Jewelry Business Guru by Cindy Edelstein

Interested in opening a jewelry gallery or other specialty retail store?

Here's a great new read!

Karen Lorene, owner of Facere Gallery in Seattle, has started a blog based on her 3 decades of retailing experience. She intends for her information to be useful to ANY business and I'm sure it will be very useful to retailers and artisans, alike.

She writes in her first entries on her "Building a Business: Try This!" blog:

Chapter One: Build on What You Know

I assume you have a business dream. I also assume you have a bit of business knowledge because you more than likely grew up having had a lemonade stand, a retail summer job, you waitressed, you babysat, you shopped. That's how much business experience I had. If I can do it, you can do it!

Here's the beginning of thirty-seven years of experience in retail. I urge you to TRY THIS!
Let's get specific.

Start a list of what you have, what you need, what you want.

click here to read the whole blog entry.

LVMH-owned eLuxury shuttering retail operations

Seen on nationaljeweler.com today:

Web site eLuxury, a destination for high-end designer closeout apparel, shoes and accessories that's owned by Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton LVMH, has closed down its retail operations and plans to convert to an "editorial destination" for information on the luxury market.

According to a press release, eLuxury ceased retail operations on June 26 and is "now moving to the next step of its evolution, a process which will reposition it as a premier source of editorial content, information and inspiration for luxury customers around the world."

read full article here.

There are so many discount/sample sale sites -- and many are selling merchandise made just for them rather than purely overstock -- that it's a wonder how they all stay afloat.

Which ones are most successful/useful in your book?????? Comments welcome.

Luxury and Necessity: Redefining Values

Women's Wear Daily took a look at what consumers say is a necessity and what is luxury (a word that is continually evolving in this recession).

"The view of American consumers about what they require, compared with what they desire, is undergoing a fundamental shift," reports Dick Silverman (with whom I started my career! I was an intern at Footwear News while in college and Dick was their Managing Editor back then! Love that I'm still quoting this excellent journalist!) in a recent WWD article.

"The staying power of that change is a core issue facing retailers and manufacturers trying to see around the post-recession curve and measure the mind-set of the buying public ........ continue the rest of the article here.

Key points:
~ Fifty-seven percent of the respondents said they were shopping more at discounters

“Americans have an aspirational ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ culture. It may not be in vogue now, but I really doubt luxury is going to go away.”

Milton Pedraza, ceo of the Luxury Institute, agreed with Chen, citing members of a recent focus group who said they still seek unique design, quality, craftsmanship and service, and will pay for it “when their wallets are fat again.”

Recession Drains Fashion from Henri Bendel in NYC - Yay, More Room for Accessories!

Henri Bendel, is planning to stop selling clothes this summer and focus on accessories and beauty products as it struggles to lure shoppers during a prolonged recession, says a news report.

"But Bendel, a division of Limited Brands, is changing its business model," reports today's New York Times,  "from the department store that was founded in 1895 to a more mall-like chain selling Bendel-branded beauty and gift items, like an $18 box of tea in the company’s signature brown-and-white stripes."

Greenwich Jewelers is Having a Designer Jewelry Auction Online for NYC Sparkle Week

What a great way to gain some attention and help out a good cause -- or three of them as the case is with NYC jeweler Greenwich Jewelers. And they're auctioning jewels from some of our favorite designers: Melissa Joy Manning, Dana David, Jamie Joseph, Suzanne Kalan and Toby Pomeroy.

Bidding ends April 25th -- that's this Saturday so hurry!

They are having a silent auction instore and bids are welcome via email, too, to raise money for:
Dress For Success ( www.dressforsuccess.org )
Hope for Kai( www.hopeforkai.com )
Planned Parenthood ( www.plannedparenthood.org )

This event is in honor of "Sparkle Week" -- a week-long publicity campaign in NYC created by the National Jewelry Institute. New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg issued the official proclamation on April 6 as a way to promote jewelry sales in time for Mother's Day and other spring gifting events. It's akin to Restaurant Week and Spa Week where businesses offer special promotions to entice customers and raise awareness.

TIP: It's a great idea for any industry, group or likeminded folks to band together for a bigger promotion than any one can create on their own. An auction here, a sale there, an exhibit over there and boom! you've got yourself a big join promotion. Can you do this in your area?

Where the High-end Customers are Shopping

The recession has chilled the spending of even high-end customers. Unity Marketing, a luxury consumer research firm based in Stevens, Pa., provided WWD with a look at the top, midtier and discount stores where consumers with annual incomes of $250,000 or more said they’ve been shopping. “The stigma attached with shopping down-market is gone,” said Pam Danziger, president of Unity Marketing.

Topping the list is Target (46% said they'd shopped there in the past year) followed by Costco, Macy's and then, finally, the old-luxury standard Nordstrom (31.9%). You can see the whole list on WWD.com.  Don't worry, Neiman Marcus and Saks made the list but so did J.C. Penny and Walmart!

My Advice for Jewelry Sellers this Trade Show Season

My advice for retailers when they head out to the Vegas Shows is to keep an open mind and be more optimistic than the current facts allow. By this I mean, you cannot create your store of the future if you're buying inventory based on your past.

Don't let fear, or the pain of recent months, drive your buying decisions.

This is the time of every norm breaking down -- of every part of your business being fractured in some way -- so do not follow what you've always done. Do not buy JUST what you "think" is safe since the old safe doesn't exist in the new marketplace.

