LOCAL jewellers, Charles Hart, have adapted during lockdown and now have customers from all over the country visiting their shop on Cheap Street – or buying from them online.
“It’s great to be back open after such a long period of being closed,” they say. “What a way to celebrate our 200th year in business since the original owners started out in 1820 with just a small silversmiths in Birmingham!
“A lot of water has passed under (and over) the bridge since those days. Wars, kings, queens, booms, busts, and plagues, yet none of that actually forced the business to close down!
“A few years ago we could see that the problems of the High Street were not going away. In reality the internet could not be dis-invented and it was likely that all businesses were going to have to change. The other problem of course is that whilst a business can do something with an online presence, it’s likely always to be dwarfed by the giants who have money and muscle. That can evidently be seen with the likes of Amazon.
“Many large businesses can spend thousands every month promoting themselves online and it is difficult to compete with them. We could only see that perhaps specialising in antique and pre-owned jewellery may be one way to at least compete.
“When the lockdown came along, we looked to win more customers from around the country and we have seen a lot of people coming to Frome when we did re-open for private appointments in our upstairs showroom, which has proved very popular. Many people are visiting Frome for the first time and what a shame it was decided to dig the entire Market Place up just at this time!
“People liked buying from a family jeweller that has many generations of expertise behind them.
“We decided to give the antique business a new name – Vintage Tom, named after the father of the original owner – Thomas Hart.
“We now specialise in many forms of vintage rings and jewellery, from Victorian to modern day pre-owned. Vintage engagement rings are proving a very popular item, as many young women love the idea of owning something vintage and, of course, it’s very green – by recycling rings from generations before.
“Another very popular idea is using our two businesses to help customers sell items that perhaps they do not want to send to auction. This is a way of achieving a far higher price for an item, and the buyer and the seller are represented by us as the ‘middle-men’.
“They also get the items placed on the Vintagetom website and if older than 1950, we can place on a national antiques website called SellingAntiques.co.uk. This attracts thousands of visitors to their website every week.
“As we all hope to move forward from this crisis, lets’ hope that we can welcome many of our existing customers back to us in Cheap Street and the measures we have taken to ensure everyone’s well being will only be temporary.”
