24 Apr The Tucr Spotlight: City Jewellers

Whether it’s an engagement ring, a confirmation medal, or getting your Daith piercing to keep that migraine away, City Jewellers is there to suit all our needs. We met with Edrina, the owner of City Jewellers Waterford, to get her take on business in the city today and how offering Tucr to her customers has been a great success!

Located in the heart of Waterford City in Arundel Square, the family run business was established in 1958. Now, in 2017, the store is excited to announce that they will be moving to a new and bigger premises at 30a Michael Street, before the end of this year!

The store is run by owner Edrina Briscoe Conway along with her husband Declan. Together with their fantastic staff of Tina Brett, Crona O’Sullivan and Karen McGrath, the team works to give their customers the best experience possible. Browsing in the store, we can see the beautiful pieces they have on offer, from silver and gold jewellery, engagement and wedding rings, to watches, communion and confirmation medals. The store delivers exceptional quality jewellery accompanied by a friendly and warm atmosphere, bringing customer service to the forefront of their agenda.

We sat down with Edrina to chat about her business, setting up in Waterford and what impact Tucr has made on their business.

So, why did you choose Waterford City for your business?

“Waterford is my home! I was born and reared here. An opportunity arose to buy the business, so we jumped at the chance. We’ve never looked back!” Edrina continued by explaining the strong loyalty the have built over the decades “I love meeting people every day, seeing them come into the store. People are so lovely and friendly. We have regulars that come in for years and years – down through their families. We enjoy what we do, and so do all the girls who work here.”

Have you expanded outside Waterford?

“Thanks to Facebook, Instagram and our website, we do a quite a lot of business around Ireland. We have a lot of customers who would come from the likes of Cork, Wicklow, Kildare, Carlow, Wexford, Kilkenny …  all around Ireland!”

“We have always worked on our social media, to reach a wider audience and through our website, people are seeing items we sell, from further afield! We have shipped to the likes of Germany, Italy, Australia and even America.”.

It seems you really love what you do Edrina! Have you a favorite retail memory?

“I do! One lovely memory I can recall is the time we had a gentleman and a lady come in store – he had bought her an engagement ring, and it was a special design just for her. The day he came in to get it, he brought her with him, and it was absolutely pouring rain. They went to go outside, and he was going to go down on one knee right there, in the pouring rain, to propose! We ran outside and were shouting ‘no, no, no, no! Come inside please we’ll go outside!’. And so, he did, he went down on one knee inside our store and proposed! She thankfully said yes! It was just so romantic. We still see them every so often, they weren’t even from Waterford, they’re from South Tipp”

What has changed in your business throughout the years?

“Well we actually used to do a six-day week. But with changing times we now do seven days, opening 1pm to 5pm on Sundays, for about the last 2 and a half years. That’s been the biggest change, but it’s just the way things are now, people are in shopping a lot so we needed to offer it to them, even on Sundays!”

Edrina explained in more detail about the changes in retail, from surviving the downturn and how embracing technology has been important for their business. In fact, the growth of social media has brought with it many positive changes for City Jewellers; the team are well equipped to keep up social media – having a staggering 15,000 across both their Facebook pages!

“The economic downturn affected us all [local businesses]. However, we’re still here thank God! And that’s the main thing. Since we’ve started using Tucr, our customers can now pay off their deposits online and social media has been great for us, as you can guess we have reached clientele of all ages in that way. We have two pages, City Jewellers and City Jewellers Body Piercings – the clientele is different for both, so it’s easier this way, we can tailor it to what we need. Also, we keep updating both on what we have coming in and out of our store and on special offers. Our team run a lot of competitions to keep the interaction up.

Talk to me about using Tucr in your business, what’s it been like?

“I first met Justin at a meeting many moons ago – I heard him discuss Tucr and thought it was a great idea. So, when he started the company last year, I said I’d give it a go and see how it went. To no surprise it worked out really well, we have plenty of people who ‘tuc away’ in store and pay us through Tucr. Sometimes at midnight, others in the middle of the day – depends on what’s easier for them.”

“Working with the guys at Tucr has been perfect. The team have been wonderful and very helpful. Any queries I ever had have always been dealt with straight away.”

Deposits have always been a strong part of City Jewellers business. Now, through Tucr, they have a platform to spread awareness that they accept deposits both in store and online. Tucr has given City Jewellers the ability to promote that they offer deposits – and always have!

“It has spread awareness that we accept deposits. People now know that they can ‘pay in’ on an item if something is more expensive and not be out of pocket. We can now let them manage their payments over a period of time, with the ability to pay off online!”

“Customers can look at our jewellery on our Facebook and website, and just message us to set them up on Tucr. Of course, they can still come into the store themselves, and pay it off when suits them.’

What’s the feedback from your customers been like?

“Anyone who has taken it up and use it have felt that it’s worked for them. When they come in and collect their item, they’re always delighted!”

Offering Tucr enables City Jewellers to keep the strong deposit part of their business open to customers 24/7. Customers can now pay off their deposits when it suits them.

“We have people paying off deposits in different ways, pay cash or card over the counter, by card over the phone. However, with Tucr, it means that maybe if people are coming off shift work at 3 o’clock in the morning they can pay off their deposit. People have busier lives these days, so it’s hard to be everywhere at once.”

Finally, is there any advice you’d give to other businesses starting out?

“I teach a “Start Your Own Business” course, so I deal the whole time with people setting up their own business. The main thing is to plan – plan ahead and ensure you don’t leave anything to chance. You have to plan your stock, see what’s going to be seasonal and what’s going to sell. So, you do have to sit down every so often and plan out where you’re going to go. You can’t just leave it all to chance!”

Look out for City Jewellers in Arundel Square, Waterford City, and later on in the year in their new location at 30a Michael Street. You can view their jewellery at www.cityjewellers.ie.