|
|
Cover
Retail Rap
By Phyllis Schiller
 |
| Ivanka Trump |
The 4Cs are not the only things that make a piece of diamond jewelry a sales winner. In an ongoing series, Rapaport Magazine explores the “3Ws” — what’s selling, what’s not and why — by going straight to the people who really know — jewelry retailers. Each month, we ask a sampling of retailers to comment on the important issues that are facing the industry today. Here is what they had to say when asked: “What were the holiday best sellers that you plan to restock for the new year?
“We sell Forevermark diamonds and that’s working really well. We’re way low on diamonds, so I know we’re going to buy diamonds. We already are. And we’re way low on Rolex. We’re waiting for watches to get here — some of them are to fulfill what was sold at Christmas.
“It was a really big diamond Christmas, big stones and lots of them. People bought larger stones in December than we’ve sold the past few years. We’re completely out of stock on larger stones. Not only engagement rings but large diamond studs — 2 carats-plus each.
“It was the most pleasant Christmas we’ve had in years. People were happy, no whining. Everyone was so cordial and congenial and we were busy every day. It felt like Christmas of old.”
“December was so different this year. You don’t have the middle income. It was a pretty strong watch season. I’m a big Rolex dealer so I would definitely put that on the top of the list. We also stock Patek, Cartier and others. I carry Yurman and all the high-end designer lines.
“People aren’t buying basics like tennis bracelets and diamond necklaces. People aren’t coming in and buying a $40,000 to $45,000 sapphire ring like the old days. They buy stuff like Marco Bicego or Ivanka Trump, a few fashion pieces, but none of that’s really strong. Diamonds were okay but nothing was off the map. I’ll probably stay with the core items like David Yurman and John Hardy and Charles Krypell, but beyond that, I don’t have a sense of direction.”
“Christmas was very good, our numbers were up from past years. Everything went well this year — a lot of yellow gold, a lot of white gold, a lot of sterling silver. We did a lot of color, a lot of pearls. There was only one thing on our list that we didn’t do great with and that was watches. But we exceeded in everything else, so we didn’t care.
“Consumer confidence really seemed to be up this holiday. People came in confident about what they were buying and what they were spending. I think it was a lot because the gas prices were lower — people are saving $20 or $30 a week. After Christmas has been a broad range as well. We’ve already started doing engagement rings, which normally pick up in the spring.”
“Things that we sold multiple times in 2014, that’s what we’re focused on restocking. It’s been all over the place, we do a lot of everything. We sold a lot of larger diamond pieces for the holidays — over $20,000 was a real good category. We sold a pretty broad spectrum of items. We really don’t do lower end.”
“It’s a little bit early for me to think about which categories. We will analyze what sold and reorder as necessary to get our inventory back up. Diamond studs are always a big seller, diamond pendants, diamond anniversary-style or eternity-style wedding bands, that kind of thing.
“We had a few more requests for yellow and rose gold this holiday, where before it was white or platinum. It seems people are asking more for that, particularly rose gold. Diamond jewelry in general sold — bracelets, necklaces, earrings — and our watch business was fairly good and pearls, too. We sold a lot of Mikimoto pearl necklaces.”
“We’re planning to restock fast sellers — whichever category my computer tells me. It’s a broad range of items, obviously, from specific timepieces to specific designers. We’re a designer and timepiece store. Rolex, Patek Philippe would be timepieces I plan to continue to order. Roberto Coin, David Yurman and Jack Kelége in the jewelry category were best sellers. I just got through analyzing the report today and while I would have told you diamonds, color was pretty strong this year, too.”
“Two categories were good sellers for the holidays. We sold quite a few Hearts On Fire pieces. The other category is Simon G — both bridal and fashion. And we also sell Alex and Ani and that always needs to be restocked. And we’ll have to restock John Hardy — we sold a lot of John Hardy.
“This was an interesting holiday season for us. Usually I can tell at the end of the season whether it was a ‘tennis bracelet season’ or a ‘diamond stud season.’ This wasn’t a season for any one thing, it was a season for everything. We sold a little bit of everything.”
“Yellow gold and diamonds were best sellers this holiday. Long, yellow gold necklaces and stackable bracelets sold very well. We set a record this holiday.” Article from the Rapaport Magazine - February 2015. To subscribe click here.
|
|
|
|