease was nearing renewal time and with no succession plan, he decided it was time to call Wilkerson. There was plenty of inventory to sell and at first, says Wesley, he thought he might try to manage a sale himself. But he’s glad he didn’t. “There’s no way I could have done this as well as Wilkerson,” he says. Wilkerson took responsibility for the entire event, with every detail — from advertising to accounting — done, dusted and managed by the Wilkerson team. “It’s the complete package,” he says of the Wilkerson method of helping jewelers to easily go on to the next phase of their lives. “There’s no way any retailer can duplicate what they’ve done.”