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LAS VEGAS --- March 11, 2010 -- The American shopper is saying, "Less is more and it's OK."

Wendy Liebmann, CEO of WSL Strategic Retail (and chief shopper), previewed results of the 2010 edition of How America Shops Mega Trends study during GlobalShop 2010. American shoppers, she says, have become almost European in their attitudes, a shift not likely to change anytime soon.

A few results from surveys of female shoppers: 

63 percent say they've grown used to buying less.

17 percent say they will go back to spending more as soon as they can -- they miss buying things.

20 percent have the money to shop now, but say they don't feel comfortable spending it. 

Seven out of 10 say it's important to get the best price on most things they buy. 

Liebmann and her associates have devised a few shopping personality profiles to illustrate the current state of retail:

"Miserable Mona" continues to feel the effects of the Great Recession and sticks to discount stores; she doesn't want to be tempted by anything she doesn't need.

"Shop A Lot Sue" continues to comparison shop, looking for good deals.

"I'll Pass Patty" may have the money but can't muster much interest.

"Bubble Barbie" is maxed out but keeps on shopping.

"Chic Chic Charlotte" is doing quite well, but still shopping cautiously, concerned perhaps about political correctness.

So what's a retailer to do to adapt to the attitudes of these characters and their male counterparts? "We have to romance the stores to levels we have never done before," Liebmann says. "Be bold or fail. Incremental change doesn't work anymore."

Restate the worth of your brand. Explain why they need it and validate why it's worth it.  Keep telling stories about the product. 64 percent of consumers agree with the statement, "Before I buy something, I stop to ask myself, is this a smart use of my money?" If the experience and the story behind the product doesn't convince them of that, they are out of there.

Another indicator of how Americans are craving positive experiences and relaxation: Consumers say if they had discretionary money to spend right now, they'd 1. Go out to dinner. 2. Go on vacation. 3. Go to a spa.

As far as visual merchandising -- Use more color. Be a bright spot in their lives.

LAS VEGAS - March 10, 2010 -- If you think all this tweeting, blogging and social-networking stuff is a fad -- (You know who you are) -- think again. The world will move on before you catch up.

The opening conference session at GlobalShop 2010 (www.globalshop.org) today featured speaker Joe Feczko, senior vice-president, innovation, integration and broadcast for Macy's. His topic? "Forget About Twitter and Facebook -- Why the American Department Store Is the New Social Experience."

Feczko cited statistics that while 14 percent of consumers trust advertising, 78 percent trust peer recommendations found on social networks. One of eight couples recently married in the U.S. met online. Facebook added 100 million users in the space of nine months.

The key is using new technology to create a community for your own business -- all focused on the brick-and-mortar store at the center of it.

Macy's, of course, is steeped in tradition, but it's Feczko's job to look to the future. While the average age of the Macy's shopper is 54, scores of younger shoppers can be brought into the fold if the company reaches them where they live. "We can leverage social networking to bring people together in the store," he says.

How is this achieved? Brick-and-mortar stores become a center of social networking by continuing their tradition of community involvement and social responsibility, Feczko says.

New modes of social media can drive people to the store to participate.

Last year, Macy's Feed America program met its goal to fund 10 million meals by cross-promoting the fund-raising effort online, in broadcast ads and through store events. The Feed America website even became its own social network.

The Believe campaign for the holidays encouraged shoppers to write letters to Santa and bring them to a drop box in the store. For each letter, Macy's donated $1 to the Make a Wish Foundation. "We created a new tradition," Feczko says.

Macy's is also using online marketing in ever more cutting-edge ways.

The company has created a fashion challenge each day online that got 1 million hits on Day 1. Shoppers are invited every day to meet a new design challenge by pulling together an outfit. The participant who is able to get the most votes from their social-networking friends wins the outfit (in the form of a $500 gift card). Today's challenge? "Choose an outfit for having coffee with your ex."

The company creates "webisodes" on YouTube that tie in to the fashion-director concept and promote Macy's in a subtle but entertaining way. Martha Stewart, for example, in one webisode, helps the hungover residents of a trashed frat house fix the place up in anticipation of parents' day, with a hilarious trip to Macy's for suitable decor. (macys.com/fashiondirector) The webisodes are promoted by 15 second broadcast ads, too.

But all this is only the beginning, Feczko says, of a rapidly evolving technological revolution.

Next up? QR or two-dimensional bar codes on packaging, advertising, etc., that will be able to be scanned by a smart phone and connect instantly with a URL. No typing, no keyboard,  required. Common in Japan, QR is the next big thing for American retailers and manufacturers, Feczko predicts.

"It's all about not getting too far behind the learning curve," he says.

The opening conference session at GlobalShop 2010 (www.globalshop.org) in Las Vegas today featured speaker Joe Feczko, senior vice-president, innovation, integration and broadcast for Macy's. His topic? "Forget About Twitter and Facebook -- Why the American Department Store Is the New Social Experience."

