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Holiday traffic up, price points down for jewelers
By Michelle Graff and Catherine Dayrit
December 01, 2009
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| Braced for skimpy sales and slow traffic, several jewelers who spoke to National Jeweler on Monday said they were happily surprised with Black Friday business, but that overall, spending-wary shoppers were looking for bargains. |
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As part of National Jeweler's annual holiday weekend roundup of jewelry sales, which appears online every Monday through the end of the year, editors interview independent jewelers around the country.
Here is a region-by-region breakdown of how jewelers responded to our inquiries about sales, merchandise, marketing and more:
NORTHEAST
Black Friday weekend sales at Ralph Miller Jewelers and Gallery in Erie, Pa., were "great," with owner Daniel A. Niebauer estimating sales increased about 15 percent, while foot traffic was up 10 to 20 percent over last year.
"We actually didn't expect it to be great based on some of the projections," he said.
What benefited his store, he believes, was the fact that not as many people left Erie to visit family or shop in other, larger metropolitan areas this holiday weekend, bringing more people through his front door.
Also aiding sales was the store's emphasis on products that are made in America, which fits with a growing consumer concern over buying local, Niebauer said.
Hot sellers in his store included colored-gemstone jewelry and bridal, though people tended to shy away from higher-priced pieces.
Niebauer said most items sold in his store over the weekend were priced between $390 and $1,800. Nothing sold in the $6,000 to $10,000 range, save one estate ring.
"They never left the case," he said of big-ticket items. "People were shopping a little more conservatively."
Jay Golde, one of the owners of Jay Roberts Jewelers in Marlton, N.J., experienced similar spending trends in his store.
Tickets over the weekend hovered around $1,000, while more expensive, diamond-intensive items, such as heavy-carat necklaces and tennis bracelets, went unsold.
"People just aren't spending the bigger dollars right now," Golde said.
At his New Jersey store, sales were down slightly from Black Friday weekend 2008, but he wasn't surprised.
"This year people...have changed their buying habits," he said. "People are shopping more cautiously and spending less money, definitely looking for bargains."
Also not helping his store in the short term this holiday season are the going-out-of-business sales currently underway at nearby J.E. Caldwell and Co. and Bailey Banks and Biddle stores, both brands under the umbrella of Finlay Enterprises Inc.
Finlay began store-closing sales in the fall after filing for bankruptcy in August.
Golde expects that this holiday season, when it comes to jewelry, consumers will stick to more time-tested pieces and not go out on a limb with too many fads.
"I don't think there's going to be a hot item," he said. "I think it's going to be more bread-and-butter stuff."
SOUTHEAST
The weekend left Frank Molteni, of D.B. Ryland and Co. in Bristol, Va., "happily surprised," with both foot traffic and sales topping last year.
"I can't answer that," he said, when asked what brought about the unexpectedly brisk business. "I wish I knew."
Hot sellers at his store over the weekend included Tahitian black-pearl pieces and Alwand Vahan bracelets.
These bracelets are a blend of 14-karat gold and silver, or 14-karat gold, silver and diamonds, and are similar in appearance to David Yurman pieces. But, Molteni said, there's one major difference: They are about half the price.
Overall, price points at his store were all over the map, ranging from the lower end to sales in the high five figures.
Molteni said his store also experienced an extra boost ahead of Black Friday when the city of Bristol had a downtown-shopping open house on Nov. 23. Downtown merchants stayed open until 8:00 p.m., and the event attracted throngs of people, some of whom weren't just browsing this year.
"Usually, it's not a selling day, but we sold some items," Molteni said.
At Elizabeth Bruns Jewelers in Charlotte, N.C., Wilson Glasgow said the store wasn't extremely busy this weekend because most of his regulars wait until the last two weeks before Christmas to make their purchases.
"Most of our regular customers just don't go shopping on (Black Friday)," he said, but noted there were definitely a few new faces in the store over the weekend.
He's optimistic that this holiday season will top 2008.
"I'm counting on it," Glasgow said.
MIDWEST
Gene Gragg said sales were up 10 to 15 percent at his store over the weekend, Metal Works Fine Jewelry Inc. in Yorktown, Ind., with brisk business both Friday and Saturday mornings.
Like his counterparts in other areas of the country, however, Gragg noted that consumers weren't reaching too deeply into their pockets to purchase fine jewelry.
In his store, customers stuck with pieces in the $250 to $500 range.
Pendants, sterling silver and custom work were strong sellers, as was SimStar, a line of beads and bracelets similar to the popular Pandora brand.
