CHANGING OF THE WATCH
Anthony BonGiovanni, owner of Rocky Point Jewelers West, 137 Main Street in Stony Brook Village, met with Eric Baker, owner of Ecolin Jewelers, to wish him good luck as Ecolin takes over the location.
Rocky Point Jewelers will stay in business as they consolidate to their Rocky Point store. With 50 years in the jewelry industry, Ecolin Jewelers will be opening in Stony Brook Village in late-November.
By Amanda Olsen
Gov. Kathy Hochul’s (D) administration has allowed the mask-or-vaccinate mandate for public spaces to lapse as of Feb. 10, effectively leaving masking decisions to local officials and business owners. Masks are still required in health care facilities, on public transportation, in correctional facilities and in shelters. Masks are also still required in schools for the time being, with a reevaluation planned some time in early March, after the winter break.
Leaders in health care, business and labor fields were generally supportive of Hochul’s decision. Gary LaBarbera, president of Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York, said in a statement. “The mask mandate has helped keep New York’s working men and women safe and healthy during the most uncertain and volatile moments of the public health crisis. The easing of indoor mask mandates for businesses is a positive sign in New York’s recovery, as it’s a direct result of COVID-19 cases dropping across the state and, hopefully, the pandemic itself receding.”
New York State AFL-CIO President Mario Cilento said in a statement. “In light of the announcement today, we thank the governor for ensuring employers still have responsibilities under state statute, including the Public Employee Safety and Health Act and the New York HERO Act, which remain in effect. These laws establish safety protocols to protect workers and the public. Moving forward, in the absence of the mask mandate, employers must continue to work with their employees to make sure appropriate protections are in place.”
On the local level, some people are comfortable leaving masking up to the individual, including Anthony Bongiovanni, of Rocky Point Jewelers.
“If you feel for your personal safety, you should wear one, by all means,” he said.
However, not every business is ready to leave masks behind. Richard Smith, from Buttercup’s Dairy Store in Port Jefferson Station, is keeping some masking rules in place. “We’re still requiring employees to wear masks. We don’t require customers [to do so].”
Others are continuing to follow federal guidelines, regardless of what is happening at the state level. Paul Vigliante, of Branch Funeral Homes in Miller Place and Smithtown, said that he intends to follow “whatever the CDC guidelines are” at the time.
Some business owners expressed mixed feelings about leaving masking up to the individual, since policing customer behavior has been challenging even with the mandate in place. Smith said that they have “had to call the police a couple of times” but overall “95% of people have been respectful.”
Not all businesses had difficulty. Bongiovanni said, “There was never a problem.” Vigliante also had no issues: “Everyone was very respectful … we were very fortunate throughout.”
Each new phase of the COVID pandemic brings its own set of challenges for both business owners and individuals. Everyone is feeling some degree of pandemic weariness.
“Everybody’s sick of it,” Smith said. “Just a lot of frustration.”
By David Luces
Honesty and service — that’s what the owners of Rocky Point Jewelers say have been the mainstay of their shops for 40 years.
Originally born from a coin collecting hobby between father and son, Anthony Bongiovanni Jr., the general manager of the store, said that after he graduated high school he and his dad hatched the idea of opening a small coin shop. The coin shop eventually turned into a full-fledged jewelry store.
“I realized early on though that jewelry was the way to go for a daily business — so we went in that direction,” Bongiovanni said.
From there, Bongiovanni would pursue and receive a graduate gemologist diploma from the Gemological Institute of America, the highest degree awarded by the institute. He also holds the title of certified gemologist with the American Gem Society.
“He meant everything to the store. He was here every day — he was a fixture — always there to lend encouragement to the staff.”
— Anthony Bongiovanni Jr.
Bongiovanni said he learned much from his father.
“My father taught me honesty and hard work,” he said. “He meant everything to the store. He was here every day — he was a fixture — always there to lend encouragement to the staff.”
Anthony Bongiovanni Sr. passed away in 2011, but his impact on the store and the community remains.
“My father was a big influence — he was a great man,” Ann-Maria Bongiovanni-LaBella, who works with the family business, said. “I see a lot of my father in my brother.”
Bongiovanni-LaBella worked as a secretary for many years in the Hauppauge area until that company went under. With some convincing from her father she began working at the store in 1984.
“Who would’ve thought it would’ve come to this,” she said. “[I remember] we started out with homemade displays my mother would make.”
Over the years, the store has seen an expansion in size, and the family opened a Rocky Point Jewelers branch in Stony Brook.
The Bongiovanni siblings point to customer service as essential to running a success business.
“Anyone that sells retail will tell you that it is a different environment now than it was years ago,” Bongiovanni said. “You’re competing these days with not only other retailers but big box stores and online [shopping].”
The main store’s general manager said local jewelers like himself still offer services that are hard to find elsewhere.
“If you need a ring sized, a chain fixed, a watch fixed or something custom designed — that is something that can’t done on the computer — you have to see a professional for that,” he said.
Bongiovanni-LaBellla said you learn how to read people and get a sense of what they want.
Many customers have become personal friends over the years.
“Some of these customers I’ve been seeing for close to four decades,” Bongiovanni said. “You know them, you know their children, now we are meeting their grandchildren.”
Bongiovanni’s sister said she sees her customers at the post office, at Stop&Shop and at the bank.
“Generations of families have come here,” she said. “We try to keep people happy — your biggest advertisement is word of mouth, it really is.”
“We try to keep people happy — your biggest advertisement is word of mouth, it really is.”
— Ann-Maria Bongiovanni-LaBella
Theresa Armone, who has worked at the store for more than four years, said it’s the level and quality of service they provide that has kept customers coming back all these years.
Those who work at Rocky Point Jewelers agree the store works hard to earn the customers’ trust.
Bongiovanni said people entrust them with their valuables and sentimental objects and it means never compromising their standards.
“Times change, but it doesn’t mean your level of quality or service has to change — we try to improve on services as much as we can,” he said.
The general manager said with the work ethic instilled in him by his father, good employees and a little bit of luck, the store is still around 40 years later.
“It’s a tough retail environment out there,” he said. “There’s no two ways around it, but you always have to strive for better.”
Rocky Point Jewlers is located at 29 Rocky Point-Yaphank Road and 137 Main Street, Stony Brook.
