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Industry News: Silver Sales Gain Again; Edge Retail Academy Seminars; Sustainability Forum Set; More March 25, 2015 (0 comments)
U.S. Silver Jewelry Sales in 2014 Exceptional; Sixth Consecutive Year of Double Digit Growth
New York, NY—“Silver Jewelry Sales Results,” a survey conducted by National Jeweler/Jewelers of America on behalf of the Silver Institute’s Silver Promotion Service, shows silver jewelry sales in the United States last year were robust and silver jewelry has become an increasingly important sales and margin category for many jewelers for the past several years.
67% of jewelry retailers said their silver jewelry sales increased in 2014. The average increase for silver jewelry sales was 17%. Retailers said their silver jewelry sales, as a percentage of their overall jewelry sales, were on average 34% of their unit volume and 30% of their dollar volume. The best maintained margins during the holiday season were as follows (percentage of respondents rating category as "best"):
- Silver Jewelry 43%
- Diamond Jewelry 31%
- Bridal Jewelry 19%
- Gold Jewelry 7%
- Platinum Jewelry <1%
89% of retailers say they are optimistic that the current silver boom will continue for the next several years. Michael Barlerin, Silver Promotion Service director said, “The SPS and all of the participants in the Savor Silver program were obviously very pleased by the exceptional 2014 results. They are further confirmation of the significance of the role that silver jewelry is now playing at retail.”
Edge Retail Academy Announces Las Vegas And Florida Seminars
Las Vegas, NV—The Edge Retail Academy (ERA) will hold two designed to help retailers prepare for the JCK Show and the upcoming holiday season.
The first conference, Show Me The Money, will be held May 28 at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, one day before JCK Las Vegas. The one-day conference will focus on usable, effective strategies for the show. Topics will include inventory, hiring new vendors, purchasing new products, launching and displaying new products, and ongoing vendor and product management. In particular, ERA training specialists and presenters will show participants how to use The Edge software system to improve efficiency and performance in inventory management.
David Brown, co-founder and president of ERA, says, “We’ll help [retailers] create a plan that works specifically for them and their store so they can hit the show floor running. They’ll learn what to buy, how to buy it, and how to present it to their customers. They’ll have a solid, targeted plan, so they won’t waste a minute of their JCK visit.”
The second conference will be held October 11-13 at Howey In The Hills, Florida. This conference, Make It A Ho-Ho-Holiday, will prepare jewelers for the fourth quarter/holiday season with strategies on holiday inventory and business management, merchandising, handling holiday traffic, and clienteling.
Dick Abbott, co-owner of The Edge and a former retail jeweler, says this conference will not only help jewelers make the most of their holiday-season sales but also it will help create long-term plans and business strategies.
“We know first-hand how busy the holiday season and Q4 can be. We’ve been there. The features we built into The Edge are useful to jewelers every day, but during this part of the year, it not only helps jewelers bring in more holiday traffic, it makes managing the traffic, the sales, and the inventory easier than ever before.”
For information, contact Becka Johnson Kibby, (714) 925-2456; becka@edgeretailacademy.com.
Industry-Wide Sustainability And Responsible Sourcing Forum Set For August In Chicago
New York, NY—“The Jewelry Industry Summit,” an industry-wide open forum on sustainability and responsible sourcing will be held August 16-19, 2015 at the Palmer House in Chicago. Its goal is to create awareness of supply chain challenges and develop tools to mutually benefit the jewelry industry and consumers.
The summit will be an interactive and facilitated discussion about important issues of business practices and the supply chain, to ensure the jewelry industry thrives in the 21st century. Participants will include members of the diamond, colored gem and precious metal industries, trade associations, financial institutions, as well as those in the international communities.
The planning committee members determined the importance of creating the summit in order to meet the expectations of the new consumer of today and their need for transparency. Potential future government regulation of our industry also drove the interest in engaging in this discussion. The mission statement for the Summit states: “Our community of individuals from all sectors in the jewelry industry seeks at the summit to develop a shared vision to meet the challenges, to sustain our business and to improve the supply chain for our products. The goal of the summit is to discuss challenges and opportunities in the jewelry industry that can better support everyone in the supply chain.”
The Summit will be funded by registration fees, contributions by individuals and companies, (large and small alike) as well as by a ‘crowd funding’ facility hosted on Indiegogo.com. Click here for summit Information and updates, registration to participate in the summit and to donate. Among other resources, the website provides information on current voluntary initiatives and required regulations pertaining to the supply chain for precious metals, colored gemstones and diamonds. Information about initiatives driving sustainability in other industries is also available, and more is added as it becomes available.
