Headlines

New Challenges Pose Threat to Los Angeles’ Jewelry District Retailers

Published

8 years ago

August 1, 2016

Store-owners must navigate new social and economic trends.

Jewelers in downtown Los Angeles are finding it more difficult to sustain their businesses in the face of new challenges such as changing demographics, different buying patterns and rising rents, as the Los Angeles Times writes. The article details how jewelry manufacturing in the district slowed in the 2000s, and since the 2008 recession, “the people who historically bought high-end jewelry in the downtown district aren’t shopping as much as they used to, say retailers and industry analysts.”

The article also mentions how the area is seeing an influx of new capital that’s leading to higher rental rates, proving another hurdle for jewelers to clear as they seek to maintain profitability. “It’s not that the industry is disappearing. It’s not that the infrastructure of the industry is disappearing,” says Diana Singer, president of the American Society of Jewelry Historians. “It’s that the people who own the buildings want to maximize their investment, and they can get more if they do something else with it.”

Read more at The Los Angeles Times

She Wanted to Spend More Time with Her Kids. She Called Wilkerson.

Your children are precious. More precious than gold? Absolutely! Just ask Lesley Ann Davis, owner of Lesley Ann Jewels, an independent jewelry store that — until the end of 2023 — had quite a following in Houston, Texas. To spend more time with her four sons, all in high school, she decided to close her store. Luckily, she was familiar with Wilkerson and called them as soon as she knew she wanted to move on to bigger, better and more family-focused things. Was she happy with her decision? Yes, she was. Says Davis, “Any owner looking to make that life change, looking to retire, looking to close, looking for a pause in their career, I would recommend Wilkerson. Hands down!”