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Exclusive: Higher tickets boost holiday sales for jewelers
December 22, 2006
Jewelers who spoke with National Jeweler today reported mixed sales results heading into the final week of the holiday selling season, with slower traffic compared to years past, but higher-than-average ticket prices that buoyed sales figures.
At Evan James Ltd. in Brattleboro, Vt., owner Evan James Deutsch says sales during the week remained relatively on par with sales during the same period last year, although Saturday stood out as an exceptionally strong day.
"Our closing ratio was over 80 percent on Saturday," he says. "All the customers knew what they wanted, and we have the inventory and the talented staff to sell it to them."
Deutsch says he has done exceptionally well with bridal and diamond sales, and watches such as Movado and Seiko have proven strong for the entire quarter.
But despite a strong month of sales, Deutsch remains, like most retailers, anxious to see what the next seven days—traditionally the biggest sales week of his year—will bring.
Steven Duvarney, owner of Duvarney Jewelers in Fitchburg, Mass., also remains cautiously optimistic about the season.
"Sales last week were good," Duvarney says. "We're still not seeing quite the traffic that we would like, but individual sales were good."
Larger-ticket bridal and diamond sales have done well for Duvarney this year, but watches, especially Rolex, have stood out as a particularly strong category.
"Watches are really good for us," he says. "Our average transaction is significant in watches, so when the units are up, that's really good for the store."
Sales have been much slower at Leonard's Jewelers in Mount Airy, N.C., where a depressed regional economy has kept business slow for all local retailers, says owner Walter Leonard Jr.
Leonard has sold a few engagement rings this year, but far fewer than in years past. He did not re-order watches this year, and the Citizen and Seiko watches left over from seasons past have not moved very well.
Watches are also down for Louis Castiglione, owner of Castiglione Jewelers in Gloversville, N.Y., but engagement ring and diamond sales are up.
"The traffic has been spotty, but the dollars keep coming in," says Castiglione. "If it keeps going the way it's been going, we are going to be up from last year."
For Aaron Penaloza of C. Aaron Penaloza Jewelers, in San Antonio, Texas, the week heading into the first few days of Hanukkah really made the month for his store.
"It was fantastic. It absolutely just blew the doors off—incredible." Penaloza says. "We did more in that one week than we usually do in a month."
While Penaloza says the store in general experienced good traffic and business the entire week, it was two sales that really made the difference: One was a diamond anniversary ring with 10 carats of emerald-cut diamonds. The other was from a generous customer doing some Hannukah shopping for his lucky wife.
"We had one customer who came in on Monday and bought seven items. He's a regular customer and comes in every year. He says his wife likes to open a lot of presents," Penaloza says.
For Kelly Newton of Newton's Jewelers in Fort Smith, Ark., the week was also a success.
"It seems like we sold a little bit of everything this past week, a whole myriad all over the store," Newton says.
The mix included strong Rolex and Roberto Coin sales, and strong bridal sales as well.
"The engagement ring business is really big. We have a couple on their way from Little Rock as we speak," Newton says.
Newton explains that his store sees customers coming in from all over Arkansas, specifically for engagement rings. He attributes this to word-of-mouth referrals and his store's long history, which has been in business for 93 years.
Over in Amarillo, Texas, Jeff Fox of Barnes Jewelry says his store is up about 20 percent over the same week last year, with bridal and engagement ring sales going strong, but traditional pieces doing event better.
"The hottest thing for us again are the classics—diamond studs, 'Journey' pieces and Rolex," Fox says.
Though customers may not have referred to the Journey pieces by name, Fox says they did ask for the "snake-like pendants" they've seen in the Journey advertisements.
Thinking ahead through the last few days before Christmas, Fox remains optimistic for strong sales.
"I think it's going to be good. My only concern is ice and snow this week, but other than that, I think it'll be great," he says.
At Anshus Jewelers in Menomonie, Wis., owner John Anshus says it continues to be a good season, though at this point he can't quantify it. Overall, he says traffic at the store is down, but sales are actually moving in the opposite direction.
"Our sales are up quite a bit and they keep growing each year," he says.
One thing he sees as a plus for the business is its longevity (his father started it in 1915) and quality, as he focuses on finer jewelry and Ideal-cut diamonds.
Anshus says it's hard at this point to tell what's been selling the best this holiday season, but he has seen steady business in diamonds, watches and colored stones.
"We had a rush on colored-stone rings," he says. "Chains are down a little bit, but we're selling a lot of pendants."
Among diamond jewelry, he is surprised to see that Journey has started to catch on, when his customers typically take a longer time to pay attention to trends.
"It really surprised me that people started asking for it, but it was promoted in so many price ranges that many are aware of it," he says. "We thought we wouldn't have much call for it this year, but we've had a call for it."
Even though sales are up, costs are up as well, so Anshus says it's hard to tell right now how the profit picture will pan out.
"All of this generates more money, but you really don't know if the profit is going to be greater, the same or less at the end of the year, but the total sales are greater," Anshus says.
Editor's Note: To learn how you can maximize your holiday sales, swap ideas with peers in the National Jeweler Network Forum. This story was first published on Dec. 18, 2006.
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