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U.S. Retail
By Lara Ewen
Even after an unseasonably warm winter throughout most of the U.S., spring was a welcome arrival, bringing larger sales and more serious customers into the stores. Although many retailers noted that traffic continued to trend slightly down, it didn’t prevent consumers from purchasing significant gifts and bridal. And while online information gathering has become an increasingly normal part of younger customers’ buying experiences, savvy retailers with dedicated social media hires found ways to make that work for them. Moving further into this particularly intense election season, most store owners felt that sales would remain unpredictable, but were hopeful that after November, customers’ nerves would finally settle and sales would stabilize.
Although many retailers were still unhappy about the relatively slow 2015 holiday season, early 2016 sales were robust. “I’m hopeful that we are on an upswing,” said Tamara C. Toms, certified gemologist and operation manager at Carreras Jewelers in Richmond, Virginia. “We’ve had a few larger sales in 2016 that were initiated in 2015, and our February 2016 sale this year was better than we’ve ever experienced. We sold almost twice as much as any year prior, and we’re up almost 35 percent over 2015 for the start of the year.” Even for stores that are seeing more modest gains, business is decent. However, current fashion trends and lighter traffic mean fewer sales and smaller receipts. “Business is okay,” said Hy Goldberg, owner of Safian & Rudolph Jewelers in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. “But December and February are historically two heavier months, and both of those were hit hard when the market dropped. And traffic isn’t what it was years ago, so when you have less traffic you have fewer chances to sell.” Goldberg also said that the items that are selling these days are less expensive pieces than customers previously bought. “We’re selling lightweight items like diamonds by the yard, which is just a less expensive piece of jewelry. So even though sometimes the volume is the same, we’re missing a few zeros at the end of the month.”
Although business is basically good for Kathy Cary, stone and diamond buyer and graduate gemologist at Skeie’s Jewelers in Eugene, Oregon, traffic is slow at her store as well, and she said the nature of the business is changing. “Traffic is not perfect,” she said. “But even though we have fewer people coming into the store, we have more serious people coming in.” Cary said a lot of that has to do with online encroachment. “There’s a larger segment of the population shopping online,” she said. “The younger generation grew up online and shopping that way is a natural extension of their life. So we have fewer people coming in, but actually, business is good. The people who do come in are here to buy.” In Las Vegas, Nevada, John Nichols, sales manager at Huntington Jewelers, is also seeing less traffic and a higher closing rate. He said his city’s sluggish economy and an increase in online shopping made things difficult, though not impossible. “Business is quiet,” he said. “Las Vegas hasn’t seen a recovery yet for mom-and-pop operations. That said, we’re a destination store, so the closing rate is 95 percent. No one comes here just to gawk. But when you only have two people walk in a day, it’s not good.” Nichols said the biggest struggle for the 66-year-old store is reaching the grandchildren of its original customers. “Shopping used to be an experience,” he said. “Now Millennials buy online. And people come in with earphones on, and you want them to connect with you, and not their phone. Still, we’re holding on and doing a little bit of business. Even now, I have 20 custom jobs I’m working on.”
Changes in retailing, and particularly the impact of online advancements, have affected not only the traffic in stores, but in-store experiences as well. “The year so far has been okay,” said Perry Sporn, owner of Perrywinkle’s, with one store in Vermont and three stores in upstate New York. “It’s not great, but it’s as we expected. Retail is slightly ahead year-on-year, but we’ve had major shifts. I think more than 700 jewelry stores closed across the country in 2015.” Sporn said that for him, the biggest change has come with the influx of online shoppers and online researching. “Today, people buy things online, and they’re doing a lot of shopping before they go to stores. Plus, Millennials are very focused on things being customized and unique to them. So we’re focused on buying for them, and we create events that maybe don’t generate sales, but are about community. We call it ‘retailtainment,’ and we’re continuing to invest in that.”Article from the Rapaport Magazine - April 2016. To subscribe click here.
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