Hlady: Won't change a thing

Twenty-four hours after a thief got away with nearly $30,000 in diamonds, a downtown Kelowna jeweller says he won't be conducting business any differently.

Jerry Hlady, owner of Jason Goldsmiths, says his business is about building relationships, and he doesn't see that changing.

"We build relationships with our customer, that's what I think sets us apart from other jewellery stores," says Hlady.

"These people are as professional at what they do as we are at what we do. Are we going to do anything to irritate the 99.9% of the honest people to protect ourselves against the small percentage that will come into the store? No!"

Hlady says the man who robbed him came into the store on a few different occasions and showed an interest in purchasing some diamonds.

He says he thought the man was talking bigger than what he was and really didn't expect to see him after the first visit.

"I thought he was a bit of a blowhard, but he came back three times and I said he's for real. His story was good, he said he worked in the oil patch and these guys have lots of money, especially at his age."

Hlady says he brought in the diamonds specifically for the man, however, he says other jewellers did the same.

"Other stores have done the same thing with this man, they brought in merchandise for the guy. We happened to be the one that he chose."

He says when the man came back Thursday morning, the suspect grabbed the bag of jewels from his hand and fled.

Hlady says this type of robbery is nearly impossible to prevent.

"We're insured for this kind of thing. Our insurance guy said the reality is, you really can't put things in place to stop this kind of theft."

He says, if they want to get you, they're going to get you.