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.

 

 

Northeast

Sales were strong for two Northeast jewelers over the weekend, with both reporting that customers were tending toward classic and turning away from trendy.

 

At Evan James Ltd. in Brattleboro, Vermont, owner Evan James Deutsch said his store was busy on Friday and Sunday (the store is only open on Sundays during the holiday season), but Saturday sales and traffic were disappointing.

 

To date, he said his holiday sales are on par with last season.

 

"We're pretty much right on track to where we were last year," Deutsch said, noting that sales during holiday season 2008 were "acceptable."

 

One trend he noted is the number of consumers still selling gold or old jewelry for cash, a trend that is extending farther into this holiday season than it has in previous years.

 

"We're getting a lot of traffic from people who are selling because they need money to buy gifts or pay bills," he said. "That's a big business for us anyway, but normally, as far as the season goes, we didn't see a lot of that [last] December."

 

As for those actually buying jewelry, Deutsch said his customers are sticking to the classics, purchasing bridal as well as diamond jewelry mainstays: stud earrings priced between $200 and $1,000, and tennis bracelets priced between $2,000 and $3,000.

 

"Nobody is going out on a limb and looking for things that are not traditional styles," he said.

 

Customers are staying away from gold pieces for obvious reasons: the metal's high price, he said.

 

Good store traffic did not always translate into better sales

At Manfredi Jewels in Greenwich, Connecticut, manager David Goldsmith reported strong sales over the weekend, and said that overall, his store is up about 10 percent compared with last year.

 

"Saturday was very nice-good activity, good sales, good price points. It actually felt like a holiday season," he said.

 

The highlight of the weekend came on Saturday when a customer who came in to replace his watchband bought a $42,000 diamond and pearl necklace for his wife after simply spotting the sparkler in a display case.

 

Goldsmith said this kind of off-the-cuff, high-end purchase didn't happen last year in the immediate wake of the economic meltdown.

 

"That was something I really didn't see last year," he said.

 

He said his customers-most of whom are employed in the financial industry-seem to be more positive and feel they have more freedom to spend this holiday season.

 

Popular sellers in his store include watches, particularly for classic brands such as IWC, and, for women, Chanel.

 

In recent years, Goldsmith said the trend in watches has been "the larger and the stranger, the better," but-like Deutsch saw in his store with diamond jewelry styles-the economic crisis seems to have consumers reverting to the tried and true, abandoning more trendy timepieces.

 

 

Business was steady over the weekend at the Cumberland Diamond Exchange in Smyrna, Georgia, said president Mark Jacobson.

 

Sales of non-bridal diamond jewelry hovered in the $400 to $1,000 price range, with customers snapping up more classic diamond styles.

 

Popular sellers included straight-line bracelets, solitaire earrings and inside-out hoop earrings.

 

"Things that are timeless, they'll be in style forever," Jacobson said. "The big, showy pieces aren't the market right now. I think a lot of designers are toning down because of that."

 

The Cumberland Diamond Exchange also is one of the approximately 300 retailers that signed on to the program for De Beers' Everlon Diamond Knot Collection, a diamond jewelry design intended to drive sales such as "Past, Present, Future" and "Journey" have done in the past.

 

So far, Jacobson said consumer awareness about Everlon, which is advertised on TV and in major magazines, is strong.

 

"It has sparked an interest, and people are coming in and asking for it," he said.

 

Overall, Jacobson reported that sales at his suburban Atlanta store are up 25 percent over last year.

 

While the store is off to a strong start, Jacobson remains cautious in his predictions for the remaining weeks of the holiday season.

 

"We've got to do some strong numbers still to finish it," he said.

 

Jacobson was unable to comment on online sales for his business, as its Web site is not set up for e-commerce. But, he said, the Web site does drive foot traffic to his stores: Web surfers spot pieces they like on the site and come into the store to check them out in person.

 

"It definitely works," he said. "Am I missing the boat [on e-commerce]? Probably, but I'm still an old-school retailer. That could be next year's new model."

 

At Allen's Jewelers in Albany, Georgia, owner Steve Allen is still waiting for the holiday season to really get rolling.

 

He said for him, Black Friday and the first couple of weeks of the holiday shopping season are when consumers in his area head for the malls.

 

In his store, sales don't pick up until Christmas gets closer.

 

"We're having a lot of traffic," he said, "just not a lot of buyers."

 

Whether these browsers will return and become buyers this season remains to be seen.

