We hear much from various pundits and authorities about the state of our industry in these economically difficult times. But how do the people on the front lines of business—you and your colleagues—see things? This year, JCK’s annual “State of the Industry” report is all about your view from the retail trenches and what you and your peers are doing to weather the storm.
It’s no surprise that many independent jewelers say their local economies are just fair, that they want better terms from suppliers, more personal involvement by bankers, or are adjusting inventory to add lower-price traffic-pulling product.
What is surprising is that one in four say business locally is good or better. They’re cautiously optimistic that local business will improve within a year or less, and are keeping their employees and adjusting product mixes in anticipation of that upturn.
Those are some of findings of a nationwide March 2009 survey by JCK of hundreds of independent U.S. jewelers. The results are presented here both nationally and for each of four major geographic regions—Northeast, South, Midwest, and West.
National
| $1,953,057 | |
| &$500,000 | 28% |
| $500,000–$999,999 | 19% |
| $1 million–$2.9 million | 32% |
| $3 million–$4.9 million | 7% |
| $5 million+ | 14% |
| 1 Stor | 82% |
| 2–4 Stores | 8% |
| 5+ Stores | 10% |
| 1–3 | 34% |
| 4–6 | 23% |
| 7–10 | 17% |
| 11–14 | 6% |
| 15–19 | 3% |
| 20+ | 17% |
| 27 | Percentage Planning Staff Cuts |
| 12 | Percentage Planning Staff additions |
| 47 | Percentage Planning Marketing Spend Cuts |
| 16 | Percentage Planning Marketing Spend Increase |
| Added lower-price products | 48% |
| Dropped some higher-price products | 24% |
| None yet, but considering | 9% |
| Focusing on bridal and basics, less on fashion | 26% |
| Focusing on unique pieces/fashion, less on basics | 24% |
| Business stable, no changes planned | 16% |
| OPINION | |
| Excellent | 2% |
| Very good | 3% |
| Good | 18% |
| Fair | 46% |
| Poor | 30% |
| EXPECTATIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT | |
| &6 months | 15% |
| 6–12 months | 31% |
| 13–24 months | 39% |
| 24+ months | 15% |
Northeast
| &$500,000 | 44% |
| $500,000–$999,999 | 15% |
| $1 million–$2.9 million | 19% |
| $3 million–$4.9 million | 7% |
| $5 million+ | 15% |
| 1 Store | 81% |
| 2–4 Stores | 4% |
| 5+ Stores | 15% |
| 1–3 | 41% |
| 4–6 | 22% |
| 7–10 | 15% |
| 11–14 | 7% |
| 15–19 | 0% |
| 20+ | 15% |
| OPINION | |
| Excellent | 4% |
| Very good | 7% |
| Good | 7% |
| Fair | 41% |
| Poor | 41% |
| EXPECTATIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT | |
| &6 months | 8% |
| 6–12 months | 34% |
| 13–24 months | 54% |
| 24+ months | 4% |
| 22 | Percentage Planning Staff Cuts |
| 18 | Percentage Planning Staff Additions |
| 46 | Percentage Planning Marketing Spend Cuts |
| 17 | Percentage Planning Marketing Spend Increase |
| Added lower-price products | 44% |
| Dropped some higher-price products | 15% |
| None yet, but considering | 0% |
| Focusing on bridal and basics, less on fashion | 19% |
| Focusing on unique pieces/fashion, less on basics | 22% |
| Business stable, no changes planned | 30% |
Midwest
| OPINION | |
| Excellent | 3% |
| Very good | 3% |
| Good | 14% |
| Fair | 50% |
| Poor | 30% |
| EXPECTATIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT | |
| &6 months | 14% |
| 6–12 months | 22% |
| 13–24 months | 50% |
| 24+ months | 30% |
| &500,000 | 20% |
| $500,000–$999,999 | 23% |
| $1 million–$2.9 million | 37% |
| $3 million–$4.9 million | 6% |
| $5 million+ | 14% |
| 1 Store | 88% |
| 2–4 Stores | 9% |
| 5+ Stores | 3% |
| 1–3 | 20% |
| 4–6 | 23% |
| 7–10 | 17% |
| 11–14 | 6% |
| 15–19 | 8% |
| 20+ | 14% |
| 20 | Percentage Planning Staff Cuts |
| 19 | Percentage Planning Staff Additions |
| 37 | Percentage Planning Marketing Spend Cuts |
| 23 | Percentage Planning Marketing Spend Increase |
| Added lower-price products | 53% |
| Dropped some higher-price products | 33% |
| None yet, but considering | 8% |
| Focusing on bridal and basics, less on fashion | 25% |
| Focusing on unique pieces/fashion, less on basics | 33% |
| Business stable, no changes planned | 19% |
South
| &500,000 | 21% |
| $500,000–$999,999 | 16% |
| $1 million–$2.9 million | 42% |
| $3 million–$4.9 million | 6% |
| $5 million+ | 15% |
| 1 Store | 80% |
| 2–4 Stores | 15% |
| 5+ Stores | 5% |
| 1–3 | 32% |
| 4–6 | 18% |
| 7–10 | 16% |
| 11–14 | 11% |
| 15–19 | 2% |
| 20+ | 21% |
| OPINION | |
| Excellent | 2% |
| Very good | 5% |
| Good | 24% |
| Fair | 50% |
| Poor | 19% |
| EXPECTATIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT | |
| &6 months | 21% |
| 6–12 months | 37% |
| 13–24 months | 29% |
| 24+ months | 13% |
| 24 | Percentage Planning Staff Cuts |
| 9 | Percentage Planning Staff Additions |
| 45 | Percentage Planning Marketing Spend Cuts |
| 9 | Percentage Planning Marketing Spend Increase |
| Added lower-price products | 35% |
| Dropped some higher-price products | 13% |
| None yet, but considering | 16% |
| Focusing on bridal and basics, less on fashion | 37% |
| Focusing on unique pieces/fashion, less on basics | 24% |
| Business stable, no changes planned | 21% |
West
| OPINION | |
| Excellent | 0% |
| Very good | 0% |
| Good | 19% |
| Fair | 44% |
| Poor | 37% |
| EXPECTATIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT | |
| &6 months | 14% |
| 6–12 months | 26% |
| 13–24 months | 36% |
| 24+ months | 24% |
| &$500,000 | 42% |
| $500,000–$999,999 | 20% |
| $1 million–$2.9 million | 20% |
| $3 million–$4.9 million | 8% |
| $5 million+ | 10% |
| 1 Store | 82% |
| 2–4 Stores | 10% |
| 5+ Stores | 8% |
| 1–3 | 44% |
| 4–6 | 30% |
| 7–10 | 8% |
| 11–14 | 4% |
| 15–19 | 4% |
| 20+ | 10% |
| 33 | Percentage Planning Staff Cuts |
| 9 | Percentage Planning Staff Additions |
| 50 | Percentage Planning Marketing Spend Cuts |
| 23 | Percentage Planning Marketing Spend Increase |
| Added lower-price products | 54% |
| Dropped some higher-price products | 38% |
| None yet, but considering | 12% |
| Focusing on bridal and basics, less on fashion | 26% |
| Focusing on unique pieces/fashion, less on basics | 24% |
| Business stable, no changes planned | 2% |