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U.S. Retail
By Lara Ewen
After 2013 holiday numbers got crunched and analyzed, many retailers struggled in vain to find meaning in the erratic information. The season — much like 2013 overall — was up for some and down for others, and the general mood as 2014 opened was cautious optimism, which has become more or less the norm. On the plus side, there was still more good news than bad, and most store owners felt that as long as there were no surprise downturns, the year ahead would bring some much-needed stability.
Most stores shared positive news about sales as 2013 came to a close. “Holiday 2013 was good for us,” said Paul Becker, owner of Becker’s Diamonds & Fine Jewelry in West Hartford, Connecticut. “We saw an 8 percent increase over holiday 2012.” Yet even though he was pleased with the uptick, and did well with diamond studs and fashion jewelry, Becker was still not convinced that he was seeing a sea change. “I don’t think the economy is getting better,” he said. “But the general public believes it is. Customers are coming in, people want to feel better. They think things are good.” It seems that store owners were not feeling as upbeat as their customers, even when their numbers were good. Hank Davis, owner of Davis Jewelers in Louisville, Kentucky, reported that his holiday 2013 was up, as was his year, and that he did well with branded watches, branded silver and bridal for the holiday season. But that didn’t mean he was comfortable. “2013 seemed less consistent,” he said. “In 2012, there was more even business. And in 2013, all the holiday business waited until the last nine days. I joked about it. I was just as anxious in 2013 as I was 33 years ago during my first retail Christmas.”
One of the reasons store owners got nervous, of course, was that holiday sales still represent a large percentage of the annual bottom line. “Mid-November to the end of December represents about 20 percent of our year,” said Marc Feder, owner of Jay Feder Jewelers in Denver, Colorado. Feder, who remodeled his store in 2013, was actually feeling good about the general mood of his customers. “I feel like there’s an uptick in optimism and less fear about spending,” he said. “But then, I don’t view my business as seasonal. The engine of our business is diamond sales and bridal. We were surprised that we had such a strong holiday season, but it was still very much diamond driven. We sold a lot of diamond studs, diamond necklaces, that sort of thing.” 2013 was a challenging year even for stores that saw an increase in sales. “We were a little bit up for 2013, but it was a tough year, and it was slow,” said Christopher Eles, co-owner of Crown Fine Jewelry in Scottsdale, Arizona. “We were only up 6 percent overall for the year, and gold buying was down by 25 percent. But the economy is improving. We didn’t do much advertising. Just newspaper, radio and a bit of magazine — and no social media. For holiday though, we sold diamond necklaces, pendants, silver and even some gold chains, to both men and women. But not a lot of bridal. Bridal is not big in December for us.” For some stores, December 2013 was simply off. “We were disappointed because we didn’t do the volume of holiday sales that we had anticipated,” said Harold Krasner, president of Harold Stevens Jewelers in San Diego, California. “I don’t know what it was. We had increased our marketing budget, and although it increased our website visits marginally, it didn’t increase sales. We were definitely down in 2013 over holiday 2012, and disappointingly so. Some of our loyal customers did not revisit us, and those who did were very conservative in their spending.”
Even facing disappointments such as this, most retailers are working hard to maintain the optimistic spirit that working within the independent jewelry industry demands. “When you’re a business owner, you should have vision,” said Becker. “I think 2014 is going to be similar to 2013. And I think people think it’s getting better.” Taking the emotional temperature of customers is becoming increasingly important, of course, and it’s crucial to keep checking the pulse of both the economy and customers’ perception of the economy. “My prediction is that the momentum will continue forward in 2014, unless some catastrophic event happens,” said Feder. “People have become comfortable with what’s going on and the bridal business is steady. I’m cautiously optimistic.” That said, the scenery is changing and businesses need to evaluate what can be done to stay on top in a world now dominated by technology. “I don’t think there’s anything new coming in 2014,” said Davis. “But social media will still play an important role in your marketing. The days of letting clients just walk in without reaching out to them are over.” Krasner agreed. “I am really reevaluating many things,” he said. “I’ve never felt as much of a need to make changes as I do now. The whole market has changed.”Article from the Rapaport Magazine - February 2014. To subscribe click here.
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