 

"It's looks dismal, but we hope for the best," Allen says.

 

Midwest

Strong consumer awareness for Everlon thanks to TV commercials and ads in advertising in major magazines

At Metal Works Fine Jewelry, e-commerce is a relatively new feature for the Yorktown, Indiana-based retailer. Given that the capability has been up for less than a year, owner Gene Gragg said, "We're not expecting a lot from it yet, but we are noticing more traffic."

 

Over the holiday season thus far, the retailer's Web site, MetalWorksJewelry.biz, has been helpful in stirring up customer interest. Inquiries from visitors to the site have been especially strong in the area of custom services.

 

As for those shopping in-store over the last week, Gragg said sterling silver has been doing well.

 

Over in Menomonie, Wisconsin, John Anshus and his sales associates at Anshus Jewelers focus on customers in-store. The retailer does not have a Web site, but draws customers via billboards, television advertisements and ads in newspapers.

 

"We did fairly well," Anshus said of sales over the last week. "We did have an influx of people buying smaller gifts," those in the $100 to $400 range, he said.

 

Among the pieces selling in that range were silver jewelry, watches and earrings.

 

South Central

Vicki Cunningham, co-owner of Cunningham Fine Jewelry in Oklahoma City, said that while she isn't quite sure how much traffic stems from the Cunningham Web site, she does get a lot of e-mail requests for pricing.

 

While customers may have been taking part in Cyber Monday, buying electronics and other goods online, the Cunningham operation did well that day in-store.

 

"We had a bigger day in the store [on Cyber Monday] than the same Monday of last year," Cunningham said.

 

It was a good weekend in general for Cunningham Fine Jewelry. Though normally closed on Sunday, the store has begun offering Sunday hours during the holiday season, and sales of Pandora, Bellari and diamond key jewelry have been doing well, Cunningham said.

 

At Newton's Jewelers in Fort Smith, Arkansas, diamonds have been selling briskly, especially engagement rings and diamond stud earrings, said owner Kelly Newton.

 

"We're selling a lot more diamonds in higher price points-diamonds a carat to a carat and a half," he said.

 

The retailer draws traffic through billboard advertising, as well as ads in regional newspapers and magazines, but one advertising vehicle Newton's Jewelers has been especially successful with recently is a flyer from the local chamber of commerce.

 

As for the retailer's Web site, hits are up, Newton said, with an ad on the local newspaper's e-newsletter helping to draw visitors to Newtons-Jewelers.com.

 

West

Over in Ventura, California, Fox Fine Jewelry has been revving up for an e-commerce launch. It's been quite an undertaking, said co-owner Debbie Fox, adding that doing it right requires professional photographs and answering a whole lot of questions about how to run the venture, such as will customers have the option to return pieces bought online?

 

Until the feature launches, Fox Fine Jewelry is focusing on keeping visitors to the site up to date on all of the retailer's holiday events, such as a ladies' night event that drew customers in last week.

 

"It feels like a slow start to Christmas, but when I look at our numbers, I see that they're pretty identical to last year," Fox said, adding that she has seen a greater differentiation in terms of price-point sales.

 

"It seems like the middle has dropped down to a large extent, and I'm seeing very inexpensive pieces [sell], and I'm seeing some higher pieces," she said. "But the middle range seems to have dropped significantly."

 

Silver is selling, Fox said, with stones and without, not a surprise given that consumers seeking out the metal can get a big look for less compared with white gold designs or platinum.

 

Steve Goldfarb of Alvin Goldfarb Jeweler said the Washington State-based retailer isn't big on Internet sales, but the operation's Web site does serve to bring in customers.

 

"As much as we talk about it for sales, what it really is advertising," Goldfarb said of the Web site. "It's our first, best and most cost-effective advertising."

 

One area of the site that garners especially strong traffic is the bridal section.

 

"Bridal is off the charts," Goldfarb said. "It's four to five times more traffic [than other product pages]."

 

Traffic in-store over the last weekend was "not explosive but steady," according to Goldfarb. An interesting trend, Goldfarb has found, is the number of customers who are willing to forgo the surprise gift this year.

 

Goldfarb described a customer who came in and zeroed in on a pair of diamond stud earrings for his wife, but instead of surprising her on Christmas Day, decided he'd rather bring her in and have her be a part of the decision.

 

"While people are optimistic and are going to spend money this Christmas, they're also willing to forgo the surprise to make it right," Goldfarb said.