First of all, if you think all this tweeting, blogging and social-networking stuff is a fad -- (You know who you are) -- think again, Feczko says. The world will move on before you catch up.

Feczko cited statistics that while 14 percent of consumers trust advertising, 78 percent trust peer recommendations found on social networks. One of eight couples recently married in the U.S. met online. Facebook added 100 million users in the space of nine months.

The key is using new technology to create a community for your own business -- all focused on the brick-and-mortar store at the center of it.

Macy's, of course, is steeped in tradition, but it's Feczko's job to look to the future. While the average age of the Macy's shopper is 54, scores of younger shoppers can be brought into the fold if the company reaches them where they live. "We can leverage social networking to bring people together in the store," he says.

How is this achieved? Brick-and-mortar stores become a center of social networking by continuing their tradition of community involvement and social responsibility, Feczko says.

New modes of social media can drive people to the store to participate.

Last year, Macy's Feed America program met its goal to fund 10 million meals by cross-promoting the fund-raising effort online, in broadcast ads and through store events. The Feed America website even became its own social network.

The Believe campaign for the holidays encouraged shoppers to write letters to Santa and bring them to a drop box in the store. For each letter, Macy's donated $1 to the Make a Wish Foundation. "We created a new tradition," Feczko says.

Macy's is also using online marketing in ever more cutting-edge ways.

The company has created a fashion challenge each day online that got 1 million hits on Day 1. Shoppers are invited every day to meet a new design challenge by pulling together an outfit. The participant who is able to get the most votes from their social-networking friends wins the outfit.

The company creates "webisodes" on YouTube that promotes Macy's in a subtle but entertaining way. Martha Stewart, for example, in one webisode, helps the hungover residents of a trashed frat house fix the place up in anticipation of parents' day, with a hilarious trip to Macy's for suitable decor. (macys.com/fashiondirector) The webisodes are promoted by 15 second broadcast ads, too.

But all this is only the beginning, Feczko says, of a rapidly evolving technological revolution.

Next up? QR or two-dimensional bar codes on packaging, advertising, etc., that will be able to be scanned by a smart phone and connect instantly with a URL. No typing, no keyboard,  required. Common in Japan, QR is the next big thing for American retailers and manufacturers, Feczko predicts.

"It's all about not getting too far behind the learning curve," he says.

Bling is no longer the thing at red carpet events.  Low key and subdued is the message A-List celebrities have been sending out for some time now. And, personally,  I think this couldn’t be better for our retailers.  What celebrities are wearing translate into understandable pieces that can easily be interepreted (at lower diamond weights and less tony price tags) into your customer’s wardrobes. And these divas, many whom I’ve watched for several years have, (except for a small few)  had a range of faux pas and now have all come into their own.  I realize that some of my editorial counterparts might not agree, wishing to see more stand out pieces but once again the red carpet was the stage for earrings, cuffs and right hand rings and a few spectacular yet more delicate necklaces.  Earrings are always a way to light up a women’s face and can easily be interpreted with varied collections you have in your stores. The cuff bracelets are perhaps harder to sell but are good stand out pieces to revolve a collection around. Buy one for impact.  When we finally saw necklaces they were choker length and we didn’t see too many but the styles we did see were breath-taking and less overwhelming than in the past.

I like this minimalism. It doesn’t say jewelry isn’t important; it says don’t let your jewelry wear you. 

My absolute favorite look actually featured a necklace worn by Kate Winslet who draped herself in Tiffany & Co.
 

As far as the entire look, Sandra Bullock has come a long way and not only got it right but should be on the best dressed list for a long time to come in her own Neil Lane exquisite drop earrings and diamond bracelet

Penelope Cruz look red hot in her red dress and platinum and double drop diamond earrings by Chopard

Demi Moore, ageless beauty complimented her flattering creamy peach confection of a gown with Van Cleef and Arpel jewels.

Charlize Theron  looked equally ravishing in her lilac lavender gown complimented by Harry Winston platinum and diamond cluster earrings and diamond bracelet

Maggie Gyllenhaal, always fashionable, wore Fred Leighton fabulous earrings and diamond, emerald and sapphire cuff.

Helen Mirren wore one of the best necklaces besides Kate Winslet, by Chopard as was her other jewelry of the evening.

Sarah Jessica Parker  accessories her Chanel gown with just the right accents: two spectacular Fred Leighton platinum and diamond bracelets

Rachel McAdams long Lorraine Schwartz antique style earrings also light up the night

As did the shoulder dusters by Fred Leighton that Carrie Mulligan wore.

Amanda Seyfried looked elegant and perfectly jewelry from her Lorraine Schwartz clip earrings to cuff bracelets.

