Grin and bear it: Humor is fundamental at Crystal Coin and Jewelers
The folks at Crystal Coin and Jewelers in Crystal City are keeping a grip on their collective sense of humor while dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.
“What we’ve always tried to do is to just have fun,” said Brad Basler, who with his wife, Phyllis, owns the store at 521 Bailey Road. “Life is frustrating right now for a lot of folks, and I’m worried about all the businesses out there.
“But when someone comes in the door, we want to put them at ease.”
He said he and his staff – which includes his daughter, Sarah Shehata, and employees Barbara Poindexter, Theresa Lingle and Aimee Nolen – work well together, and that has a positive impact on customers.
“I want our employees to enjoy working here, and I want our customers to enjoy stopping in,” Basler said.
Even in the dark days of early spring, when nonessential businesses were ordered closed, Basler said Crystal Coin kept going as best it could.
“We didn’t have the neon lights in the windows on, and we had our ‘Closed’ sign up, but we had a sign on the door that said that if a customer had a repair, or had to pick up a repair, or needed something, that we would make an appointment,” he said. “There was always at least one of us in all the time to accept deliveries and to take phone calls.”
Crystal Coin also stepped up its online presence on eBay during the shutdown, and those efforts are continuing.
Basler said the store also increased special orders.
“We have a lot of catalogs in the store, and we’ve found that if our customers need something in particular, we can often get it for them, including diamonds,” he said.
Basler said the store staff disinfects its countertops between customers and wipes down its front door often. Hand sanitizer also is available.
“I have a feeling that those things will be part of the new way of doing business,” he said.
