The jewelry industry is competitive at every level. It's also fragmented. There are many producers and many retailers. No one dominates this business; there are always alternatives. Serve the market, serve the client, or go out of business. Competition, therefore, is a very good thing if you are a client or a customer. If you are a manufacturer or a supplier of goods or services, competition keeps you from believing your own press releases. Competition forces you to constantly evaluate how you serve your market.
In 1991, JCK magazine saw an opportunity to offer a different concept to the jewelry industry: a trade show held substantially earlier than had been customary. The launch of a trade show at the end of May in Las Vegas had many people on both sides of the counter shaking their heads. Conventional wisdom held that retailers would be unable to plan that far in advance for the fall