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Fewer Jewelry Stores Closed in the First Quarter

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Both closures and new openings were down.

The Jewelers Board of Trade reported that 250 U.S. jewelry retailers closed their doors in the first quarter of 2017.

That number represented a nearly 13 percent decrease from 286 closings in the first quarter of 2016.

The total included 217 retailers in the category of “ceased operations” as well as 30 “consolidations (sale/merger)” and three bankruptcies.

The total number of U.S. jewelry businesses that closed, including retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers, was 318. That was a 16 percent decrease from 380 in the first quarter of 2016.

The number of new jewelry businesses also decreased in the first quarter.

JBT reported that 37 new retailers opened their doors in the U.S., down 35 percent from 57 in the first quarter of 2016.

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The total number of new jewelry businesses, including retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers, was 46. That represented a 37 percent drop from 73 new businesses in the year-ago quarter.

JBT listed a total of 19,969 jewelry retailers in the U.S. as of the first quarter of 2017, down 5.5 percent from the same quarter a year ago.

The group listed 26,493 jewelry businesses in all, including retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers. That was down 6 percent from the first quarter of 2016.

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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.”

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