Everything Old Is New AgainIn February 2010, Aldemar Barrera noticed that business was starting to drop. He was selling fewer engagement rings, but it took a couple months for the owner of JB Jewelers in Plano, Texas, to realize that sales were down 40 percent.To reverse the alarming trend, Barrera decided to launch “Create New Memories,” a program that helps customers repurpose old ­jewelry into new designs. The program has helped Barrera augment sales by 20 percent, strengthen bonds with existing clients, and obtain new ones. For example, one woman came into the store with a pendant and loose colored stone to sell as scrap. After listening to her story—the pendant was a present from her son and the stone, a tanzanite, was a gift from her husband—Barrera persuaded her they could form the basis for an entirely new design. “The pieces had sentimental value,” he explai