True Tales

This Supposed Millionaire Shopper Was Just Too Good to Be True

The check never cleared.

Published

5 years ago

June 25, 2018

INSTORE Staff Instore July 2018 Issue

This Supposed Millionaire Shopper Was Just Too Good to Be True

Had two well-dressed women (with fur coats) arrive in a chauffeur-driven limo. One woman claimed to have just won a state lottery but had not yet received the money. She checked out as having worked for a large reputable company for a long time and had lived at her current address for many years. They spent hours in our store, looked over each piece of inventory multiple times, and spent the entire afternoon enjoying playing “dress-up.” Finally, she purchased dozens of items. Our manager wrote up three pages of invoices. She wrote us a check on her local credit union in excess of $700,000. She asked to take nothing home, and said to call her when the check cleared, and she would come in and pick up her new baubles. Moral of the story: she simply had gone “crazy.” The check never cleared. It now sits in a frame! (Provided anonymously to INSTORE’s Big Survey)

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Time to Do What You've Always Wanted? Time to Call Wilkerson.

It was time. Teri Allen and her brother, Nick Pavlich, Jr., had been at the helm of Dearborn Jewelers of Plymouth in Plymouth, Mich., for decades. Their father, Nick Pavlich, Sr., had founded the store in 1950, but after so many wonderful years helping families around Michigan celebrate their most important moments, it was time to get some “moments” of their own. Teri says Wilkerson was the logical choice to run their retirement sale. “They’re the only company that specializes in closing jewelry stores,” she says. During the sale, Teri says a highlight was seeing so many generations of customers who wanted to buy “that one last piece of jewelry from us.” Would she recommend Wilkerson? Absolutely. “There is no way that I would have been able to do this by myself.”