Luke Bryan made a stop in Camp Hill to do a bit of shopping prior to his concert at the Hersheypark Stadium last Friday.
The “Play It Again” singer visited the Mountz Jewelers store in Camp Hill, and posed for a few pictures with the staff. It was a first for the company, said Tonia Ulsh, presidnet and co-owner of Mountz Jewelers.
“[Bryan] had contacted us ahead of time, but obviously we weren’t quite sure if it was somebody spoofing us, or if it was a reality situation,” Ulsh said. “We’ve had sports people and some famous local people, but we’ve never had somebody of this caliber coming into the store.”
The timing of Bryan’s visit worked well, Ulsh said, as they are in the midst of renovations at the Camp Hill location.
“We’re operating out of a tent in our parking low right now,” she said. “It worked out to the benefit of both of us, because the carpet had already been laid and we had a section of the store that our contractors could clean up for us. So we could actually bring them into the store, and have the door locked to give them more privacy.”
Ulsh said that Bryan stayed for about an hour, and posed for several pictures which were shared on the Mountz Jewelers’ Facebook page.
“I think everybody was very excited about it, whether they knew him via his music, or from ‘American Idol’ – I’m an ‘American Idol’ fan, so I felt like i knew him, because on a television show you sort of get their personality,” Ulsh said. She added that just like on the show, Bryan comes across as “genuine, down to earth” and “a very nice person” in real life.
And when it comes to being nice, the staff at Mountz certainly returned the favor: after finding out that the visit was coming not long before Bryan’s birthday, they surprised him with a birthday cake.
“We tried to make it special for him, like we do with every client who walks in the door,” Ulsh said. “We try to build a relationship. And not unlike any other person, just completely kind and genuine. That’s all I can say -he was just a very nice person, the whole way around, and it’s just nice to see him supporting local family owned businesses like ours.”