“We were closed for 6 weeks from March 25 through May 8th. I really wasn’t sure what to expect, but from the phone calls and emails I knew my customers wanted us to open. We opened the Friday before Mother’s Day and for the next two weeks we did a month’s worth of business. Honestly it was like Christmas. As soon as they heard our commercials on the radio and saw my posts on Facebook, they flooded in. From anniversary gifts, engagement rings to watch batteries, people were coming in. At first we limited to 5 people at a time, honestly that made me nervous and I hired a security officer to control the flow. By June 1st Florida opened up to 50% capacity and we upped the limit to 10 at a time. Most people understood and were happy we were wearing masks and doing our part to keep our customers and employees safe. Our repair business seemed to suffer the most. It took a good 4 weeks to get that business back to pre-quarantine numbers. I think most people needed to feel safe and even though anniversaries and birthdays are important, having a chain repaired or ring sized seemed to not be as important as it was. What I will always remember is hearing customers say how much they missed us and they were happy we were back open. Our town was devastated by Hurricane Michael so it was like having two whammies back to back. I think we’ve all learned a lot from these experiences. We are very blessed to live in a town that supports local businesses and we all know no matter what, life goes on and when we are knocked down, we get up, knock the dust off and get back to living.”
Tracy Miller
Tracy’s Fine Jewelry and Coin & Bullion Reserves
Panama City, Florida
“In South Carolina jewelry stores were one of the last things to close and one of the first things to reopen. Since re-opening, business has been better than ever! Our store has only been open a little over 4 years, but May 2020 was the single best month we’ve ever had! And June 2020 has already doubled our June 2019 numbers. May was filled with more custom orders than we’ve ever had in a single month. June has been mostly a ton of repairs and selling from the showcase. It’s been a wild ride and we’re optimistic it stays this way all the way through the holidays!”
Dusty Goddard
Sessoms & Sons Jewelers
Fort Mill, South Carolina
“We have been very busy. I can’t say exactly what has been selling the best, basically a little of everything. But one-of-a-kind, custom pieces are what a lot of customers are looking for. I had purchased a 60 year old piece of property with 2 buildings to renovate in January. We finished the renovations and moved during the shutdown. Opening back up at the new location has brought in many customers, old and new, to see what we had done to an old eyesore in our community. Many of these customers have been so gracious as to shop with us while in to show their support for a locally owned small business. Now we are trying to come up with a clever way to celebrate our 30th Anniversary and a grand opening with the social distancing. My second location had been equally as busy. It’s in a small town where everyone knows your name. They are loving supporting a locally owned business. I think that’s the key right now, supporting your fellow neighbor. Feeling very blessed and proud of our new store.”
Nancy Dawkins
Nancy & Co. Fine Jewelers
Northport and Demopolis, Alabama
“We started May off as curb side only. With it being Mother’s Day it was a challenge, but our numbers were good. Right on with a great Mother’s Day last year. The Monday after we could finally open our doors. It’s been busy ever since. We just had one of our best Junes! One thing that I’ve noticed, people are using our website more than ever. There has been a few purchases on the site, but more than ever people are coming in with pictures of items they have seen on our website. Makes the sale easy when it’s in our case!”
Sherri Erickson
Erickson Jewelers
Iron Mountain, Michigan
We want your opinion for our Retailer Roundtable. To answer a question or suggest a topic for a future Retailer Roundtable question, e-mail your name, store name and location to bill@southernjewelrynews.com.
