P.K. Bennett Jewelers

Dec 6

MUNDELEIN, IL
EST. 1988

In their own words

“The person that comes in here is looking for quality. It doesn’t matter what your budget is; if it’s an engagement ring you’re looking for, we’ll find something of quality that will fit a budget from $1,000 to the sky’s the limit. If you’re looking for something different, something you’re not going to see other places, that’s our specialty. We don’t want to be like everybody else. We carry things that are different. And it’s not only for women—we also carry men’s lines that provide that.”

-Richard Bennett

Jason’s Interview With Richard

Jason

Thanks so much for freeing up time today. I know you and Peggy are really busy satisfying customers.

Folks in Chicago love you. It's great to have you on Meet the Jewelers. Can you tell us more about the rich history?

Richard

P.K. Bennett Jewelers has been around since 1988. We first worked out of our house, doing both repairs and custom manufacturing. In 2001, we opened our retail location and moved from that spot to our present spot about five years ago. We doubled the size of our store. We've been in a retail store for eighteen years.

+ Keep reading

Jason
What do you think enabled you guys to be serving your customers for so many years?

Richard
Our attention to detail and the importance of our customer service. It's our number one goal, having the best customer service possible.

Jason
Can you share a client story of an example of how you made an impact on their life?

Richard
I had a lady come in. She was in her late fifties, early sixties, and she brought in several pieces of jewelry that she wanted repurposed. It was a diamond wedding band from her grandmother, her mom's diamond wedding band engagement ring, and a lapel pin that had a diamond in it from her father. She wanted us to make a ring. We came up with a couple ideas and settled on a ring that would have a vine-type flower motif, designed it, had a couple revisions. Once she said okay, we manufactured it. She came in and sat down, and I presented our box to her—our box is different than a normal jewelry store box.

The box opens in a gull-wing-type fashion. She sat down and opened the box, and she sat there looking at it for a moment. She looked up at me and had tears in her eyes. I thought to myself, “This is either really good or really bad. I'm not quite sure which way this is going to go.” She looked back down, sat there for a minute, and she looked up again and I see a tear streaming down her face and she said to me, “Now they're all together again.” She took the ring out, put it on, it fit her perfectly. She gave me a hug, she said “Thank you.” I don't think she took her eyes off that ring all the way out to the car. I looked at our staff that day and I said, “If we could make every customer feel 10% of what she felt today, we will never have to worry about anything because that's the way people should feel when they walk out the door.” That is our goal, to make people feel that feeling that she felt, having something special made from those pieces of joy she had from her family.

Jason
That's beautiful. It's amazing how jewelry is not just the product you wear, but an experience and a feeling. What are some examples of fun proposals you've been a part of?

Richard
Every year, we do a trip. We take those that can come, about twenty couples, up to Miller Park, which is in Milwaukee, for a Cubs/Brewers game on a Sunday afternoon.

A lot of them happened to be some of our engagement customers, some of our VIP customers. We put them in a coach bus. We party all the way up there. We have a private area that we rent out from the Brewers organization. We have our own buffet, our own bar. Usually, half of us fall asleep on the way back, because it's a pretty long afternoon and a lot of good times. Two years ago, when we did this, we had a young man come in trying to figure out a way to do a unique proposal. This was a couple weeks out from the game and we offered him the opportunity to come and do his proposal at the game.

He and his girlfriend came up for the game and did the proposal right there during the game. The thing that made it really special was the young man was a childhood friend of one of my sons. Being able to be a part of, not only providing him with a beautiful diamond ring for the occasion, we got to be part of the proposal.

Being around for nineteen years and being one of the best engagement ring jewelers in this area, we manufacture and provide a lot of guys in this area with a beautiful ring to give their soon-to-be fiancé. I've helped out quite a few people.

Jason
Who is your perfect customer?

Richard
Somebody who's looking for quality. It doesn't matter what your budget is—if it happens to be an engagement ring that you're looking for, we’ll find something of quality that will fit a budget from $1,000 to the sky's the limit. If you're looking for something that's different, that's what we specialize in. We don't want to be like everybody else, we carry things in our store that are different. Doesn't mean we don't have all the basics, because those are important, but we do carry things that you're not going to see on anybody else. It's not only for women. We carry a couple men's lines that will provide that.

Jason
When you walk into your store, what's the feeling like?

Richard
Somebody did a review for us the other day, and in her review, she said that we made her feel important. I think that's important in our business, and in any business, that no matter what their request is, you take care of that customer as if they were your mother, your sister, and you make them feel special.

Jason
Is there anything that you'd like to tell our audience?

Richard
We work hard for our customers every day. This is a business that we as a family love—myself, my wife, and my son are all part of it. My other son comes in and helps out. So, when you come in, you're going to feel like you've stepped into our home. And that's the way we want you to feel and we look forward to having you here.