Best of the Best Briefs

Published

16 years ago

July 2, 2008

Retailers doing things right

OTHER RETAILERS DOING THINGS RIGHT

ITALIAN STYLE
CONGRESS JEWELERS recently hosted a ?Taste of Italy?. The two-day international designer event held at the Naples, FL store featured works from ? you guessed it ? top Italian craftsmen. Designers featured were Chimento, Roberto Coin, Marco Bicego, Di Modolo and Giorgio Visconti.

ART ATTACK
Community awareness takes many forms including promoting the arts. And h&h jewels of Coconut Grove, FL, did its civic duty ? as well as some solid business ? while participating in an ?Art Crawl? program to promote the Coconut Grove Arts Festival. H& H Jewels flung open their double-security doors to allow customers to view work from local artists, as well as benefit from discounts of 20% to 50%.

FANCY TALK
PAVE JEWELRY hosted an event designed to stimulate interest in colored diamonds. The California-based jeweler invited colored-diamond supplier Ambrish Sethi, president of Manak Jewels, to speak at the event. Topics included how the color in fancy diamonds is produced, where they are mined, their value and rarity, famous colored diamonds in history, as well as the popularity of colored diamonds amongst celebrities like Jennifer Lopez and Catherine Zeta Jones. The presentation was followed by a Q&A session.

VIKING SHOP
To entice some very special last-minute shoppers to his store last Christmas, jeweler Don Kirckof of ROCHESTER LAPIDARY JEWELERS in Rochester, MN held a ?Men Only? Shopping Night. But this wasn’t just your ordinary bunch of guys hanging around watching football ? this was the football players themselves. Kirckoff’s guests were none other than the Minnesota Vikings. The entire team was invited to the exclusive party and those who attended showed a strong interest in watches by Ice Tek.

MAKING SCENTS
Customer gifts can be a little ho-hum ? like who needs another bottle of jewelry cleaner or a calendar? But MOLINA FINE JEWELERS of Phoenix, AZ, took customer giveaways to the next level by offering its own, exclusive line of women’s perfume, ?Unforgettable II?. Created in Grasse, France, ?the cradle of traditional perfumeries?, according to Molina’s. The perfume, which took a year to create, was blended from more than 20 different scents including exotic flowers, citrus and herbs.

This Third-Generation Jeweler Was Ready for Retirement. He Called Wilkerson

Retirement is never easy, especially when it means the end to a business that was founded in 1884. But for Laura and Sam Sipe, it was time to put their own needs first. They decided to close J.C. Sipe Jewelers, one of Indianapolis’ most trusted names in fine jewelry, and call Wilkerson. “Laura and I decided the conditions were right,” says Sam. Wilkerson handled every detail in their going-out-of-business sale, from marketing to manning the sales floor. “The main goal was to sell our existing inventory that’s all paid for and turn that into cash for our retirement,” says Sam. “It’s been very, very productive.” Would they recommend Wilkerson to other jewelers who want to enjoy their golden years? Absolutely! “Call Wilkerson,” says Laura. “They can help you achieve your goals so you’ll be able to move into retirement comfortably.”