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February 9, 2009
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TOP STORIESColibri Assets to be Sold by Mid-Year Fortunoff Files Chapter 11 Signet U.S. Sales Down Nearly 14% Finlay Reports a 20% Drop in 4Q Sales California Jeweler Gives Away Necklaces From Our BlogsCutting Remarks by Rob Bates Diamond Shavings: Your Friday Web Roundup Fortunoff goes chapter 11. - Talks with liqudiators. - Top trade creditors. - My... Read On » Jewels on Jewels by Cynthia Sliwa Display Watch: Vintage on Vintage, by the Book I’m always drawn to creative manners of displaying jewelry for sale. A photogra... Read On » Cutting Remarks by Rob Bates The New Spotlight on Cash4Gold The LA Times today has an interesting story on Cash4gold, the jewelry-buying servic... Read On » Style 360 by Carrie Soucy Going Postal One of the best ways to send an I-love-you message is with jewelry. No stamp needed. ... Read On » MORE INDUSTRY NEWSCharles & Colvard Restructures Management Displaced Colibri Workers Demand Pay Mandated by U.S. Law U.S. Congressmen Asked to Review Colibri Shutdown LUXURY & PREMIERE Celebrates 10 Years LVMH 2008 Jewelry, Watch Sales Up 6% Timex Installs Solar-Powered Energy System Swiss Watch Exports Up 6.7% in 2008, Despite Late Decline Saldivar Elected President of CJA WJA-LA Appoints Co-Presidents NRF: Stimulus Bill Neglects Consumers Chain Store Sales Down 1.6% Gemfields to Cut Production at Kagem Mine GemFind Relaunches B2B Web site |
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All assets of the shutdown Colibri Group, including well-known brand name lines, should be sold before mid-year, says the court-appointed receiver overseeing their disposal. 
Fortunoff Holdings LLC, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy court protection Thursday. 
Signet Jewelers Ltd., the world’s largest specialty retail jeweler, said Thursday that fourth-quarter sales declined 18.9 percent to $1.12 billion. Same stores sales fell 14.9 percent for the 13-week period ended Jan. 31. 
Finlay Enterprises, Inc. said Thursday that sales for the fourth quarter fell 20 percent to $306.7 million compared. 
A jewelry store in Ventura, Calif., is giving away free heart necklaces to people who’ve lost their homes or jobs, a local television station reports. 
Charles & Colvard, Ltd. said that George R. Cattermole, the current director of the moissanite manufacturer and marketer, has been elected chairman of the board of directors, effective as of Feb. 3, in one of several upper management changes. 
Scores of ousted Colibri workers and supporters rallied Tuesday at the shuttered company’s East Providence, R.I., headquarters, demanding 60 days pay and benefits, in accord with the 1989 federal “WARN Act.” That federal law says employers of 100 or more workers must give 60 days’ notice of plant closings and mass layoffs. 
Rhode Island’s two U.S. senators and two congressmen are being asked to see if U.S. law was violated in the sudden shutdown of the Colibri Group and ousting of its 280 employees. President Barack Obama is also being asked to issue a statement sympathetic to the Colibri workers’ situation. 
LUXURY & PREMIERE is set to kick off on May 26 at the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino in Las Vegas. The event, which runs for four days immediately preceding JCK Las Vegas, celebrates its 10th Anniversary in 2009. 
LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the world’s leading luxury products group, reported Thursday a revenue increase of 4 percent to 17.2 billion euros ($22.1 billion) in 2008. Organic revenue grew 7 percent for the year. Fourth-quarter revenue rose 4 percent to 5.2 billion euros ($6.7 billion). 
Timex Group USA on Thursday held a dedication ceremony for its recently completed installation of 800 solar panels outside its Middlebury, Conn., headquarters in what the company is saying is one of the largest ground-mounted solar electric installations in the state and one of the largest solar power installations in the northeastern United States. 
Swiss watch exports managed to have another record year in 2008, despite a sharp decline in the last four months due to the global recession, says a new report by the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry (FH). That decline is continuing this year, it says. (A final report will be issued March.) 
Teresa Saldivar, of Teresa’s Jewelers, Santa Ana, has been elected president of the California Jewelers Association for 2009. LisaSchoening.JPG)
Jewelry industry veterans Lisa Schoening and Becka Johnson Kibby have been named co-presidents of the Women’s Jewelry Association Los Angeles Chapter for 2009-2010. 
The National Retail Federation told the U.S. Senate Thursday that the economic stimulus legislation under consideration fails to do enough for consumers, and repeated its call for a series of national sales tax holidays intended to jumpstart spending. 
U.S. chain store sales for January 2009 fell by 1.6 percent on a year-over-year same-store basis according to the International Council of Shopping Centers, Inc. 
Gemfields Resources on Tuesday said it will reduce the scale of activity at its Kagem emerald mine in Zambia, its key production asset, and that it will post a loss for the 2009 financial year. 
Tustin, Calif., based GemFind said Wednesday it has relaunched its B2B Web site, GemFind.net, for jewelry professionals with improved interactivity and usability as well as new features, such as improved search engine optimization of members’ Web sites and direct e-mailing within the site. 
