Greg Glemser
Doylestown Gold Exchange
Doylestown, Pa.  
Co-owner
doylestowngoldexchange.com

What has been your most memorable sale?

We’re an hour north of Philadelphia, and we had a young kid drive up here—he was 24 and just graduating from the firefighter academy. He had a $2,500 budget, and we were able to set him up with a 0.75 carat diamond of really nice quality. And that meant a lot to him. He planned to propose to his girlfriend the night he graduated. We’ve had some really expensive sales since we’ve been in business, but the ones that stick out are the ones where we’re able to help people get something really great on a budget.

What one advertisement or promotion elicited the biggest response, and why do you think it worked? 

I do a lot of videos and tutorials [youtube.com/user/doylestowngold]. We took a bunch of them last year and created two episodes of an online [show]. We filmed customers in the store, and local business owners, like the owner of a toy store who only stocks really well made toys. We were able to cross-promote on social media with other businesses; people shared it and it got around. Next thing we knew, we had all these new reviews and people were coming in. 

What nightmare scenario did you turn around to save the day?

We had a sentimental-value watch we were working on, and while doing something with the battery, the stem and the crown came out and the movement basically fell out of the watch. We do 50 watch batteries a day; every once in a while something just happens. We got the watch to our watchmaker, who did a complete overhaul and took care of everything. In the end it took a couple of extra weeks, but we didn’t charge the customer and they were thankful. 

What is your single best money-saving initiative? 

The ability to purchase our building last year. We had to leave our old location because it was being torn down. The rent we had been paying was pretty high, so now we’re saving. For us to use our tax deductions in good ways now—that’s a huge savings. And we know we’re going to be here as long as we want to be.

What’s the best idea you’ve ever come up with for your store?

The video promotion and educational videos we’ve done on diamonds and repairs have been amazing. We always ask customers how they got into our store, and that’s probably the reason we hear the most. They saw us online, they liked us, and they thought we were honest. Customers are more likely to click on a video than a link on social media. And when they come in, they say, “Hey Greg, you look just like you do online.” And I’ve never met them before. The comfort is already there. Then when they’re in the store, we try to help them in whatever way we can—whether they need a high-end custom ring or need to sell some gold to pay the bills. We’ve really worked on not saying “no” to our customers.
 

Photograph by Michael Branscom