Headlines

Jewelry Manufacturer Temporarily Out of Commission Following Nearby Demolition Accident

The company makes jewelry for over 300 U.S. retailers.

Published

5 years ago

November 1, 2019

INSTORE Staff

Strellman’s Dramatic Jewelry, a manufacturer in Virginia, MN, is temporarily out of commission following a wall collapse resulting from a nearby demolition.

Owners Jim and Julianne Paulsen saw the accident happen, the Mesabi Daily News reports. Their store, Rocks the Jewelers, was not hit, although its walls sustained stress fractures. But their manufacturing facility, in another building, was. It was severely damaged.

The newspaper reports that “debris came through the roof and bricks smashed through the ceiling of one room” of the manufacturing business.

Plans for cleanup and repair are underway.

“We cannot produce jewelry until this is fixed,” said Julianne Paulsen, noting that her company makes jewelry for more than 300 U.S. retailers. Many retailers are waiting for Christmas orders, she told the Daily News.

The dust is a problem at the moment, she said. If the mold is not perfectly clean during production, the gold can suffer from pitting, she noted.

The wax has to be completely clean in the mold or it makes the gold porous and you get pitting,”

Several other businesses were affected but have reopened.

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After almost 60 years in business, Breakiron Jewelers in Erie, Pennsylvania, was closing its doors. And the store’s owner, Linda Breakiron, was ready for it. She had run the store as its sole owner since the beginning of the millennium and was looking forward to a change. Of course, she called Wilkerson. Breakiron talked to other jewelers who had used Wilkerson and was satisfied with their response. “They always had positive feedback,” she recalls. With the sales, marketing and even additional inventory that Wilkerson provided, Breakiron insists she could never have accomplished her going-out-of-business sale without Wilkerson’s help. She’s now ready for the journey ahead, but looking back, she’d be sure to recommend Wilkerson. “They just made the whole process very seamless.”