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THE CENTURION HOLIDAY SUCCESS INDEX 2011: GROWTH CONTINUES UNABATED December 14, 2011 (0 comments)
Merrick, NY—Despite recent news reports showing November retail sales overall fell short of the lofty heights that Black Friday’s numbers initially suggested, prestige level jewelers, at least, are doing well and continue to see robust growth this year vs. last year’s sales.
The Centurion 2011 Holiday Success Index for the second full week of the holiday season (December 6 through 12) shows 57.1% of respondents are experiencing growth of 10% or higher over last year’s figures for the same period. An additional 21.4% have posted more moderate gains of between 1% and 5%, for a total of more than three-fourths (78.5%) of respondents showing sales growth for the period. But 23.1% are showing sales declines for the week—7.1% are down between 6% and 10%, while 14.3% are down more than 10% over last year’s figures for the same period.
57.1% of respondents to The Centurion's exclusive spot-check survey of business among prestige jewelers say their sales for the second full week of the holiday season beat last year's figures by 10% or more (red slice), while 21.4% are up between 1% and 5% for the period (dark blue slice). But 7.1% have experienced a moderate decline (brown slice) and 14.3% say sales are off more than 10% this week compared to the same time last year (light blue slice).
Respondents also were asked what product or product categories have been their strongest sellers this holiday period. In our exclusive spot-check survey, not surprisingly, the biggest percentage of respondents (36.3%) identified diamonds or diamond jewelry as the top seller, but 27.2% said sales have been too mixed to identify one single category as a best-seller.
Diamond jewelry, such as these earrings from Christopher Designs, is always a best-seller for the holiday season.
Rolex, another standard, is doing well for about 18% of respondents, while 18% also report gold fashion or designer jewelry doing well. Some other products identified by name include Pandora, Nanis silver, exotic pearls, and Tag Heuer watches, along with Hearts on Fire.