IDEX Online Research: U.S. Jewelry Wholesalers and Manufacturers Declining
June 20, 06 by Ken Gassman
(The article below has been excerpted and updated from our May 2006 IDEX Magazine)
While the aggregate number of jewelry wholesalers has grown since 1997, it has been stagnant for the past three years. In 2005, the jewelry wholesaler census showed a modest drop, a trend that IDEX Online Research believes is the beginning of a long term decline.
The IDEX Online forecast calls for the number of jewelry wholesalers to decline sharply over the next several years as retail jewelers such as Kay, Zale, and others accelerate their efforts to direct-source diamonds and other jewelry from overseas manufacturers.
Source: Jewelers Board of Trade |
The number of U.S. jewelry manufacturers also declined in 2005 at an accelerating rate. Over the past ten years, more than 1,000 U.S. based jewelry manufacturers have gone out of business or moved their operations off-shore. This represents a decline of nearly 25 percent in the number of jewelry manufacturers based in the U.S. IDEX Online estimates that U.S. manufacturing capacity has declined by 30-35 percent in the same period.
Source: Jewelers Board of Trade |
