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Showing posts from June, 2014

The Retailers' Dilemma - Getting A Bigger Piece of the Pie!

This is the July 4th week, and it (finally!) affords me the opportunity to sit back in a nicely air-conditioned office and think about 2014 as it passes mid-year.  The jewelry business continues to be roiled by changes that are hard to translate into action plans. The summer trade shows seemed to be well-attended and active.  But orders were smaller than anticipated, especially for mid-market suppliers.  Retailers are buying carefully and ordering less (understandable), but as a result vendors are seeing the costs of exhibiting getting harder to justify.  No industry-wide efforts are being made, or proposed, to market jewelry to the public.  This comes at a time when surveys show that younger consumers are more excited about buying the latest electronics than buying jewelry. Big time consolidation continues.  Sterling buys Zales.  Chow Tai Fook buys Hearts On Fire.  And the head of Alrosa foresees contraction in the diamond sector.  Fewer dealers, fewer cutters.  We have already s