Victorinox Swiss Army named Moyer Fine Jewelers its 2007 Independent Retail Partner of the Year. This honor was officially presented to Bill O’Brien and Dan Moyer of Moyer on May 7.

Moyer has one location in the Indianapolis/Carmel, Ind., area and placed strong importance on the Retailer of the Year program which bolstered sales and resulted in the dramatic growth of their VSA business in 2007, VSA said.

“The most important thing was that they embraced the program and respected VSA as a partner,” said Mike Havis, a territory manager for VSA.

“A key factor for us was our belief in the products and core values of the Victorinox Swiss Army Brand,” O’Brien said. “We made sure to reorder the sold products twice a month, as well as venturing into the higher end products that were offered. The quality and styling of the line, and the quality of the company, is something we are proud to sell and be associated with. The support from the reps and servicing end of VSA was also very important. We look forward to expanding our business with VSA.”

The selection criteria for the “Retail Partner of the Year” award includes maintaining a quality VSA assortment; formal training of all sales associates with VSA territory representatives; professional, well organized in-case presentation; and overall retail sales. The winning participant is awarded a $50,000 MDF Credit or a $25,000 product purchase credit.

In addition, VSA named its top retailer, Jared, The Galleria of Jewelry, “best in class,” for its outstanding performance and representation of the brand.

The “Retail Partner of the Year” award was officially presented to Jared representatives, Ed Hrabak, senior vice president, Merchandising, Laurie Kosarik, timepiece director, and James Kuzmik, timepiece buyer, by Rick Taggart, president, VSA, and Patty Bentley, VSA vice president North American Timepiece Sales, on April 3 at BASELWORLD 2008.

Jared, a division of Sterling Jewelers Inc., received the award for the second year in a row.

“Jared has proven year after year that they believe in our brand and has demonstrated their support through top notch sales, marketing and merchandising efforts as well as savvy and well-informed sales associates,” Bentley said. “We are proud of our partnership with Sterling and appreciate all that the Jared team does as a true champion of the Victorinox Swiss Army brand.”

The selection committee for the ‘Retail Partner of the Year’ award includes Taggart and Bentley as well as VSA’s timepiece sales and marketing teams.

“We are honored to receive Swiss Army’s “Retail Partner of the Year” award for the second year in a row,” Sterling president and chief executive officer Mark Light. “We are proud of our relationship and the commitment our store teams made to supporting the Victorinox Swiss Army brand.”

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