Stop and think about this for a moment. How many things in your house, your car or in your everyday life need repair? Maybe it’s small like a latch on a purse, or a nick or scratch in a favorite table. Or maybe it’s that expensive watch your dad gave you that you’ve been meaning to get fixed. The point is, life is not perfect and we somehow learn to live with and accept all sorts of damaged items. Maybe they are sentimental so we hold on to them or perhaps we just don’t know how to begin to get our treasures repaired. The breakthrough news is that there is a remarkable business located in Boca Raton that fixes everything. In fact, their motto is: “U Name It—We Repair It.”
The owners make magic happen in a small warehouse just off Clint Moore Road. Previously, jewelers who owned a store in Boca for 18 years, have worked with the finest jewelry and watches ever made and dealt with the most discerning clientele. Later, they segued into a unique business named, “Smart Choice Repair Center.” And there is nothing else like it. The company restores and repairs everything imaginable from fine jewelry, watches and clocks, to art, statues, collectibles, toys, furniture, and even dental bridges — and the list goes on and on. Smart Choice fixes everything from small items such as zippers and dentures to big memorabilia like life-size statues and museum pieces covering treasures of all sizes and values.
Take a tour of this warehouse and you can see that it is cleverly sectioned into compartments with various machinery used for repairs. One area houses the watchmaker, another is used for welding, soldering, gluing and painting, and another section has a huge $75,000 Lalique chandelier waiting for a glass piece to be replaced. There are religious statues shipped from Sotheby’s that had missing parts, expensive vases, Christmas decorations and even a large antique ice-box being restored. Upstairs is a huge, well-lit area for sewing while patio furniture and cushions line up for repair. Nicks, scratches and gouges in furniture — no problem. Leather chairs, antique chairs, even the most difficult cane back chairs —no problem. Here, anything can be repaired. For example, a Miss Piggy statue was brought in with part of it in pieces and an ear missing. A 3-D printer was used to rebuild the missing parts and it was restored to look like new. Like magic, anything can be duplicated and used for repairs. All of the work is done in-house; nothing is subcontracted out to other companies.
Top car companies bring in BMWs, Mercedes, Porsches and Land Rovers for upholstery repair. They have also reupholstered booths for restaurants such as Bazille, the stylish and contemporary bistro in Nordstrom in Boca’s Town Center Mall as well as seats at Louie Bossi’s Ristorante. Other repairs include large massage chairs for spas, as well as numerous patio lounge chairs for local country clubs saving half the cost of replacement. Also recently repaired were damages to kitchen cabinets, saving the owner from having to re-do the entire kitchen.
Companies have begun to ship items for repair from all over the world. Currently, they are working on replacing the broken glass in an $8,000 Tiffany lamp as well as restoring million-dollar collectibles sent by museums. One huge detailed project involved a 15-foot replica of a jade boat that was too large and heavy to move. “No one else in the entire country could repair that. We did. We fix Lalique, Lladro, Limoge, Murano from Venice, and even vintage handbags by Louis Vuitton. We do a lot of cool stuff.”
Repair has become the method of today and the future. Considering recent supply chain issues combined with the clamor for going green & recycling, we no longer live in a toss-away society. Rather than increase purchases from China or have reliance on other foreign countries, there is a demand to stay in America, and, therefore, to repair, not replace what we have. Smart Choice Repair Center is leading the wave of the future. The owner explains, “Things break in everyday life and everyone needs this.” He has expanded into Stuart and Orlando, and is negotiating next in Jupiter. He said, “We are growing one city at a time but my goal is to have as many stores as possible and cover the whole country. I want to reinvent the wheel.”
In a quest for business growth, the “second stage” of the business is being introduced — an academy in which young people can learn how to sand, paint and solder.
Smart Choice has made it easy to inquire about items for repair. People merely need to take a photo of it and text it to the shop at 561-877-0927 for a free quote. They can get details and quick cost estimates in 45 minutes including free pick-up and delivery.
Perhaps the most telling stories are the astounding “Before and After” photos that cover the walls at the shop, and ll the brochures and the website. The photos say it all. No words are needed.
Smart Choice Repair Center
1-844-366-6886
www.SmartChoiceRepairCenter.com