Jessop Jewellers has been serving Glenrothes for 50 years. Now the third generation of the family firm is looking to the future.
Jessop Jewellers was originally opened as a watch and clock repairs business by George Jessop in 1971.
He handed over control to son Paul and the firm changed its approach, concentrating on retail.
The firm rapidly gained just reputation for its service and quality fine jewellery under Paul, who was at the helm for more than four decades.
He decided to step back from the business last year.
His son Christopher and his wife Sophie now run the shop.
The firm moved into Kingdom Shopping Centre from Albany Gate when an extension which houses their current home was was completed in 1976.
‘Pride and responsibility’
Sophie, who looks after the day-to-day operations, is delighted to be at the helm of the family firm.
She said: “It is a real mixture of pride and responsibility.
“Pride that we have been in the fortunate position in life to take on the family business but also enormous responsibility.
“There is a lot of expectation when customers walk through the door that you have to match or improve.
“We’ve been doing a good job of that for 50 years but it’s a big responsibility to carry that forward.”
Sophie said the rewards of seeing customers picking out new items from the shop, or reunited with items repaired by Jessop’s, makes it all worthwhile.
“What is so rewarding when a customer walks in and we’ve completed a repair, or re-imagined their grandmother’s ring into something they can wear every day.
“Or when we’ve helped them find the perfect engagement ring, their delight at putting that piece on is what jewellery is all about.”
A difficult year for Jessop Jewellers
Sophie and Chris took on the shop just before the Covid-19 pandemic, and it has been a “challenging” year for the couple.
With the shop closed during lockdowns, Sophie and Chris set about ensuring Jessop Jewellers had an online presence.
The couple designed a new website, but Sophie insists they still want to do the majority of their sales in-store.
She said: “That was meant to be part of the 50th year celebrations. It ended up being that we needed to get it up and running so customers could shop with us.
“In some ways the pandemic afforded us time to do things we wouldn’t have been able to do in ordinary circumstances.
“It is not designed to be the next Amazon. It is our catalogue. Before you go to a restaurant you pick some ideas, it’s exactly the same.
“We want customers to have a look before they pop down to see us. It serves as a showcase.”
Plans to mark Jessop Jewellers 50th birthday
To mark the company’s 50th anniversary, a new shop front has been installed.
“We wanted something to celebrate,” Sophie said.
She explained that plans for a year-long celebration were shelved when the country went into lockdown again in early January.
“We didn’t know what was going to happen for the rest of the year,” she said.
Sophie added: “I was in contact with Gill from iCatcha Displays and she designed these wonderful floral displays that we now have around the front of the store.”
Since restrictions allowed the store to reopen, the six-strong team has been kept busy.
Plans are in the pipeline to launch the firm’s own collection to mark their half century.
Sophie said: “We are looking to add to our in-house design collection. We had plans to launch our own 50th anniversary collection.
“With the pandemic, it has been delayed.
“We’ll be looking to expand on our existing jewellery collection as we move into next year.”