Bling is no longer the thing at red carpet events.  Low key and subdued is the message A-List celebrities have been sending out for some time now. And, personally,  I think this couldn’t be better for our retailers.  What celebrities are wearing translate into understandable pieces that can easily be interepreted (at lower diamond weights and less tony price tags) into your customer’s wardrobes. And these divas, many whom I’ve watched for several years have, (except for a small few)  had a range of faux pas and now have all come into their own.  I realize that some of my editorial counterparts might not agree, wishing to see more stand out pieces but once again the red carpet was the stage for earrings, cuffs and right hand rings and a few spectacular yet more delicate necklaces.  Earrings are always a way to light up a women’s face and can easily be interpreted with varied collections you have in your stores. The cuff bracelets are perhaps harder to sell but are good stand out pieces to revolve a collection around. Buy one for impact.  When we finally saw necklaces they were choker length and we didn’t see too many but the styles we did see were breath-taking and less overwhelming than in the past.

I like this minimalism. It doesn’t say jewelry isn’t important; it says don’t let your jewelry wear you. 

My absolute favorite look actually featured a necklace worn by Kate Winslet who draped herself in Tiffany & Co.

As far as the entire look, Sandra Bullock has come a long way and not only got it right but should be on the best dressed list for a long time to come in her own Neil Lane exquisite drop earrings and diamond bracelet

Penelope Cruz look red hot in her red dress and platinum and double drop diamond earrings by Chopard

Demi Moore, ageless beauty complimented her flattering creamy peach confection of a gown with Van Cleef and Arpel jewels.

Charlize Theron  looked equally ravishing in her lilac lavender gown complimented by Harry Winston platinum and diamond cluster earrings and diamond bracelet

Maggie Gyllenhaal, always fashionable, wore Fred Leighton fabulous earrings and diamond, emerald and sapphire cuff.

Helen Mirren wore one of the best necklaces besides Kate Winslet, by Chopard as was her other jewelry of the evening.

Sarah Jessica Parker  accessories her Chanel gown with just the right accents: two spectacular Fred Leighton platinum and diamond bracelets

Rachel McAdams long Lorraine Schwartz antique style earrings also light up the night

As did the shoulder dusters by Fred Leighton that Carrie Mulligan wore.

Young Hollywood is making the grade before they ever fail a step. 

Anna Kendrick wore Kwiat but I particular liked the Edwardian-style ring.

Amanda Seyfried looked elegant and perfectly jewelry from her Lorraine Schwartz clip earrings to cuff bracelets.

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Bling is no longer the thing at red carpet events.  Low key and subdued is the message A-List celebrities have been sending out for some time now. And, personally,  I think this couldn’t be better for our retailers.  What celebrities are wearing translate into understandable pieces that can easily be interepreted (at lower diamond weights and less tony price tags) into your customer’s wardrobes. And these divas, many whom I’ve watched for several years have, (except for a small few)  had a range of faux pas and now have all come into their own.  I realize that some of my editorial counterparts might not agree, wishing to see more stand out pieces but once again the red carpet was the stage for earrings, cuffs and right hand rings and a few spectacular yet more delicate necklaces.  Earrings are always a way to light up a women’s face and can easily be interpreted with varied collections you have in your stores. The cuff bracelets are perhaps harder to sell but are good stand out pieces to revolve a collection around. Buy one for impact.  When we finally saw necklaces they were choker length and we didn’t see too many but the styles we did see were breath-taking and less overwhelming than in the past.

I like this minimalism. It doesn’t say jewelry isn’t important; it says don’t let your jewelry wear you. 

My absolute favorite look actually featured a necklace worn by Kate Winslet who draped herself in Tiffany & Co.

As far as the entire look, Sandra Bullock has come a long way and not only got it right but should be on the best dressed list for a long time to come in exquisite drop earrings and diamond bracelet

Penelope Cruz look red hot in her red dress and platinum and double drop diamond earrings by Chopard

Demi Moore, ageless beauty complimented her flattering creamy peach confection of a gown with Van Cleef and Arpel jewels.

Charlize Theron  looked equally ravishing in her lilac lavender gown complimented by Harry Winston platinum and diamond cluster earrings and diamond bracelet

Maggie Gyllenhaal, always fashionable, wore Fred Leighton fabulous earrings and diamond, emerald and sapphire cuff.

Helen Mirren wore one of the best necklaces besides Kate Winslet, by Chopard as was her other jewelry of the evening.

Sarah Jessica Parker  accessories her Chanel gown with just the right accents: two spectacular Fred Leighton platinum and diamond bracelets

Rachel McAdams long antique style earrings also light up the night

As did the shoulder dusters by Fred Leighton that Carrie Mulligan wore.

Young Hollywood is making the grade before they ever fail a step. 

Anna Kendrick wore Kwiat but I particular liked the Edwardian-style ring.

