Pontifex Jewellers, a suburban jewellery store in Sydney’s south, has won the 2012 Showcase Jewellers Australian Retailer of the Year award.
Speaking at the Showcase awards dinner in Sydney this month, Showcase CEO Michael Mishevski said Pontifex Jewellers directors Ray and Evalyn Pontifex won the high accolade due “to their commitment to the Showcase Jewellers’ brand, dedication to training and customer service and their excellent reputation among members and suppliers”.
Pontifex director Evalyn Pontifex said the success of the business, which opened for trading in 1983, could be attributed to a number of factors including “promoting good customer service and going beyond what is expected in many cases.”
The Showcase Jewellers New Zealand Retailer of the Year award was won by Brian and Cheryl Daniels of Daniels Showcase Jewellers in Dunedin.
Mishevski said Daniels, a family business that has been running for over 40 years, “is an active member and advocate of Showcase Jewellers who is well renowned by members and suppliers alike”.
Brian Daniels said his staff and training were the key to the store’s success.
“We continually train our staff in customer care, service and product knowledge, internally as well as in external training organisations,” he said.
Mark McAskill Jewellery won the Australian Supplier of the Year award and Worth & Douglas won the New Zealand Supplier of the Year award.
Tarun Raniga of Golden Showcase Jewellers in Queensland won the Retailer Recognition Award for “his proactive and service oriented approach to retailing, support for his local community and his commitment and dedication to the Showcase brand and members”.
Ice-Watch Australia won the Supplier Recognition Award for “continually supporting Showcase members, our independent jeweller channel and contributing to a dramatic increase in turnover for members in the past 12 months”.