Reporting on the business of bling
By Flickr user Anne OeldorfhirschSeems like everywhere you glance this month, a diamond advertisement is desperately twinkling back.
With metals prices soaring and consumer purse-strings pulled tight, it’s been another lackluster year for the jewelry industry.
Adding to the woes: Gold hovered near a whopping $1,140 an ounce on Monday, with silver and platinum futures also bounding up nearly 5 percent for the day.
Meanwhile Tiffany & Co., which will report third-quarter earnings next week, has said sales in the first half of 2009 were down nearly 20 percent. The mammoth Zale chain, with nearly 1,200 stores, last week reported a devastating $190 million loss, calling its 2009 fiscal period “the most difficult year in retailing in memory.”
This crucial fourth-quarter will be make-it or break-it for many retailers, and they’re making a valiant push, reminding us that every holiday kiss begins with the latest fad in jewelry design, from past-present-future diamond combos to right-hand dinner rings to retro multi-strands of “Mad Men” style pearls.
Sitting for a few minutes in an airport lounge the other day, I watched no fewer than three chain jewelry merchant commercials flash by between football plays. And lately, my junk mail offers more flyers, postcards and promos than ever before from local jewelry shops.
The story is ripe for a pre-holiday biz centerpiece focusing on the fate of your local jewelry, gem and watch purveyors. Often the non-chain shops are multi-generation family businesses with interesting tales to tell, while the national chains are – or were – some of the more glamorous and upscale tenants in your regional malls.
Here’s an interesting overview of the U.S. industry from consultant Mark S. Gottlieb in New York; it’s undated and some stats may be out of date but it gives a good breakdown of the jewelry markets and channels. Note that the chain moving the most fine jewelry is Wal-Mart, and there’s a certain irony there. QVC and other home shopping channels are right up there too; some of the factoids are astounding.
The Jewelers of America industry association can direct you to state trade groups.
Other resources include JCKonline.com, the Web version of the Jewelers Circular Keystone, a 140-year-old trade journal, and the International Diamond Exchange (IDEX). Don’t forget about the National Retail Federation and International Council of Shopping Centers; they’ll have commentary or stats on the jewelry sector.
Another worthwhile read is a report earlier this year in The Deal which details a plethora of jewelry retailer bankruptcies.
Here’s an industry blog by jewelry chain president Nicholas White which offers inside insight that will help you formulate questions for local stores.
Other angles include the trade in watches and estate jewelry, home jewelry sales, pawn shops and profiles of artisans and crafts persons along with their shows and exhibits.
If you take the personal finance tack, here’s a Smart Money piece about savvy consumer strategies amid soaring gold costs.
