Photo courtesy of D’Errico Jewelers
When faced with quarantine shutdowns, D’Errico Jewelers had to think outside the box — or outside the store — on how to continue to serve their clients safely. Inspired by the no-contact devices bank tellers use, the jewelry store installed services at both its Scarsdale and Mount Kisco locations for customers to easily, safely, and securely drop off and pick up jewelry in need of repair: a drive-up tube in the Scarsdale location and a walk-up drawer in Mount Kisco.
Owner Sal D’Errico says the tube works similarly to that at a bank. He and his brother, Richard D’Errico, discussed how to get the jewelry in the store in a way that kept customers safe; they knew once inside, the staff could service it properly and send it back out.
“At our Scarsdale location, if you need something repaired, fixed, or serviced; if you want to buy something; or if you’re picking something up and you don’t want to come in, you don’t have to come in — you get right up, you push the button, we speak a little, and we can send it out,” he says, noting that D’Errico is the first jewelry store to do this.
With this new system, D’Errico offers pickup for online purchases, jewelry cleaning, sizing, battery replacement, repairs, and appraisals.
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In Mount Kisco, the same services are offered in a new walk-up design. Due to the second location’s smaller parking lot, a tube wasn’t possible, so the brothers had to think of new solutions. Now, customers looking for their jewelry to be serviced in Mount Kisco can ring a bell on the side of the building and place their items in a secure drawer that reaches the inside of the store.
Even as stores begin to reopen around New York, Sal says they are excited to keep these features open for anyone still wary about entering.
In addition, he says they considered the long-term benefits of these services. D’Errico believes they will continue to help the jeweler and the community post-pandemic as a way for customers to save time while running errands.
“If you’re running around, you just drive up and drop your things inside of [the tube or the secure box]. It’s going to take us 25 minutes or 30 minutes to do that repair, so if you drop it off, you can then go do all the other things you need to do then swing by later and just come pick it up,” he says. “I think it’s something we’ll use in the future without a doubt.”
Overall, despite the expense of installment, Sal says he is excited they were able to find a solution to continue their work and keep their clients and the community safe.
“If someone is comfortable enough to come in they can, but they don’t have to — that’s why we did it,” he says. “I think it’s a really cool addition.” Like the proverbial kid in the candy story, he says: “I’m like a child with the tube; I just love how it works.”