(IDEX Online News) - The final round of retailers interviewed by National Jeweler reported a strong finish to a much-improved holiday season, as shoppers crowded jewelry stores on the last few days before Christmas.

 

Sunday's snowstorm that is currently crippling commerce in much of the Northeast and portions of the South held off long enough for shoppers to hit the stores late last week and either pick out last-minute gifts for loved ones or pick up custom pieces ordered earlier in the season.

 

National Jeweler published a weekly holiday sales roundup every Monday throughout the holiday season. The roundups encompassed interviews with independent retailers chosen according to region: Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, South Central and West.

 

For this seventh and final edition of the holiday sales roundup, editors asked jewelers about how their sales were in the last few days leading up to Christmas and for the holiday season as a whole.

 

Northeast

On the night before Christmas, business was "booming" at Ralph Miller Jewelers & Gallery in Erie, Pa., said owner Daniel Niebauer.

"We had pretty much all hands on deck and we couldn't keep up," he said.

 

Overall, he said the holidays topped last year's season due to the store's decision to ramp up its advertising efforts closer to Christmas.

 

"We were just everywhere—on cable, on the radio, on during the TV news," Niebauer said. "We really pushed prime times. We had a lot of new customers because of it."

 

At Watchmakers Jewelry in Johnstown, Pa., J. Dennis Petimezas also experienced a bustling last few days before Dec. 25.

 

"It exceeded our expectations. We were very busy," he said. "It was like 2006."

 

The holiday season as a whole was a significant improvement over 2009, Petimezas said.

 

Southeast

Last Thursday and Friday were very good days for Jerry Gause, owner of Gause & Son Jewelers, with two locations in Ocala, Fla.

 

"Christmas Eve was amazing up until almost 5 o'clock," he said.

 

While the holiday season as a whole was an improvement over 2009, Gause said he was disappointed they didn't sell more standout pieces.

 

"I thought it would be better than last year with the better, nicer pieces, but that didn't prevail like I thought it would," he said.

 

At Elizabeth Bruns Jewelers in Charlotte, N.C., Wilson Glasgow said Christmas Eve was the busiest day the store has seen in three to four years, with many "five-figure" transactions taking place that day. The holiday season overall was more successful than anticipated.

 

"We had a wonderful holiday season, and I'm very thankful," he said. 

 

Midwest

John Anshus of Anshus Jewelers in Menomonie, Wis., has yet to total the store's holiday figures, but Anshus said the staff is feeling pretty happy given the course of holiday sales and traffic.

 

"I would say we matched last year, which was a good year for us," he said.

 

The retailer experienced a burst of activity in the last few shopping days before Christmas, something the staff had been expecting as the store's customers tend to be late shoppers.

 

Gold, diamond pendants and earrings sold well at Anshus Jewelers this year, as did sterling silver, which Anshus said was no surprise.

 

"We sold a lot of sterling this year, of course," he said. "I think everyone did because of the price range."

 

Sterling silver was a hot seller, too, at Billmeier Jewelers in Saginaw, Mich. The store's Mark Billmeier said that the retailer's new line of Bastian Inverun silver "was just blowing out of here."

 

Entry-level price point sales, those around or under $1,000, were prevalent at Billmeier Jewelers in the last few days before Christmas, with silver, white gold and diamonds, and gemstone designs moving.

 

Billmeier said the retailer has yet to do its totals for the season, but either way the results go, he will be surprised.

 

"It could be really good or really sad," he said. "But we did have a lot of traffic."

 

South Central

"Sales were better, considerably better over the last year," Vicki Cunningham, co-owner of Cunningham Fine Jewelry in Tulsa, Okla., said of sales in the final days leading up to Christmas.

 

Cunningham said the retailer hasn't yet added up its final holiday figures, but added that overall sales for the season seem to be about even with last year's holiday sales.

 

As for what was selling, Pandora sold swiftly, Cunningham said, as did diamond classics such as studs and hoops. In addition, the retailer did a lot of custom design. Cunningham Fine Jewelry began using Stuller and Gemvision's CounterSketch Studio design software program in the store this year, making for a faster turnaround on custom designs and less stress on the jeweler, Cunningham said.

 

Also in the South Central region, San Antonio jeweler Aaron Penaloza of C. Aaron Penaloza Jewelers said that sales overall were "much, much better than last year."

 

Coming off the heels of a "gangbuster" weekend, Dec. 18 and 19, the last few days before Christmas "kind of didn't live up to the promise," Penaloza said. "Before [that weekend] we were running maybe 40, almost 50 percent ahead of last year's figures. By the time Christmas rolled around, we were 30 percent ahead."

 

Overall, that made for quite a good year compared to holiday 2009, with the retailer doing especially well with diamond jewelry and estate jewelry sales. In addition, sterling silver performed strongly at the Texas store, including colored gemstone and sterling silver pieces from the Wild Gems and Lorenzo lines.

 

West

Steve Goldfarb of Alvin Goldfarb Jeweler said store sales for the season seem "very close to last year." The season is not yet finished, however, Goldfarb added, as customers are likely to do some post-Christmas shopping and also come in to do returns and exchanges.

 

The retailer, who operates locations in Seattle and Bellevue, Wash., said Christmas Eve made for "maybe the busiest 24th we've ever had," adding that a lot of new faces seemed to be coming into the store this year. Pre-Christmas, Goldfarb saw a mixed bag of sales, with pieces selling in the hundreds and thousands of dollars in a variety of categories.

 

Sales were also all over the board in different categories at Hart Jewelers in Grants Pass, Ore.

 

"It was mostly items $2,000 and under, a lot of items in the $50 to $500 range," said owner Tom Hart.

 

Overall, Hart said the retailer seems to be about even with last year's holiday sales. But he added that December isn't done yet.

 

"I'm still optimistic," he said.