"It sells pretty well," he said. "It looks just like the Pandora bracelets. That's the hot thing this season."
Gragg said anything priced at more than $500 is a tough sell right now. People look at the higher-priced items, but are reluctant to commit to anything too readily.
"They're certainly not just buying on the spot," he said. "They're thinking about it."
Jill Garfinkle, of Garfinkle's Fine Jewelry in Highland Park, Ill., also is experiencing a wave of spending-wary shoppers.
"They just come in and look constantly and don't buy," she said.
Overall, she said business over the weekend did pick up slightly over last year, just "not like the kind of pick up I would like."
"It was an OK day," Garfinkle said. "It wasn't fantastic."
She is holding out hope that consumers are just putting off buying until they can bank some cash, and that the holiday season will land on the plus side at her store.
"I just hope we have a good one," Garfinkle said. "We need it--all of us."
SOUTH CENTRAL
While big-box retailers may have gone gangbusters over the weekend, drawing shoppers via bargain-basement deals, retailers in the South Central region interviewed by National Jeweler said that Black Friday weekend is not generally a big traffic weekend for their stores.
"This weekend [Black Friday weekend] is not good for us," said Valerie Naifeh of Oklahoma City's Naifeh Fine Jewelry. "We have no expectations, and we are not disappointed when we don't have big sales on Friday."
Beautiful weather in Oklahoma City, as well as a big Oklahoma vs. Oklahoma State game on Saturday, might also have had people focused less on shopping and glued instead to the television or participating in outdoor activities, like golf, which tends to be a favored diversion among the retailer's clientele.
Over in San Antonio, Aaron Penaloza of C. Aaron Penaloza Jewelers, said sales for the weekend were "about the same as last year, which was dismal," and it's a trend he pins on his store's location and consumers' tendencies to shop at big-box stores over Thanksgiving weekend.
"We're in a neighborhood strip center and there are no big electronics discounters in the neighborhood, and everyone goes out to the big power centers--the malls," he said. "Trying to compete with Walmart and Best Buy selling 50-inch plasma TVs for $900 isn't going to happen."
Penaloza's hopes are high for the next few weeks, though, especially given that over the last few years his customers tended to start shopping after Black Friday weekend.
The retailer does a big business in estate jewelry, and customers have recently shown more interest in the estate costume, rather than fine, pieces.
"They would look at the $2,000 pearl or diamond ring, but ended up buying a $200 necklace with cameos," Penaloza said.
At Naifeh Fine Jewelry, the high-end jeweler ups its promotions later on in the season, drawing customers through special events and shopping opportunities such as a ladies' night and a men's night.
Among the people who were shopping over Black Friday weekend, Naifeh said moderately priced items were the ones that moved, along with items of personal or sentimental value, including lockets by Monica Rich Kosann, amulet and angel designs by Temple St. Clair, and anything that can be engraved.
As Christmas approaches, Naifeh will also be placing her bets on diamonds.
"I think it's going to be a good diamond Christmas, and we've merchandised our store for that," she said.
Naifeh has also merchandised with a closer eye to price points. While in years past, the $1,500 to $5,000 range was a strong one over the holidays, Naifeh said she's expecting to see a lot of value in the $350 to $2,500 range this time around. She has also stocked her store accordingly, making an effort to add a greater number of pieces priced between $100 and $600.
"We didn't want anyone to come in and feel like they can't find something here," she said.
WEST
Over in the western United States, Steve Goldfarb of Alvin Goldfarb Jeweler, said the weekend turned out very well, but that customers who were shopping at the retailer's Seattle and Bellevue, Wash., stores, weren't necessarily seeking out Christmas presents.
"It was people out shopping and realized, 'Oh, now there are birthdays and anniversaries' [to shop for]," he said.
Goldfarb said there was a fair amount of interest in silver pieces, as well as in colored-stone designs.
In Newport Beach, Calif., Lula Halfacre said sales at Traditional Jewelers are up, and that traffic at the operation's Newport location at the Fashion Island shopping center was "definitely busier than last year," perhaps boosted by shoppers hailing on the various department stores also located at Fashion Island.
Like Goldfarb, Halfacre said that while people were out to shop, she doesn't necessarily think they were seeking Christmas presents.
"I would tend to think it was more self-purchases," she said.
The pieces that ended up at the cash registers were branded jewelry, such as David Yurman designs, as well as watches.
"The diamonds come later in the season, closer to Christmas," Halfacre said.
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