Time is running out!
Beloved watch shop Quickly Fix is set to close at the end of next month, devastating loyal customers who say there’s no other place they trust to bring their prized possessions.
The watch and jewelry repair boutique in Kings Plaza Mall — run by its Thailand-born owner who goes by Chris — has made thousands of watches tick and tock over his more than 10 years of being the go-to place in the neighborhood. He’s trustworthy, honest, and a hard worker, and everyone is sad to see him go, said one of his regulars.
“He’s the best, I told him, I don’t want him to leave,” said Marine Parker Gladys Rivera. “Wherever he’s going, he has to let us know.”
Chris learned the trade from his father, picked up a few new tricks over the years, and is now teaching it all to his younger relatives to carry on the tradition. He walks to work seven days a week, often with his wife who also helps out in the store, and says he never catches himself watching the clock because he loves what he does.
“My father taught me how to repair the watch and then I learn myself how to repair jewelry and other things, and I make a living here,” said Chris. “I’m here more than 10 years in this mall to serve the customers — I built up my name and reputation and customer-base for a long, long time.”
And the place has developed such a quality reputation over the decade it’s been in business that customers make the trip to the Flatbush Avenue and Avenue U mall from all the way across the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, said another customer who lives on The Rock.
“Because he is the only guy who can fix my watch, no one else can fix it. Only this guy, he knows all the watches and I trust him,” said Erik, who declined to give his last name. “All my friends come over here he can do any job — everybody know he’s over here, no matter where you live you just come over here.”
Chris claims he wants to keep the store open, but can’t come to terms on a new lease with Mall management. A spokeswoman for Kings Plaza wouldn’t comment on the lease.
Quickly Fix [5100 Kings Plaza, 1st floor, between Flatbush Avenue and Avenue U in Mill Basin, quick
