RetailRap

What are your expectations for the holidays?

Will the Christmas season be merry and bright? These retailers are planning for a happy outcome.

By Phyllis Schiller

KELLY NEWTONOWNER
NEWTON’S JEWELERS
FORT SMITH, ARKANSAS

“Based on the past six months, our expectations are pretty high. Right now, what we’ve been selling is Rolex, Forevermark Diamonds, and bridal and fashion jewelry, including a lot of Roberto Coin. So that’s what we’ve stocked for the holidays. In terms of Forevermark, we’ve been selling mostly rounds, although recently, we’ve sold some fancies for engagement rings — mostly cushions, some pears and ovals — which is a little different. We’re being very optimistic and expecting to go over what we did in 2016.”

WAYNE ADDESSIOWNER
ADDESSI JEWELERS
RIDGEFIELD, CONNECTICUT

“I think people are more confident and feeling better. Looking at the numbers, I’ve had a very good year, good foot traffic through August, so I’m anticipating a good season, outside of anything dramatic that might happen making the news. I’m pretty optimistic.
“Diamonds with colored stones are doing very well; color has been a big part of our focus over the past two to five years. What has really picked up for us is estate jewelry. We just sold a 1920s Art Deco diamond bracelet for about $40,000, and we had three customers looking at it.
“One way we set ourselves apart as an independent is the relationships we constantly try to build with our customers. We’ve been connected to the digital world for a long time and using social media. Facebook is a huge driver of foot traffic for us. This year, we’re building a new website so we can digitally connect with customers who might have moved away.... There are also higher-end items that can be put into a wish list that sends me an email. I can then phone customers to discuss the pieces. It’s another way to reach our clients.”

GARY LONGOWNER
GARY J. LONG JEWELERS
STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA

I think this holiday season is going to be very similar to last year, which was fair — not great, but not negative. This has been an average year on the whole so far. With Christmas being on Monday, I’m expecting the Thursday, Friday and Saturday before Christmas to be the peak of the season. The one big worry, being in the upper Midwest, is that we might get a snow event. A medium-size snow event will keep the local shoppers staying local. But with a huge snow event, people will not go out.
“For the holidays, we’ve created some special pieces with large colored stones — really nice Ethiopian opals, opal doublets, some larger pieces in blue zircon, morganite, aquamarine. And then, I believe, there will be a resurgence in fancy-shaped diamonds — cushion, oval, pear-shaped — and colored diamonds. We’ve been having people talk about them, and we’re well set in terms of inventory. We’re also getting requests for old European and old mine-cut stones, which is kind of unusual, but maybe it’s a kind of nostalgia. Along with that, we’re seeing a lot of repairs of family pieces. In the next week and a half, we’re kicking off a three-week push on heirloom repair to get items ready for Christmas, including replacing or upgrading stones.”

ED MENKOWNER
E.L. MENK JEWELERS
BRAINERD, MINNESOTA

I think this holiday season is going to be very similar to last year, which was fair — not great, but not negative. This has been an average year on the whole so far. With Christmas being on Monday, I’m expecting the Thursday, Friday and Saturday before Christmas to be the peak of the season. The one big worry, being in the upper Midwest, is that we might get a snow event. A medium-size snow event will keep the local shoppers staying local. But with a huge snow event, people will not go out.
“For the holidays, we’ve created some special pieces with large colored stones — really nice Ethiopian opals, opal doublets, some larger pieces in blue zircon, morganite, aquamarine. And then, I believe, there will be a resurgence in fancy-shaped diamonds — cushion, oval, pear-shaped — and colored diamonds. We’ve been having people talk about them, and we’re well set in terms of inventory. We’re also getting requests for old European and old mine-cut stones, which is kind of unusual, but maybe it’s a kind of nostalgia. Along with that, we’re seeing a lot of repairs of family pieces. In the next week and a half, we’re kicking off a three-week push on heirloom repair to get items ready for Christmas, including replacing or upgrading stones.”

Article from the Rapaport Magazine - December 2017. To subscribe click here.

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