Be open to new designers -- be open to reviewing designers you've said no to in the past.

Try blackened metals if you never thought it would work in your town or add some new colored stones or a line that is a little too avant garde for what you think your customer is. Go bigger, or more sentimental, or more colorful -- go MORE something!

Be open to the fact that your customer is thinking in new ways and trying on new things that SHE never thought about either.

Be her agent for change -- be her tour guide into new design territory that previously she might have been closed to based on a limited view.

She's scrambling to redefine herself, too. She's itching to break out of the doldrums she's been in for months or even years. If she walks into your store nowadays she's dying to be wowed.

And it's no longer just size or price that will wow her. She might not need that 2 carat diamond to impress her neighbors anymore -- she might need a personalized jewel or a sentimental choice that can show off her life rather than just her lifestyle.

And by show off I mean celebrate to the world.

Where once she might have wanted just something that screamed status -- whatever that may mean to her social crowd -- now she might want to communicate her commitment to family, social causes, environmental issues or other things that underscore her new values.

The world is different now -- luxury has to have meaning with it to movtivate the customer into parting with her money. They're not comfortable or fulfilled, by bling for bling's sake. They want more from their purchases -- they want meaning, a sense of value or to underscore their values,  they need to feel good about the message as well as the medium.

So shop with an open mind -- look for collections and items that can underscore this new, emerging definition of luxury. Your customer is waiting for you to present this to her -- she just might not know it yet.

Barneys’ Spring Orders to Be Held Until Financing Proves Less Sketchy

Read on NYmag.com:

"Last month we learned that factors had stopped approving Barneys' spring orders until the store had provided certain information on financing to prove that they, well, had it. One such factor sent a letter to vendors and designers yesterday explaining they are being "led to believe [Barneys owner] Istithmar is going to support Barneys. But until we see actual details, projections and have an opportunity to review and discuss, we are holding/declining orders." Funny he says that, because Istithmar chief David Jackson has called some of their requests "unwarranted."

    Read rest of story on New York Magazine online....

Research says Online Business is Resilient

Despite a struggling economy throughout most of this year, the majority of online retailers continue to be cautiously optimistic about how their businesses will perform during the next 12 months, according to a Shop.org annual survey.

A total of 72 percent of online retailers believe that the online channel is better suited to withstand an economic slowdown than offline channels, according to The State of Retailing Online 2008: Profitability, Economy, and Multichannel Report.

        read the rest of this article on JCKonline.com

Niche Top Retailers of the Year Award

At the Buyer's Market Show we were pleased to see our friend, Ellen Hertz owner of Max's in St. Louis Park, MN, be named one of the Top Retailers of American Craft. We whooped pretty loud when her name was called -- isn't that what friends are for?

We were also glad to see two of our other favorites galleries on the list, too. Laughing Dog Gallery in Vero Beach, FL and the fabulous Don Muller Gallery of Northampton, MA. "Whoo hoo" for you, two, too!

Here's Ellen, on right, receiving her award from BMAC owner, Wendy Rosen.

Many of the honorees are great sellers of designer jewelry -- check them out on line and maybe add them to your prospect list.

Galleries make great clients.

2008 Top Retailer Awards WINNERS LIST      

Retailer of the Year
Grovewood Gallery,  Asheville, NC

Top Retailers (listed in alphabetical order)
The Artisan Connection,  State College, PA
As Kindred Spirits,  Rockville, MD
Avalon Gallery, Delray  Beach, FL
Barnstone Gallery,  Phoenixville, PA
Boulder Arts & Crafts Gallery,  Boulder, CO
Calypso Twist, Walnut Creek,  CA
Don Drumm Studios &  Gallery, Akron, OH
Don Muller Gallery,  Northampton, MA
The Grand Hand Gallery, St.  Paul, MN
Hanson Galleries, Houston,  TX
Jane Sauer Gallery, Santa  Fe, NM
Kela’s Glass Gallery, Kapaa,  HI
The Laughing Dog Gallery,  Vero Beach, FL
Left Bank Gallery,  Wellfleet, MA
Mary Lou Zeek Gallery,  Salem, OR
Max’s, St. Louis Park, MN
Moonstones Gallery, Cambria,  CA
Pinnacle Gallery,  Scottsdale, AZ
Poppy, Columbia, MO
Pura Vida Gallery, Jerome,  AZ
R. Grey Jewelry Gallery,  Boise, ID
Signature Gallery,  Huntsville, AL
Timothy’s Gallery, Winter  Park, FL
Wave Gallery, New Haven, CT

 

Best Advertising/Direct Mail Campaign
Eclectic Galleries,  Jacksonville Beach, FL

Best Arts Nonprofit
The Clay Studio,  Philadelphia, PA

Best Customer Newsletter
Craft Company No. 6,  Rochester, NY

Best Guild Store
Ontario Crafts Council,  Toronto, ON

Best In-Store Event
Florida Craftsmen, Inc., St.  Petersburg, FL

Best Local Community Outreach
Mary Lou Zeek Gallery,  Salem, OR

Best Merchandising
Pura Vida Gallery, Jerome,  AZ

Best Museum Store
Institute of Contemporary  Art, Boston, MA

Best New Store
Haven Gallery and Fine Gifts,  Austin, TX

Best Website/Online Marketing
Best  American Arts, Columbus, OH