The planning committee members for the Summit represent all facets of the industry: Ann Arnold, Ann Arnold Advisory Group; Lita Asscher, Royal Asscher; Anna Bario, Bario Neal; Robert Bentley, Robert Bentley Company; Mihir Bhansali, Firestar Diamond Inc.; Edward Boehm, Rare Source; David Bouffard, Signet Jewelers Ltd.; Eric Braunwart, Columbia Gem House, Inc.; Lisa Bridge, Ben Bridge Jewelers; Bruce Bridges, Bridges Tsavorite; Brandee Dallow, Rio Tinto Diamonds; Bill Farmer, Farmer’s Jewelry; Jeffrey Fischer, Fischer Diamonds, Inc.; Rebecca Foerster, Leo Schachter Diamonds, LLC; Karen Goracke, Borsheim’s; Stewart Grice, Hoover and Strong; Mark Hanna, Richline; Hayley Henning, True North Gems; Steve Hodgkins, Rolex USA; and Ferial Zerouki, DeBeers Group of Companies.
For more information, contact Suzan Flamm at the Jewelers Vigilance Committee, (212) 997-2002.
Providence Jewelers Club Holds Elections
E. Providence, RI—The Providence Jewelers Club announces the election of the following new directors for a three-year term to its board: Gary Eddins, White Pine Trading LLC, New York, NY, Tina Gosselin, Swarovski North America Ltd, New York, NY, and Phil Sowa, Mel-Co-Ed, Inc., Pawtucket, RI.
Re-elected to the board for three years was David White, Butler & Messier Insurance., Pawtucket, RI; and the following officers were elected to serve a one-year term:
- President: John Kelley III, Kelley Metals Corp. East Providence, RI
- Vice President: Keith Marsello, Imperial Designs, Attleboro, MA
- Treasurer: Jim Atamian, Atamian Manufacturing, Ltd., Providence, RI
- Secretary: John Antonacci, Advanced Chemical, Warwick, RI
CIBJO Plans Mine Tour After May Congress In Brazil
Milan, Italy—Registration is now open for a post-conference gem mine tour in the Brazilian state of Bahia, for participants in the 2015 CIBJO Congress, which will take place May 4-6 in Salvador da Bahia. The tour departs May 7 from Salvador, returning May 10.
The tour will focus on northeast Bahia, in the area of the Chapada Diamantina National Park, which in the 19th century was the site of a diamond rush. Today it is a protected area, attracting eco-adventurists from around the world.
The area also home to working golden rutilated quartz mines, included in the tour along with nearby historic towns. The tour will be led by Brian Cook, a geologist and long-time resident of Bahia. Cost per participant is U.S. $850 and includes flight, hotel (including breakfast), tours and tour guides, airport transfers, and a buffet dinner on Thursday, May 7. Click here for information.
Jewels Of The Sea Exhibit Opens at Vicenza Museum
Vicenza, Italy--The Vicenza Jewellery Museum is hosting Sea Jewels, Corals, Cameos, Pearls between Memory and Innovation, organized by Assocoral in collaboration with Fiera di Vicenza and curated by Cristina Del Mare. The exhibit opened last week and runs through July 1.
The exhibition presents more than 100 jewelry sets, necklaces, bracelets, brooches and cameos, transformed into jewelry by companies in Torre del Greco. The exhibition is divided into three sections: coral, cameos, and pearls.
Visitors to the Sea Jewels exhibition at the Vicenza Jewellery Museum
Corrado Facco, general manager of Fiera di Vicenza, said, “The Sea Jewels exhibition is a true journey through Italian art, manufacturing and culture, expressing the Jewellery Museum's basic philosophy through precious sea jewels. This Exhibition stresses the Museum's innovative, dynamic concept: not a celebration space, but evoking a wider jewelry spectrum. How Fiera di Vicenza strengthens its ability to create value and offer itself as an innovative example of that interconnection between business, fashion and culture.”
Sea Jewels. Corals, Cameos, Pearls between Memory and Innovation is the first temporary exhibition to be held in the museum since it opened to the public last December. The first of its kind in Italy and one of the few in the world dedicated solely to jewelry, the museum is a Fiera di Vicenza project set up in partnership with Vicenza Municipality. Hours are Monday to Friday, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday, Sunday and holidays from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Top image: Charles Garnier sterling silver bracelet