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Manfredi banks on reputation, clientele
By Victoria Gomelsky
August 11, 2009
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| Last summer, Manfredi underwent a massive redesign that saw the store grow from 930 to 3,300 square feet. Patterned after a European-style salon, the store now boasts an elliptical layout. The walls are lined with watch displays while the center island is dedicated to jewelry. |
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Greenwich, Conn.--If Wall Street is ground zero for the economic crisis, then Greenwich, Conn., is home to some of its worst fallout.
The upscale community's denizens include multimillion-dollar hedge fund managers who have lost billions of dollars in the markets, not to mention a fair amount of investors bamboozled by Bernie Madoff. Their plight might well serve as the ultimate recession parable: The bigger they are, the harder they fall.
Of all the places to run a jewelry business today, it stands to reason that this pocket of America would be among the most difficult. But looks, as they say, can be deceiving.
"Business is down, but frankly, it's a lot better than it could be," says David Goldsmith, store manager. "We've put in cost-cutting measures like everyone else, but at the end of last year, we were basically flat. And flat is the new up."
He's not kidding. In a year that's seen comparable-store sales in double-digit freefall, maintaining sales levels is an achievement of the highest order. What makes Manfredi's story even more remarkable is that it is not a bridal destination, meaning that category's buoyancy has had no bearing on the retailer's success.
"We don't have as significant a bridal business as perhaps we should," Goldsmith says. "We do a decent business in second diamonds. A lot of it has to do with the cost of living in the area. A lot of our clientele is already established. Also, the proximity to New York and 47th Street."
In a bid to boost its diamond profile, Manfredi brought on Hearts On Fire four years ago. The diamond jewelry brand complements the store's reputation as a watch retailer par excellence.
"We basically provide toys for boys," Goldsmith says. "The very high-end, exclusive collectors' pieces are available and are still saleable. The more established vendors--Vacheron Constantin, Audemars Piguet, Breguet--have weathered the crisis. With a couple hundred years of history, they're not going anywhere."
Last summer, after 19 years in the same location (literally next door to upscale Betteridge Jewelers) in Greenwich, Conn., Manfredi bought the other half of the building it occupies and staged a grand reopening, growing the store from 930 square feet to 3,300 square feet. To balance the impressive watch inventory with more jewelry, owner Roberto Chiappelloni decided to install a center island dedicated to fashion-forward brands such as Damiani, Lauren K and Mariani, an Italian company that began as a maker of rosary beads for the Vatican.
"We went a bit crazy on the inventory," Goldsmith acknowledges. "We took delivery much earlier than we would have."
Like many of his peers around the country, Goldsmith has reined in his buying, opting to restock only those items that are bestsellers.
"At moments like these, the focus is on cash flow," he says. "Our other main focus has been to reduce overall inventory levels to a more comfortable level. We have full showcases and beautiful merchandise, and we are working with a number of vendors to stock balance where possible, but we're not buying as a rule."
In addition to a prudent buying policy, Manfredi's well-established presence in the Greenwich community has helped mitigate the effects of the recession. The store was founded 20 years ago as an offshoot of a Manfredi boutique on Madison Avenue in Manhattan owned by Chiappelloni's childhood friend Giulio Manfredi (the two grew up together in a little town near Piacenza, Italy). Over time, Chiappelloni's growing interest in fine watches helped him reel in big spenders of his own, many of them lured by his commitment to service excellence, as evidenced by the store's staff of master jewelers and watchmakers.
"Having individual relationships is very important when business is good but absolutely vital when business is not so good," Goldsmith says. "We can make a call and talk to at least half our clients and just ask them, 'How are you?'"
Goldsmith says the key during lean times is in keeping "less confrontational relationships."
"People don't want to be pounced on," he says. "It may seem like we have a more casual approach but it's really on purpose. We just make small talk. We don't get to the merchandise until they feel comfortable."
TIPS
David Goldsmith, store manager of Manfredi, offers a counterintuitive sales pitch for clients hit hard by the financial meltdown. Call it the store-of-wealth argument:
"A lot of people in this town are involved in hedge funds and the financial world," Goldsmith says. "The additional scrutiny will affect them for years. And if they do have the money, they're not getting much return on it. But it's a good time to buy because a) it's a buyer's market and b) we sell things of enduring value. The reality is they're putting money into something that, down the road, if they choose to trade up or sell out, they're not going to lose money."
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