Martin Rees Jewellers is 46 years old and counting! This popular local shop first opened its doors back in 1978!
Ruth Rees takes a fond look back…
What a roller coaster of a life it’s been, never a dull moment when you run your own business!
Chester Street
We started out in 1978 and moved into our shop in Chester Street in 1985 when Mr Mawdsley retired. He’d been there for 40 years, and Mr Francis, the jeweller before him, for 40 years also, so this shop has been helping Wrexham people get great value and celebrate important events in their lives
We almost didn’t survive the 1980s. In 1987, our business partner – a young man we regarded as a son – ran up huge bills and finally stole every scrap of the gold in the shop: scrap, stock items, even the customers’ repairs. What a nightmare. The police subsequently raided his house and found some of it in a casserole dish in his kitchen and we spent most of the day at the police station sorting it out! We were left technically insolvent. Luckily, our suppliers and other creditors were prepared to let us go on trading, and we eventually clawed our way back to some kind of prosperity again.
Happier Milestones
Other happier milestones include:
1992 – Our landlords arranged to renovate the whole row of five shops, which were in a terrible state by that time (we didn’t even have a working toilet. Thank goodness the “Ladies” in Henblas Street was close by! We packed all our gold into two suitcases and put them in the bank, and the counters went into storage for six weeks. We spent the time travelling around Brazil – no mobile phones or email in those days, so we just had to keep our fingers crossed everything was going well in our absence!
1994 – We got our first Windows PC with the first modules of our customised software designed by Martin, which we still use today.
1996 – We were one of the first jewellers in the UK to have our own website – again designed entirely by Martin! That year, we also began the pawnbroking arm of the business to give people with a temporary cash-flow crisis – a better option than selling their items and losing them for good. There was a pawnbroker in Wrexham for the first time in many years.
1999 – We launched our popular loyalty scheme, complete with Christmas gifts to our regular customers – a tradition we still continue today.
Wrexham Heritage Trail
2014 – We produced our Wrexham Heritage Trail leaflet and website. We also opened our online shop. It was much more challenging than we expected, but well worth it as customers from all over the UK and beyond could buy from us.
2020 – Covid! We received an “essential service” classification because of our pawnbroking and gold buying. Martin and I kept things going as best we could when we furloughed our staff and then gradually brought them back as things returned to normal. That was a dark time indeed, but thank goodness, we survived it, though it did take a heavy toll on us and our staff, mentally and emotionally.
2022 – Waltons the Jewellers closed down, and we took on two of their staff members, who quickly became valuable and well-liked team members. And we really needed them to cope with the increase in sales and buying that the loss of Waltons produced.
Who knows what the future holds? There have been so many changes over the years, but we still have the passion to give excellent value and outstanding service… helped by our awesome team.
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