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Strong opening for JA NY Special Delivery show

By Michelle Graff
October 26, 2009
Buyers line up to gain access to the JA New York Special Delivery show on Sunday, the opening day of the cash-and-carry jewelry show. The show runs through Oct. 27 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City.

New York--In yet another sign that the economy is slowly, but surely, recovering, buyers flooded the floor of the JA New York Special Delivery show, which opened on Sunday at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City.

Pre-registration for the show, which runs through Tuesday, Oct. 27, was up from last year and about on par with 2007 figures, JA New York Group Show Director Drew Lawsky said.

In addition, prior to the show's 10:00 a.m. opening, would-be attendees who had not pre-registered lined up at the registration desk, with total show attendance up 18 percent at the end of the day.

Lawsky said he was "very satisfied" with the turnout, noting that the jewelry industry is starting to mirror the signs of recovery exhibited by the general economy.

"We're beginning to feel some of the turnaround," he said.

The pick-up in business didn't go unnoticed among buyers and exhibitors alike on opening day.

Shopping in the Hong Kong Pavilion a little more than an hour after the show opened, retailer Joseph Wallace, of Wallace Brothers Jewelry in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., was among those who noted the show-floor buzz.

"I'm surprised how busy it is," he said. "I see counters I want to get into and find I have to come back. They're kind of full."

Looking around the show floor, it was easy to see why this Pennsylvania retailer had to exercise patience early on, as buyers filled the aisles and crowded around exhibitors' booths, eager to see what they had to offer.

On Wallace's Special Delivery shopping list were diamond-and-tanzanite designs, as well as pieces featuring black or champagne diamonds mixed with colorless.

"They're looking for something a little different," he said of his customers.

At the booth for World Trade Jewelers, which distributes both Nicole Miller Fine Jewelry and the new line of Hershey's Kiss-themed pieces, President Murray Shabot said shortly before noon his booth already had seen its fair share of buyers.

"It's early, but we've been busy since we walked in," he said.

He said the company's Hershey's Kiss jewelry has been a hit ever since its launch this summer at the Las Vegas jewelry shows, with price points ranging from $49 retail for simple sterling silver designs to $10,000 for a more diamond-heavy Kiss.

More than 400 independent jewelers are carrying the Kiss jewelry, and World Trade Jewelers also has a special collection of Hershey's Kiss jewelry that's sold at Zales.

"It's cute," Shabot said. "I think everybody's looking for something new that can spike sales."

In addition to the Hershey's Kiss jewelry, the World Trade Jewelers booth also carried key pendants, a price-point friendly and fashionable item that seemed to be all over the show floor at Special Delivery.

"Whatever Tiffany advertises is popular," Shabot said of the keys.

Alan Levine, vice president of Bill Levine Diamond Jewelry, was having similar success at his booth, noting that it was much busier than the recent jewelry show in Atlanta.

"We always do well in New York," he said.
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