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Georgia jeweler hosts giveaways, supports troops
By Joseph Dobrian
March 20, 2009
Cartersville, Ga.--There are a lot of military families in Cartersville, Ga., about 50 miles northwest of Atlanta, so when Cartersville Jewelry Exchange expanded from its flagship store in town to a new location in Jasper, Ga., it kept soldiers and their loved ones in mind.
A dual promotion--held on consecutive Sundays in November--not only kicked off the operation's expansion into Jasper, but also brought in money to help military personnel returning from service overseas.
Cartersville Jewelry Exchange's founder and co-owner David Harrison says he promoted the event by sending out about 25,000 direct-mail invitations to potential guests, a move that brought more than 1,000 shoppers to the stores. Those who came in response to the mailing were allowed to try their hand at fitting one of two keys into a lock. Those who chose the key that fit were entered into a grand prize drawing. And that was just one way the jeweler fueled the fun.
"At the grand opening of the Jasper store, the first 20 people in line each got a 14-karat gold charm bracelet, and the next 40 got a set of diamond earrings," Harrison says. "When the store opened, 140 people were waiting to get in."
Sales amounted to $2,500 on Nov. 23 at the Cartersville flagship store, and
$4,500 at the Nov. 30 grand opening of the Jasper store, where the main event was a grand prize drawing for two 2-carat diamond solitaires.
Ten percent of the proceeds of all sales, just above $700, went to the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund's Fisher Houses, which have been built to house the families of injured soldiers going through rehabilitation at major military and Veterans Affairs medical centers all over the United States.
"We've raised money for a number of charities before," Harrison says. "This
was about the tenth such event we've held in 14 years. It's a way to give back to the community and to lend credibility to a promotion. We do a lot of radio
advertising--we're on the radio 52 weeks a year, on 12 or 13 stations--and we hit this promotion hard in the last 10 days. And one station did a live event at the store on the day of the drawing."
Harrison says he chose the Fisher House Foundation in part because of the pro-military sentiment in Cartersville, which is located about 50 miles northwest of Atlanta.
"This is primarily a rural and manufacturing community, and the demographics are ever-changing," he says. "Our two stores serve Bartow and Pickens counties, and we try to appeal to eight out of 10 people. Of every 10, one will buy jewelry only at Wal-Mart and one will buy it only at Tiffany--and we try to get the rest of them. We do a lot of promoting, a lot of price-pointing, and people appreciate our wide range of solitaires."
Cartersville Jewelry Exchange was founded in 1995 when David Harrison and his brother, Jeffrey, combined their 25-plus years of jewelry manufacturing and wholesaling experience to offer retail jewelry at what they describe as "factory-direct" prices.
"We got tired of traveling," Harrison says. "We'd been selling to jewelry stores on the road for many years. Our stores are 5,000 and 3,600 square feet, and we sell just gold, diamonds and gemstones. No watches, no silver. We do 80 percent of our manufacturing in-house. We have 15 employees in all, three of them jewelers, and we can build our merchandise from start to finish."
The store has also benefited from the bankruptcy of some of the industry's
larger chains.
"Because of the Friedman-Whitehall mess [the acquisition of Friedman's by Whitehall Jewelers, and the latter's subsequent declaration of bankruptcy last year], we've been able to buy showcases on the cheap--we just completed our fifth and final purchase-and that will help us to go into a new store next fall, somewhere in the northwest corner of Georgia," Harrison says.
Although sales were off in 2008, the jeweler is keeping an upbeat attitude for the year ahead.
"When it's raining, some people run under an umbrella, and others learn how to dance in the rain," he says.
Tips from Cartersville Jewelry Exchange
How did David Harrison, after years of selling to other jewelers, switch gears and succeed as a retailer? Below are some of Harrison's words
of advice:
-- "Be honest with the public--and don't do watch repair."
-- "Pay attention to the personal closing ratio of each of your salespeople."
--"Take advantage of the flexibility that a smaller jeweler has. We're not a big operation, but we can stop on a dime and change direction when an opportunity arises."
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