Inbox: April 2016

Published

8 years ago

April 11, 2016

Brain Squadder Alex
Ainsworth shows his
approval of his T-shirt
while working at the
bench at Elfstone Silver
& Gold in Mashpee, MA… Have a pic of yoursel
reading INSTORE
or wearing a Brain Squad
or Jewelry Geek T-shirt? EMAIL IT TO US AT editor@smartworkmedia.com.

NO RESERVATIONS

I just don’t get the resistance to lab-grown diamonds. Let me remind everyone that our industry’s
history has taught us all a pertinent lesson: Change, grow and adapt or die! Think of the progressive,
global-worthy millennials who care about depleting natural resources and ethical sourcing; I
doubt that buying wave will have any such reservations about lab-grown diamonds!
— Denise Oros, Linnea Jewelers, La Grange, IL

This article originally appeared in the April 2016 edition of INSTORE.

HARD TO APPRAISE

With synthetic diamonds
now being sold
by Stuller and others,
it is going to get pretty
scary for appraisers and
jewelers who have the
responsibility to tell the
customers what they are
buying.
— Mary Harding, mary l harding, G.G., Bellingham, WA

GET UP TO SPEED

With Stuller now carrying
lab-grown diamonds I
think the product might
be ready to hit the mainstream.
Might be a good
time to get really up to
speed on the product so as
not to get caught flat-footed
or miss any opportunity.

— Alex Weil, Martin’s Jewelry, Manhattan Beach, CA

HELP WANTED

We need a comprehensive
guide to detect synthetic,
HPHT-treated and natural
diamonds. De Beers,
GIA and AGS need to get
together on this to help
protect the integrity of
our business. I do think
there is room for all of the
possibilities out there, but
we have to be able to separate
them to protect the
consumer.
— John Hayes, Goodman’s Jewelers, Madison, WI

IT’S NOT OK

Instead of all the
hunky-dory stories maybe
there should be stories
on the number of jewelry
store closings and how to
stop the decline. I talked
to a number of stores
at Christmas time and
I didn’t hear one saying
“It was an OK month.”
— Saro Abrahamian, Town Jewelers, Chevy Chase, MD

BETTER THAN OK

No idea about the rest of
the market, but this year
has been nuts for us. We
are into our third year
and are seeing numbers
up 95 percent over last
year. It’s a huge challenge
to find talent to keep up
with growth.
— Jennifer Farnes, Revolution Jewelry Works, Colorado Springs, CO

Send your letter to INSTORE’s editors at editor@instoremag.com.

When There’s No Succession Plan, Call Wilkerson

Bob Wesley, owner of Robert C. Wesley Jewelers in Scottsdale, Ariz., was a third-generation jeweler. When it was time to enjoy life on the other side of the counter, he weighed his options. His lease was nearing renewal time and with no succession plan, he decided it was time to call Wilkerson. There was plenty of inventory to sell and at first, says Wesley, he thought he might try to manage a sale himself. But he’s glad he didn’t. “There’s no way I could have done this as well as Wilkerson,” he says. Wilkerson took responsibility for the entire event, with every detail — from advertising to accounting — done, dusted and managed by the Wilkerson team. “It’s the complete package,” he says of the Wilkerson method of helping jewelers to easily go on to the next phase of their lives. “There’s no way any retailer can duplicate what they’ve done.”