Commentary: The Business

Illinois Store Owner Talks Christmas COVID Bingo, Funny Customer Questions and a Record-Breaking December

She also relates two heart-warming client stories.

Published

4 years ago

January 18, 2021

Denise Oros Instore February 2021 Issue

“Our last full working day of the season is Christmas Pajama Day. I buy super soft jammies for my staff every year. If we hit our store and personal sales goals along with delivering all custom items, we close Christmas Eve, which is a huge incentive to get the job done.” — Denise Oros

I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT 2020, the crummiest year on record, yielded our very best December ever! Breaking records and achieving our personal best was a well-deserved victory for my team.

This year, working on a Christmas Bingo Card was full-on fun. Thank you, Jewelers Helping Jewelers, for the inspiration. Here are just a few of the squares we filled:

Changing watch batteries in nasty, germ-ridden watches.
A customer tracking up the whole floor only to buy silver earrings.
A man buying for his wife and girlfriend.
A finger-licker.
Finding old earring holes.
Customer: “Could you just polish these? I’m giving them as gifts” and “Could you wrap her other gift in the Linnea paper too?” Oh sure, I can polish these for you while you look around for something sparkly to add to your wish list. But we do not give our boxes out unless the items were purchased here, I’m sure you understand????
Customer: “I recall that this rebuild/repair/custom job was estimated cheaper!”
Customer: “I need my finger sized for a ring I bought on the internet.”

But there were feel-good stories, too:

One of my best customers succumbed to cancer in November. On her death bed, she told her daughters to tell me, “I love her and she always brought me so much joy.” The daughters came in right before Christmas with their mom’s signature, which we incorporated into gold rings. When they picked the rings up, there were laughter, tears and joy.

Second story: Customer had emergency heart surgery for a rare affliction. Once the family was notified that he was probably going to die, they gathered around his bed, held hands with him and prayed. Against all odds, he recovered fully. The family saved the seven wires that had held his chest together and brought them to me to make into a cross. It took weeks to come up with a plan: I had limited material and I had to create it, then wrap it in a border of white gold and laser it in place.

There is a joy, a peacefulness and a satisfaction that’s difficult to put into words, but every goldsmith knows that feeling.

We are part of an amazing industry that shares the most intimate life moments with our customers.

You Wouldn’t Cut Your Own Hair. Why Run Your Own Retirement Sale?

After being in business for over a quarter of a century, Wayne Reid, owner of Wayne Jewelers in Wayne, Pennsylvania, decided it was time for a little “me time.” He says, “I’ve reached a point in my life where it’s time to slow down, enjoy a lot of things outside of the jewelry industry. It just seemed to be the right time.” He chose Wilkerson to handle his retirement sale because of their reputation and results. With financial goals exceeded, Reid says he made the right choice selecting Wilkerson to handle the sale. “They made every effort to push our jewelry to the forefront of the showcases,” he says, lauding Wilkerson for their finesse and expertise. Would he recommend them to other jewelers who want to make room for new merchandise, expand their business or like him, decide to call it a day? Absolutely he says, equating trying to do this kind of sale with cutting your own hair. “The results are going to happen but not as well as if you have a professional like Wilkerson do the job for you.”