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Retail Rap
By Phyllis Schiller
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| Barbara Heinrich Studio |
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: “Is 2017 so far better, the same as or not as good as 2016 and what do you attribute that to?”
“I just ran the numbers and I am on par with 2016, or possibly up very, very slightly. What’s crazy is I had probably the worst January that I have had since I have tracked business. There was a lot of illness in our area and I missed work because I was sick with the flu. I have an older clientele, which also might have played into it. And Colorado is a pretty liberal state and there might also have been some disillusionment with Donald Trump being sworn in. I do know other businesses surrounding me also had their worst January. So it was a really rough beginning for 2017. But we are on par with 2016, which was a very, very good year for us. So it’s a wash.”
“2017 is shaping up the way we projected it to, with the year-over-year increases we’ve been lucky enough to celebrate for the past decade. We’re somewhat of an anomaly because we’re a 138-year-old store. Our growth is pretty predictable; it’s not like we’re a new start-up.”
“For us, 2017 is better. And I think it’s because we’re motivated, we’re excited. We’ve got fresh inventory; we’ve got more stones mounted and more finished goods and we’re showing more large diamonds. I think that it’s as much about the merchant’s attitude as the public market’s attitude right now. I think a lot of retailers need to retool their attitudes and go forth and show diamonds and create sales from scratch and get the add-on sale. If someone is in getting a watch repair or new battery, you can show a pair of diamond earrings while they wait.
“We’re motivated and it’s working. It’s easy to complain that it’s tough and people are tighter with their money but the reality is you have to go after it a bit and make it happen. Although 2016 was a great year, it required the work ethic. We’re not in a big city. We’re in a freestanding downtown location in anytown USA, with 30,000 people; there’s agriculture, timber, some industry. We’re very fortunate to have been in Lewiston for 90 years and we have that following.”
“It’s been a lot quieter in 2017 than last year. I’m a custom designer, not a regular retailer. I have a small storefront but basically do custom design the old-fashioned way from scratch, not computer-aided designs.
“In 2016, I was swamped until a week before the election. Since the election, it’s been very, very quiet. We’re from a state that voted against the new president and I think it had a very negative effect here. We also had terrible weather in November and December and the combination just put retail off course. The main thing depends on how the incoming president deals. If people get a sense of stability and direction, then I think business could be very good.”
“The biggest thing I’ve noticed this year is that foot traffic is down, although sales are holding on. I suspect it might have to do with the internet. Things were vibrant after the election. I was more optimistic in 2016 through Christmas. But then after the holiday, people just seemed to go into a cocoon. We’re slightly behind for the year. But our fiscal year just started in April.”
“Last year was very volatile and 2017 is turning out to be a bit more steady, a little more predictable, which helps us navigate our buying and marketing. Things aren’t booming but they have stabilized.
“We are trending up for the year. One factor is that we’re located in Houston, Texas, the heart of the energy capitol of the U.S. and we’re definitely very susceptible to the movement of energy prices. In 2016 at this time, oil was in the twenties a barrel, which is very negative for Texas in general. We noticed a gradual improvement in business as oil started climbing into the thirties and forties and now it has stabilized in the $50 range.”Article from the Rapaport Magazine - May 2017. To subscribe click here.
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