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Showing posts from December, 2011

Seven billion, and counting - part 2

We left off, on the last post, posing a question.  Just what will retailers need to consider in the coming decade, especially when it comes to the diamond business? We can make some reasonably good assumptions, and speculate from there.  (I am thinking mostly of the US market, but most of these points apply in many established markets). The number of brick and mortar retailers will slowly decline.  Persistently high costs of materials (metal and stones) will cause local markets to consolidate further, spurred by low unit sales.  That will mean that efficient, well-capitalized and marketing-oriented operations will accrete volume, become dominant and drive even more operations out of business.  We already see that effect now, with some retailers having very good business in these economically difficult times, while others are doing poorly. Diamonds will remain the bedrock of the business (even though specialized retailers dealing in fashion goods made with alternative materials, i