Before immigrating to Canada, Loyd Doroni was a high school teacher in Ilocos Norte and an elective, watch repair, was one undertaking he was passionate about.
“It was then a pilot project and teaching our students how to repair watches was exciting for me,” Doroni told the Filipino Journal.
Then came 2001, he moved to Manitoba as a provincial nominee and worked at a watch repair store. The owner eventually decided to sell his business and Doroni grabbed the opportunity to own it and so his watch repair business started.
E&J Watch and Jewellery Repair opened in February 2008 in Winnipeg and by August in Edmonton and Calgary. The Edmonton location in Bonnie Doon moved to the West Edmonton Mall and from the Marlboro Mall in Calgary to Bower Mall in Red Deer.
Currently, it also operates one store in Regina at the Northgate Mall.
Doroni is proud to serve his customers who come for free estimates on watch and jewellery repairs yet eventually had the repairs done by himself or his technicians.
“On the spot, we can repair their watches or fix their jewellery so that they can see what we are doing,” said Doroni.
Their services include watch battery, leather and metal watch band replacements while their customers shop inside the mall.
“We provide the best service because we want our customers to be happy and help us as local business owners grow,” said Doroni, who has hired watch technicians and personally trained them to maintain the quality of service E&J has been known for years now.