A one percent exists among jewelers — literally. That was the share of jewelers who reported earning more than $1 million in 2023. The mid-point among the respondents was more modest at around the six-figure mark, with just over half (53%) of jewelry store owners telling the 2024 INSTORE Big Survey they earned more than $100,000 in 2023. That’s up from 51% in 2022 and puts jewelers comfortably ahead of the average American, who reported an income of $56,316 that year.
Men continue to dominate at the upper end of the earnings scale, accounting for 73% of the jewelers earning more than $250,000 but the gender gap is closing – 51% of the women owners/managers reported earning more than 100K, compared to 55% of the men. Note that women accounted for 41% of the respondents in our survey.
The highest-earning store owners tended to operate in medium-sized cities, running large stores that offer a full range of services.
Overall, recent years have been good for jewelers with 61% now doing more than $1 million in sales per year. That is up from 39% in 2019 before the pandemic and up from 57% in 2022. Note that in 2022 and 2023 about 1% of the respondents said they lost money. At the other end of the scale, more 4.3% of the stores in our survey reported sales of more than $10 million.
NOTE: The INSTORE 2024 Big Survey was conducted via an anonymous online form from mid-August to late September, attracting more than 700 responses from American jewelry-store owners and managers. The full results will be published in the November edition of INSTORE.
Honoring a Legacy: How Smith & Son Jewelers Exceeded Every Goal With Wilkerson
When Andrew Smith decided to close the Springfield, Massachusetts location of Smith & Son Jewelers, the decision came down to family. His father was retiring after 72 years in the business, and Andrew wanted to spend more time with his children and soon-to-arrive grandchildren.
For this fourth-generation jeweler whose great-grandfather founded the company in 1918, closing the 107-year-old Springfield location required the right partner. Smith chose Wilkerson, and the experience exceeded expectations from start to finish.
"Everything they told me was 100% true," Smith says. "The ease and use of all their tools was wonderful."
The consultants' knowledge and expertise proved invaluable. Smith and his father set their own financial goal, but Wilkerson proposed three more ambitious targets. "We thought we would never make it," Smith explains. "We were dead wrong. We hit our first goal, second goal and third goal. It was amazing."
Smith's recommendation is emphatic: "I would never be able to do what they did by myself."
