[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.93″][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.0.93″ background_layout=”light”]<\/p>\n
We asked Jewellery Trader Couple Habib & Secil from Urban Jewellery to tell us their trader story…<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Secil begun trading in November 2003, after seeing a small space for rent in the market. But it wasn\u2019t an easy start to trader life..<\/p>\n \u201cBack then the Market was changing ownership from The Council to Town & Country Markets, so the process took longer than usual! After meeting with T&C, they eventually accepted my application and my jewellery shop was born.\u201d<\/p>\n Whilst customers may know Urban Jewellery as one of the smallest units in the market, Secil tells us it was even smaller back then.<\/p>\n \u201cThe unit was half the size it is now. I started out with one computer desk and one chair and it was that small that it even touched the back wall!\u201d<\/p>\n Whilst Urban Jewellery is now known for its fantastic gold & silver range and watch and jewellery repair services, that wasn\u2019t always the case!<\/p>\n \u201cI started out selling beads and costume jewellery. I was the only one in the market selling this type of thing and so business was good. Things only started to go down hill when New Look & other high street retailers started selling similar products for cheaper. You can\u2019t really compete!\u201d<\/p>\n This prompted a huge change for Secil and she set about finding other products to sell.<\/p>\n \u201cI started to sell silver after a few years. I started sourcing one of a kind products from Turkey, that was when I had an idea of adding on a repair service!\u201d<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image _builder_version=”3.9″ src=”https:\/\/lutonindoormarket.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/IMG_3482.jpg” show_in_lightbox=”off” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” force_fullwidth=”off” show_bottom_space=”on” \/][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.0.93″ background_layout=”light”]<\/p>\n Secil then spent 5 months seeking out the best place to learn the tricks of the trade\u2026<\/p>\n \u201cI ended up spending the summer in Turkey seeking out people to learn from. I found a set of jewellery shops in the back streets of Turkey and asked them to teach me everything they knew about repairing jewellery. At first, they were sceptical, but I told them I was from the UK and they decided I wasn\u2019t much of a competitor for them.\u201d<\/p>\n Whilst initially nervous, Secil met some of the \u2018best people\u2019 that summer.<\/p>\n \u201cThey were all older men, long beards, heavy smokers. By the end of the summer, I had taught them how to shave and even got them to give up smoking. They treated me so well, taught me everything I know and I like to think I taught them something too.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2008, Secil took a break to have her first child leaving Habib to take the reins on the business.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a struggle at first, I had a lot of loyal customers and they didn\u2019t trust Habib to fix anything for them! I started to introduce all my customers to him one by one and we began working 3 days each so that he could get used to it.\u201d<\/p>\n 10 years later and Secil still helps out part-time leaving Habib to run the show the majority of the time. And thankfully, Habib has managed to find loyal customers of his own.<\/p>\n We asked Habib to tell us his side of Urban Jewellery\u2019s Trader story\u2026..<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know anything about my life, ask my wife!\u201d<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image _builder_version=”3.0.93″ src=”https:\/\/lutonindoormarket.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/IMG_3478.jpg” show_in_lightbox=”off” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” force_fullwidth=”off” show_bottom_space=”on” \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.93″][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.0.93″ background_layout=”light”] We asked Jewellery Trader Couple Habib & Secil from Urban Jewellery to tell us their trader story… Secil begun trading in November 2003, after seeing a small space for rent in the market. But it wasn\u2019t an easy start to trader life.. \u201cBack then the Market was changing ownership […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":1545,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lutonindoormarket.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1541"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lutonindoormarket.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lutonindoormarket.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lutonindoormarket.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lutonindoormarket.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1541"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/lutonindoormarket.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1541\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1554,"href":"https:\/\/lutonindoormarket.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1541\/revisions\/1554"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lutonindoormarket.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lutonindoormarket.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lutonindoormarket.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lutonindoormarket.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}