In the past couple of years, the economic recession has driven thousands of people out of business.
But for David and Christine Donaldson, you might say the bad economy drove them into business.
“There is no way we would have had the nerve to do this unless we had sort of been forced into it,’’ David confesses.
The Donaldsons opened Donaldson Watch Repair in the McClintock Fountains shopping center at Warner and McClintock on Dec. 7.
Prior to that, David, a certified horologist (the technical term for watchmaker), had spent his entire career tucked inconspicuously away in a back room of a jewelry store, quietly perfecting his craft.
From a small family-owned jewelry store in Greeley, Colo., to the mega-jeweler Bailey, Biddle & Banks in Denver and, finally, to that chain’s store at Chandler Fashion Center, David was comfortable, if not entirely content, repairing and servicing watches on a wholesale basis as a sub-contractor.
The dream of opening his own watch shop remained just that.
But in March 2009, Bailey, Banks & Biddle announced it was closing 20 of its 67 stores. David, who was by then handling watch repair and service at both the Denver and Chandler stores, as well as work mailed in to him from 10 or more of the chain’s other locations around the country, began to realize that he might soon be forced out of his comfortable surroundings.
The ominous signs prompted David and Christine to turn their dream into a reality. After scouting several locations, they settled on the McClintock Fountains location, a retail complex that appears to be on the verge of a renaissance with two new restaurants and a high-end women’s resale store all opening within a couple of months.
Again, the economic downturn worked to the Donaldsons’ advantage.
“Fortunately, we were able to get a manageable lease,’’ David said. “That’s something that we probably couldn’t have done two or three years ago. I know people who have space about the same size as this and they were paying way, way more than we could have ever afforded.’’
Four months after the Donaldsons opened their shop, Banks, Biddle & Bailey filed for bankruptcy and closed its remaining stores.
David, whose passion for watches is almost pathological, handles the repair and service work while Christine handles the books, deals with customers and, in general, takes care of everything that doesn’t require hunching over a table and working with parts so tiny as to virtually invisible to the naked eye.
The couple met in a jewelry store in Longmont, Colo., where David repaired watches while Christine worked in sales. They’ve been married for 12 years and have two kids, ages 6 and 8.
Unlike his previous jobs where he never had to worry about rent or building a client base, the new business is equal parts trepidation and exhilaration.
“Being out on your own is great, and in a lot of ways it was our dream,’’ Christine says. “But at the same time, it can be a little unnerving.’’
One of the biggest challenges, says David, is informing the public of what it is they do.
“Basically, we do everything,’’ he says. “Whether it’s replacing a battery on a Timex or repairing a micro-mechanism in a $110,00o Chopard, we do it all.’’
“Probably the question we get the most is, ‘where do you send the watch to have it repaired?’ ’’ Christine says. “The answer is always, ‘We don’t send it anywhere.’ All the work is done right here.’’’
Having the work done on site works to the customer’s advantage.
“That’s our niche,’’ David said. “Take your Rolex to a jewelry store and they’ll have to send it out, and you’re looking at six to eight weeks at a cost of $700-$800. But with us, the same job might take two-to-three weeks and cost $400-$600.’’
Right now, about 70 percent of the Donaldsons’ work is wholesale – work sent to him from client jewelry stores all over the country. The remaining 30 percent is retail, that is walk-in business. David and Christine would like to do more of the latter from their storefront location.
At 39, David is considered a young man in a profession where most watchmakers are in their 60s or 70s. But he’s developed a reputation for both his skill and incredible work ethic.
“You could say I started my apprenticeship when I was in the sixth grade,’’ says David, who discovered the world of watches through a neighbor who was a watchmaker. “It’s something that’s always amazed me. I had always loved taking things apart to see how they worked. It was just a different world.’’
Donaldson Watch Repair
Address: McClintock Fountains, 1840 E. Warner Road, Suite 118, northeast corner Warner and McClintock. Phone: 480-963-7566. Website: www.donaldsonwatchrepair.com