• 
  Gorgeous pic, Chris.

Recently, we had our assistant manager leave to pursue a career in education. We are desperate need to find  new, energetic, intelligent employees that can join our team. You would think that with all these recent jewelry chains going under, you would have jewelry sales associates knocking down the door. Where are these people?  Where are the poeple that want to pursue a career in jewelry sales? What is best way to recruit people? Do career sites like monster and careerbuilder work for our industry?

• 
  I now see what you mean by "bouncing truck", Travis. Pretty cool ... will it bounce with you in it, too? You are definitely not your typical jeweler

Many of the designers I spoke to in the small Couture and Design Lab sections of the show reported being happy with sales and the presence of retailers at the winter JANY show.  Personally,  I was glad to  seeing the congestion of buyers in the Design Lab section of the show where I thought there were many talented designers in an open setting that might be a bit confusing at first glance,  but didn’t stop retailers from writing orders or stopping by to get a better understanding. 
Designers/trends and collections that stood out during the show:

 -Kristin Hanson with her sea life inspired textures and motifs

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-Paul Morelli's bells are quite beautiful and I think that shape along with tassels are directional  for both earrings and pendants. As always his  three-dimensional floral designes are some of the best around, particularly in tri-tone colors and pink gold.

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-Raffaella Mannelli's wood and diamond/fancy colored sapphire pieces pretty much stole the show and it took me four tries until I could get into her booth; she was jam packed with retailers, which she later told me were not only from Tri-State area but Barcelona, Canada, Chicago and California.

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-While I do think the market is a bit over-saturated with color (pun intended), I  am still awed by the breathtaking stones of designers who have always used vibrant colors and one of a kind gems:  Suzy Landa, Erica Molinari, Ray Griffith's and Tresor.

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-I found stackable bangles to continue to be a strong trend and thought that there was as much of these in new variations as the wide cuff bracelets (we’ve been seeing) and potentially more salable. Also, popular an easy, the continuation of every conceivable, shapes, setting, motif, color combination, metal mixes for stackable rings

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-John Apel's blackened silver thin cuffs with 18K gold bezels of moonstones and other paler colors really popped and a stack of three to five is a great look and are not as delicate as bangles so you can start your customer off with one and move on to a collection that they could pile on.

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-Teardrop shapes continue to be the shape to watch and I found them in almost every collection, whether in gold or oversized pear shaped stones.

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 -I thought Anzie did a beautiful job with white topaz in all shapes.

- The stud trend also continues to go strong in a multitude of looks now and I saw some really easy to wear and eye catching looks at every company I've mentioned.

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     <!--[endif]-->I have now been seeing blackened everything for at least three years and while I know it took quite a long time to hit middle America, I think that way too many designers are doing it and that it definitely looks good when combined with high karat gold in more contemporary rather than the cross cultural looks we’ve been seeing so much of. If you are going to buy black, make sure it doesn’t look like it came from a bazaar.

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Captions

Paul Morelli bell earrings

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Paul Morelli floral cuff

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Erica Molinari colored stone pendants

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Kristin Hanson sea life inspired rough champagne diamond ring

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Kristin Hanson sea life inspired stud earrings

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Suzy Landa gemstone jewels

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John Apel moonstone pear shaped earrings

John Apel blackened silver cuffs with 18k gold and gemstones

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Dana*David stackable bangles

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Anzie white topaz pieces

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After two years of paying down debt and skipping family vacations, many Americans are cautiously planning to spend their tax refunds again. That’s according to a survey by the National Retail Federation, which found that about 43.9 percent of consumers expecting a refund this year would use the money to pay down debt, compared to 48.0 percent last year. (And if past behavior is any guideline, it will actually be higher, because people always tells pollsters they are going to pay down their debt first, but then go and splurge on a new TV.)

This is good news, not only because of the immediate boost it gives to retailers but because it’s more evidence that are Americans are really champing at the bit to consume again. So, get ready.

Sure, last year was no normal year, but start by going back and checking what lines and categories sold best last tax season to give you some ideas on what to stock up on.

You also want your store to be at its most alluring when those “bonus bucks” from Uncle Sam land. Experiment with your window displays to get your jewelry looking fresh and inviting.

Try investing a little more in advertising too, to keep your store and its offerings on people’s minds as they wait for that check. (If you want a guideline, use the 12-20 percent jump that general retail sales typically make in March-April compared with February). Two marketing campaigns you can run even before the last American taxpayer has filed his return are: a “Tax Day Layaway” sale for April 16 — any layaway gets 10 percent off the ticket price; And a “Tax-relief” sale. It’s not exactly logical, but offer to pay the sales tax on any sales made April 1 to 15. (For more good ideas, take a look at the Do You or Don’t You column we ran in last April’s edition of Instore, page 96).

And any brainstorms you have on tax-return season, feel free to add them here.