RAPAPORT...
Are Things Looking Up?
The 4Cs are not the only things that make a piece of diamond jewelry a sales winner. In an ongoing series, Rapaport 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 in early May: Are you seeing any positive signs that the economy is improving?
RONDA DAILY, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER (CEO)
BREMER JEWELRY
PEORIA, ILLINOIS
“Absolutely. The traffic count is better. People seem to be a little more upbeat. We are primarily a bridal store, probably 60/40, bridal/fashion, and bridal has carried us through. But we have sold a few fashion pieces in the past week, mostly diamond pieces, and I’m feeling pretty excited about that. I just sold a pair of Hearts on Fire diamond earrings. We are selling a lot of price-point items, but in this case, the gentleman was buying it for his wife’s fiftieth birthday. It’s an important gift and people are still celebrating the important times with important diamond jewelry.”
VICKI HAUSER, CO-OWNER
HAUSER’s JEWELERS
NEWPORT NEWS, VIRGINIA“Our gemologist said that she has three or four diamond customers now, so things are happening. We are seeing an increase. Some of it is bridal — one is matching the stone to make a three-stone ring.
“January was quiet but Valentine’s Day was good. March was quiet and April was tax time. But May is picking up, with Mother’s Day and graduations. And in the past, June has been a good month for anniversaries.”
Robert Argo, Chief Financial Officer
Argo & Lehne Jewelers
Columbus, Ohio“We’ve been really busy this spring. Our particular niche, we’re more into relationship selling — graduation gifts and birthday presents and engagement rings. And the occasions for giving gifts are still there and people are still buying gifts, just not spending as much. With the engagement ring crowd, I think maybe there’s a wait-and-see attitude. We’re most severely hit in the bridal department. Last year and the year before, we had a strong upswing. And we were enjoying that until January. But it’s spring and the economy is looking a little bit better, so we’re seeing an upturn of engagement ring customers that’s helping us out now.”
BARBARA HIGHT-RANDALL, CO-OWNER
HIGHT & RANDALL PERSONAL JEWELER
ROCHESTER, MINNESOTA“I don’t know if I could say the economy is turning around, but it’s a blessing that we’ve been busy. We do a lot of custom designs and we’ve been doing shadow bands to the engagement rings that were bought last year. Those have kept on rolling. I think we’re seeing people who need to spend something, if they can. We put in a line called Camilla, which is like the Pandora bead bracelet, and I’m amazed. Women are coming in and dropping three to eight hundred dollars a pop on these bracelets. It’s hard, but we are paying our bills — a little slower than before but we’re still paying them.”
CHARLES STEPHENS, OWNER
RANDOLPH JEWELERS
PLACERVILLE, CALIFORNIA
“Is the economy turning around? No; bottoming out, maybe. We’re doing a lot of custom work and we’re doing bridal — those would be the two biggest categories. People are looking for lower price points. We do a good business in estate jewelry and that’s been keeping us going.”
SONNY MORSTEIN, OWNER
MORSTEIN’S JEWELERS
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND“Actually, yes. I’ve thought long and hard because the news doesn’t indicate that — it’s usually very bad and it continues to be depressing. But I think people have discovered that the world didn’t come to an end. There’s a pickup demand; they had put off buying and they’re just starting to come out and spend. They’re not spending in the amounts you’d like them to spend, but they are out spending again.
“People are still getting married and buying wedding bands; that hasn’t changed. They may get a smaller diamond or have a smaller wedding but, from what I hear, that really hasn’t happened. There really is a light at the end of the tunnel. And you know, if you have 6 percent unemployment, it still means you have 94 percent of the population working. And those 94 percent are starting to feel a little safer. They feel that this president is doing things to make things better, so they’re feeling better. And all of these things are coalescing to make them feel a little more comfortable about their future and their purchases.”
Lowell Kronowitz, President
Levy Jewelers
Savannah, Georgia“I would tend to not base our business strictly on the outside economy. The factors about what’s going on in the world often don’t affect the wonderful community we live in, in the sense that they continue to share their occasions with us. So the outside economic factors play into our traffic counts in the malls and people are being conscientious about how they spend their money.
But we have a very loyal clientele; we’ve been here 109 years, and those families and people who are accustomed to our values and services continue to share those occasions with us. In addition, Savannah is an amazing tourist destination and we are fortunate in that we have a number of visitors who learn about our customer service and our heritage and tradition and shop with us and continue to shop with us after they’ve gone back home. We cover the entire spectrum; we’re really not a niche business. We cover a large variety of people who shop in this town, of all socioeconomic categories.”
Lucian Lee, President
Hale’s Jewelers
Greenville, North Carolina“It’s flickering, but there is some light out there. Most of us look backward to see how we’re doing in relation to how we’ve done in the past and I think the parameters and the vision have obviously changed not just consumers, but us as well. It feels a little better. Traffic is better. We’ve been fortunate in that our transactions have not been that far off. The biggest distinction is that people are spending a lot less money. Our engagement traffic right now is pretty good, the close rate is pretty good; they’re just spending less money. And we’ve sold some important things in the past couple of weeks, and that seems to be a good sign. It’s all about consumer confidence. Let’s hope they’re getting it. And then, we can all look back at this and say it made us better.”
Article from the Rapaport Magazine - June 2009. To subscribe click here.