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CALIFORNIA UPDATE: VIDEOS FROM STORES AROUND THE STATE, MORE September 15, 2011 (0 comments)
San Luis Obispo, CA--Kevin Main Jewelers in this California city known for its wines and the Hearst Castle has been hard at work building its business despite the antics in Washington and Europe. Owner Kevin Main told The Centurion that among the things that set his store apart is his consistent participation in super long-distance bicycle races--we're talking 1,200 Kilometers!--one of which he has just completed. Here are some of the details he has posted to his web site of his participation this summer in the Paris-Brest-Paris Cycling Event:
He trained for the event by among other things commuting to work in San Luis Obispo from his home in Cayucos, CA 3-4 days a week. The event is non-competitive and self-sufficaienct is paramount (for example, you need to be really good at quickly fixing your bike if something should go wrong). When all was said and done, Main completed the 1,200 Kilometer (750 Mile) event held this summer in 80 hours and 42 minutes. Congratulations to Kevin! Click here for more pictures.
San Diego, CA--The Centurion visited with Malcolm Koll of Charles Koll Jewelers, located in the Fashion Valley shopping center. Malcolm was kind enough to give us a look at his new store. Click on the image below to take a look at the video.
Laguna Beach, CA--It was also very nice visiting with David Rubel of Rubel Jewelers in this seaside town. He and his brother Gary run the two-store operation (the second store is located in Mission Viejo).
David provided The Centurion with the video news update on the store. To watch it, click on the image below.
Riverside, CA--Keith Norris of K. Norris Jewelers spent some time with The Centurion on what looked like a pretty busy evening at the Inland Empire mall called The Galleria at Tyler, where his store does its magic. On that day, the area saw temperatures as high as 109 F. Click the image below to hear what Keith has to say about business and what he sees going forward:
Newport Beach, CA--Traditional Jewelers, which operates out of Fashion Island here and also has a store in Malibu, CA is upbeat on the future and is moving forward with a myriad of initiatives. Owner Lula Halfacre, who will be honored by the Jewelers 24 Karat Club of Southern California next month at its annual Gala, sat down with The Centurion and provided a news update on the store. Click the image below to hear what she has to say:
Santa Barbara, CA--While visiting several top jewelers in this area, The Centurion had the opportunity to make a first-time visit to Diane Garmendia's 33 Jewels here on State St. (a key shopping area). Diane showed us around her store and also gave us a glimpse of her bridal strategy, which has been working quite well for her. Click on the image below to take a look at our news update video with Diane Garmendia:
Fresno, CA--It was very nice to get back to Fresno, where two of the top stores there were kind enough to give The Centurion a news update on what's been happening with their stores.
Gary Yervan of The Vault Fine Jewelers here gave us a heartfelt view of what jewelers need to do these days to succeed. In going throug the recession in the US, he has seen sales dip and has been very pleased of late with sales results from a long-term customer-focused approach. Click the image below to watch Yervan's video and hear his fascinating thoughts:
In addition, while in Fresno we had the pleasure of visiting with James Orloff, owner of Orloff Jewelers and also president of the California Jewelers Association (CJA). James gave The Centurion two video updates--one on what's been selling and news about Orloff Jewelers and one about a brand new consumer initiative from CJA called theCaratDIET,COM.Click on the images below to watch both videos.
Orloff Store Update
CJA's Consumer Initiative
Ventura, CA--In making a couple of visits to the top stores in the Ventura area, The Centurion was pleased to make the acquaintance of Debbie Fox, owner of Fox Fine Fine Jewelry. She had two specific things to share with us about recent customer attractions she had added to the store. To find out about them, click the image below to watch the video.
Stay tuned as The Centurion files video and news reports from store visits around the US as we move forward toward Holiday 2011.