It’s no secret that owning a small local business comes with an array of various successes and challenges, especially considering the circumstances imposed by COVID-19. Bradford native and Ward 7 Councillor, Peter Dykie, owner of Bradford Jewellery explains that since the pandemic, sales have dropped significantly but he is thankful for the support of area residents, who have embraced the shop local movement over the past few years.
"Of course, people can go to Tanger Outlets and Upper Canada Mall as there’s lots of competition and I really appreciate that people are giving us the chance to do their quotes or repairs," said Dykie.
Dykie has owned and operated his business in the core of downtown Bradford for over 35 years. His shop located at 9 Holland St. East, offers all jewellery services from sales, custom design, batteries, adjustments, and repairs.
When asked about his relationship with the local community, Dykie noted the many community events he often sponsors and provides prizes for.
"We support the local events and businesses as much as possible...We treat people like everyone’s our neighbour," he said.
Although Bradford has grown exponentially over the last few decades, Dykie feels that the local community has always been welcoming and friendly which he feels allows him and his staff to establish and maintain good relationships.
“Bradford is a really friendly community and we care about our customers and about what we make here," he said. "Considering we face the people of the community in our time outside of the shop, we have to be fair in prices and ensure good quality and we do about 95 per cent of all services in-house as we have a complete workshop here.”
With new plans for revitalizing the downtown core and the building of the Bradford Bypass, Dykie believes the infrastructure projects will improve the functionality of the downtown area as well as increase the flow of business for the local shops.
“I actually think it’ll be good to take the traffic off the main core because we get a lot of traffic from surrounding towns and our own local traffic driving through town and it clogs up the roads," he said. "We get tractor-trailers taking up all the space on the roads through the middle of town and it deters people from wanting to drive through themselves let alone stop along such a busy road and come into the shops.
"We have a good amount of parking here, which is great, but it seems people don’t know about it which makes it hard for them to support these smaller local shops along Holland Street.”
When asked what he has enjoyed the most about owning and operating a business in Bradford for all these years, Dykie says that he loves how his customers have become good friends.
“I’ve been in this so long that I’ve seen a revolving door of clients over the years as some of the customers I have served for years now have their grandchildren coming to me for designs, repairs, all sorts of stuff," he said. "My whole life I’ve been involved in this community."
Dykie attended Bradford District High School and got into politics in 1985, shortly after opening his store in 1984.
"I take pride in keeping it alive in the downtown core of Bradford," he said.
