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7 Shots of a Fla. Jeweler Preparing for Hurricane Matthew
The team at J.R. Dunn Jewelers has taken a number of precautions to secure the store before the storm makes landfall, learning from its past experiences.
J.R. Dunn Jewelers in Lighthouse Point, Fla. prepares for Hurricane Matthew to make landfall.
Lighthouse Point, Fla.--J.R. Dunn Jewelers has weathered a storm before, and it’s learned from its experiences.
In 2005, Hurricane Wilma hit. Though the store only suffered minor structural damage, it was without power for almost 10 days, leading store owner Jim Dunn to sleep there on an air mattress with a shotgun at his side for the duration.
Once the storm was over, the team continued with clean-up and painting, even as the store remained without power.
They even managed to make a sale, showing one of the store’s regular customers a 3-carat, H color, VS2 clarity diamond out in the parking lot. The setting actually ended up providing just the light right for the diamond to sparkle, and sure enough, they sold the stone.
Now, as Hurricane Matthew nears, and is expected to hit Florida Thursday night, J.R. Dunn Jewelers--located in Lighthouse Point in the southern part of the state--is taking the lessons it learned from Wilma as it prepares the store for the storm.
Sales Manager Andrew Lefton is pictured here in his “Team J.R. Dunn Jewelers” shirt as he helps secure the hurricane shutters before Hurricane Matthew makes landfall. As security of the employees and their families also was a top priority, a number of team members arrived early in the morning to secure the store and then were sent home to allow time for their own preparations.
The company said it learned a few lessons from Hurricane Wilma more than a decade ago--it now has a big commercial generator, and battened down the hatches earlier this time around.
Covering the showcases, unplugging the computers and telephones and moving desk and office supplies to higher ground in case of flooding is an important part of storm prep. Storms shutters were also put on the showroom windows.
The store’s jewelers finalize hurricane preparations.
J.R. Dunn is ready to continue to do business online at all times as the hurricane comes through--the retailer has forwarded its main toll-free number to the e-commerce sales teams’ cell phones to maintain the same level of service. Pictured here is the street-side of the J.R. Dunn e-commerce building, with a little graffiti message to show its online ordering systems will be up no matter how big the storm gets.
The team also added a lighter mood to the messages it left on the blank wooden boards on its e-commerce building, with this one reading “#HurricaneMatthew. A Storm So Nice It Might Hit Twice. #BeSafe,” playing off of some forecasts that the storm could loop around and hit Florida a second time.
Store founder Jim Dunn got in on the action of helping prepare the store before the storm.
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