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U.S. Retail
By Lara Ewen
As the holiday shopping season wrapped up, retailers looked at a year that ended more or less the way it had progressed. Traffic was slow to start, and for many stores, the Christmas rush didn’t happen until the week just before December 25. Even then, sales were underwhelming, though not devastatingly so. Looking ahead to 2017, retailers said they feared that internet sales would continue to cut into brick-and-mortar transactions but they saw opportunities, since customers’ desire for custom work was definitely increasing.
The year ended stressfully, but was not without its rewards. “Christmas shopping started really late and we were very concerned,” said Richard Lee Mathis, owner of Symmetry Jewelers in New Orleans, Louisiana. “But then it really picked up. If it keeps going like it is now, it’ll be better than Christmas 2015.” Mathis said the internet was partly to blame, but that he could compete with his custom designs. “Our sales in the last year or two have been off because most people are shopping online. “But jewelers all over the country say that the stores doing the best are the ones who can do cool custom work, so I think that’s the thing now.” The internet also affected holiday sales in South Carolina, where Paul Geiss, owner of Paulo Geiss Jewelers in Charleston, South Carolina, said sales had been slow. “We’re down a little bit for the year,” he said. “The Millennials are very hard to deal with. They come in, and I give them a lesson on diamonds, and then they go online where they don’t have to pay sales tax.” Geiss said even his loyal older customers were not as reliable. “A lot of them aren’t around anymore,” he said. “They’re dying, and it’s hard to fill that vacuum with new customers. We keep lowering our prices to be competitive, and we make a profit on the settings and the mountings, but people aren’t spending the money they used to.” The internet wasn’t the only factor impacting 2016 holiday sales, though. Jeff Wells, general manager of Sartor Hamann, with three stores in Nebraska, said his overall year had been lackluster, due to fewer large sales and political uncertainty. “As of now, we’re a little down overall for the year and the holiday,” he said. “And holiday seems to start later every year.” Wells said a stretch of arctic cold weather the weekend before Christmas had kept people at home, but he was still hopeful, because the weather was warming just ahead of Christmas Day. “Still, it’s going to take a heroic effort to make up what we need,” he said.
Elsewhere in the country, sales were better. For Tonia Leitzel Ulsh, chief operating officer (COO) of Mountz Jewelers, with three stores in Pennsylvania, the days leading up to Christmas were mostly positive, although restocking was problematic. “Currently, we have two stores up and one store down,” she said. “But we have found that there isn’t as much product shelved at our vendors, which makes quick replenishment difficult.” Business was booming, though, at Eve J. Alfillé Gallery and Studio, which specializes in custom work, located in Evanston, Illinois, a Chicago suburb. “This year hasn’t been bad, surprisingly,” said owner Eve Alfillé. “It’s been busier than the past two years and customers are motivated.” Alfillé added that she assumed Christmas sales would come late. “In an era of people ordering online, people know they can get things at the last minute,” she said.
For 2017, jewelers were trying to understand how to best compete against online retailing. Geiss, for one, said he was concerned about the increased number of wholesalers going direct-to-consumer. “A lot of our suppliers are selling on the internet,” said Geiss. “So people come in to see what they like, and then buy it online.” Ulsh agreed that understanding customers’ shopping motivations would be crucial in the year to come. “The biggest impact will be determined by shopping trends,” said Ulsh. “Hopefully more traditional shopping patterns will return to brick-and-mortar stores.”Article from the Rapaport Magazine - January 2017. To subscribe click here.
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