Consumer behavior, gold pricing, and Internet retailing will be among the hot topics to be discussed at the upcoming Plumb Club Forum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York City, March 2-3. 

“How Well Do You Know Your Customer?” is one of the most widely anticipated sessions, said Plumb Club Forum chairman Ofer Azrielant. The high-level business conference is being hosted by fellow Plumb Club members for retail leaders, from national and regional chains to important independents.

“On behalf of the Plumb Club Forum, MVI Marketing Ltd. has conducted customized research on consumer awareness of many of the critical issues that the Forum will address, such as gem treatments, online shopping preferences, attitudes on jewelry buying vs. other stylish accessories, and what they will buy next,” said Azrielant.  “We believe the research results will be surprising to many retailers.”

Using an Audience Response System, attendees will experience in real-time the difference between how they perceive their customers’ attitudes and the actual research results as captured by MVI’s Jewelry Consumer Opinion Council.

George Milling-Stanley, manager, Investment and Market Intelligence for the World Gold Council, will moderate a panel of gold experts from GFMS Ltd. and Scotia Capital. They will discuss the factors impacting gold pricing every day and the potential upside and downside that retailers should anticipate.

In this fluctuating retail environment, one of the most important but often overlooked issues is keeping good talent. Sir Ken Robinson, a highly acclaimed speaker and internationally recognized expert in the field of creativity, will share how to unlock creativity in a company’s best asset, its employees.

“Our problem isn’t that we aim too high and fail, but that we aim too low and succeed,” said Sir Ken, who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 2003 for his leadership in creativity, the arts, and education.

The Forum’s panel on “Retailing in the Age of Web 2.0” will feature some of the pioneers in Internet marketing, including Steve Larkin, Sr. vice president of e-commerce, at Zale Corp.; Brian McDevitt, team manager, retail, Google, Inc., Pinny Gniwisch, co-founder and chief marketing officer of ice.com, and Catherine Levene, chief operating officer of Daily Candy, along with moderator Scott Kirsner, a contributing writer for Fast Company and Wired magazines.

The Forum is sponsored by Rio Tinto Diamonds, the Presenting Sponsor, and major industry organizations, including JCK Magazine, Gemological Institute of America, ABN AMRO Bank, HSBC Bank, American Gem Society, Antwerp Diamond Bank, Gem Certification and Appraisal Lab, Gemesis, GemEx Systems, Gemological Science International, IGI, JCK Events, Malca-Amit, Natural Colored Diamond Association, ScotiaMocatta, World Gemological Institute, and the World Gold Council.

Retailers who wish to attend the Forum should contact their Plumb Club supplier, or for more information, visit www.plumbclub.com or call 201-816-8881.

The Plumb Club, founded in 1983, is a coalition of leading manufacturers spanning all facets of the jewelry and diamond industry with the common denominator of being “best in class.”  The 47 Plumb Club members account for approximately $8 billion in wholesale jewelry sales.

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