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U.S. Retail
By Lara Ewen
Summer, particularly August, is traditionally a slow time in jewelry sales. Many stores are reporting flat revenues year on year for the season, although yearly revenues are still up, overall. The big question on everyone’s mind now is how holiday 2015 will pan out. For certain stores, Christmas has been such a consistent disappointment each year for the past five to seven seasons that it’s no longer banked on as a huge event. For others, the end of the year still provides a massive percentage of annual revenue, bringing in as much as 30 percent to 40 percent of the annual take. As the weather cools and customers come back to the stores after their vacations, most retailers are hoping to see a positive fourth quarter and possibly a holiday season worth celebrating.
Some stores saw lagging sales as a result of seasonal slowdowns. “Business is good, but the industry has its cycles like everybody else,” said Joseph R. Villarreal, president of Villarreal Fine Jewelers in Austin, Texas. “August is usually a dead month. People are either taking their vacations, or going back to school, or sending the kids back to school. But we had a good July and things are cyclical. And business is all about what you’re doing to counteract slumps and fix them so it’s not feast or famine. We’re ahead of 2014, and I like to think it’s because of things I’ve done to try to do better this year.” Fernando Schlaen, general manager at Richard’s Gems and Jewelry in Miami, Florida, agreed that summer had a tendency to be slow. “Summer has been okay,” he said. “It’s probably about the same, year on year as 2014. But for South Florida, in the summer, it’s slow. People go on vacation.” On the West Coast, sales were also level, but traffic has been strong. “Business is the same from 2014,” said Gail Friedman, owner of Sarah Leonard Fine Jewelers in Los Angeles. “It’s not up and it’s not down. And yet it’s been so busy all the time, just not a lot more in sales. But I feel like there’s room in the jewelry field for a family business. And we do well on Yelp. We still do direct mail and email blasts, but we limit those, because people hate email and they unsubscribe if you send out too much. And the things we used to do, like some of the traditional advertising stuff — even advertising with The Knot — doesn’t work anymore.”
For many stores, the entire year boils down to the last few weeks. That’s why so many stores were already well into holiday preparations in mid-August and already feeling optimistic. “We are predicting a better holiday season for 2015 as compared to 2014,” said Kara Nakamura, sales consultant at Hal Davis Jewelers in Boise, Idaho. “Our buying strategy is complete for the year, but we always make adjustments of filling in the cases in October and as the holiday approaches. That said, we’ve been on track to match our 2014 as of August. 2014 was a great year for us, with 15 percent increase in sales from the previous year. There has been a trend of increased sales each year since 2009, so we are hoping for 2015 to keep that trend going. We anticipate our fourth quarter to match or surpass the first three quarters combined.” Holiday is also looking good for Scott Stambaugh, owner of Stambaugh Jewelers in Defiance, Ohio. “I’m anticipating that holiday 2015 will be better than 2014,” he said. “We’ve already purchased quite a bit more than we did last year and we have done about 80 percent of our buying already. Every year, you just get ready for the holiday season and then it comes and goes very quickly. But holiday is a make-or-break season. Still, we’ve done a better job spreading our year out lately, so if Christmas doesn’t happen, it’s not ‘make-or-break’ financially. But it’s the busiest time of the year. And that last seven days is amazing. But so, so stressful.” For some stores, however, holiday has stopped being a big deal. “I’m over the holiday,” said Friedman. “What holiday? It’s business as usual for us. For many years, the holiday season has been so stressful. We’re making our numbers, and in terms of traffic it’s okay, but I have finally given up on the idea of what it all used to be. People are making their purchases at all different times, and all year long. So we have a decent season, but it’s not what the holidays used to be. For us, we make our numbers, but it’s a very different feel. And we’re not even open an extra minute anymore. But the second the holidays are over, it’s booming. I don’t know why. I have no idea. I’m sure online has a lot to do with it. But it’s bizarre. At least it’s less stressful. Now, I don’t worry about it being quiet at Christmas.”Article from the Rapaport Magazine - September 2015. To subscribe click here.
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