It's the busy time of the year, but that's not stopping us from talking with jewelers in the middle of making their holiday sales. We compare Black Friday performances, early December Sales, and if they open the days between Christmas and New Years.
This is the penultimate episode for Season 4, so sit back and enjoy!
Thank you to our guests:
https://www.sundancejewelers.com/
https://www.arezzojewelers.com/
Send feedback or learn more about the podcast: punchmark.com/loupe
Learn about Punchmark's website platform: punchmark.com
It's the busy time of the year, but that's not stopping us from talking with jewelers in the middle of making their holiday sales. We compare Black Friday performances, early December Sales, and if they open the days between Christmas and New Years.
This is the penultimate episode for Season 4, so sit back and enjoy!
Thank you to our guests:
https://www.sundancejewelers.com/
https://www.arezzojewelers.com/
Send feedback or learn more about the podcast: punchmark.com/loupe
Learn about Punchmark's website platform: punchmark.com
Welcome back everybody to In the Loop. What is up everybody? My name is Michael Burpo. Thanks again for listening to In the Loop. This week we have the penultimate episode of season 4. And it's a retailer roundtable and I'm joined by Audrey from Sundance Jewelers and Vincent from Arezzo Jewelers. Vincent had appeared on In the Loop for a previous retailer roundtable, as well as a different episode, to talk about nerd jewelry. So go back and check those out.
Speaker 1:And we're talking all about the holidays. This episode was recorded on December 8th, so just a couple of days ago, and this is the heart of the holidays. So I know you're thinking, michael, why would you ask these retailers for an interview right in the middle of the holidays in their busiest season? Well, the truth is, I wanted to get an idea of what the holidays are looking like. We're right in between Christmas but also Black Friday, and for a lot of people Black Friday started way before Black Friday, more like November 1st, and I wanted to get the opinions of real retailers to hear about how it's going for their stores. And we talk all about, you know, if sales help boost long term spending at the stores or if it's possible that those can eat into their inventory. It's just a really good talk and I hope you enjoy as you are preparing your store for the final push of the year and get an insight into how other people's stores are going. Enjoy, and a reminder this is the last real episode for the season. We will have one recap episode that will come out next week, so check that out and then we're going to take one week break. We'll be back with season five. Cheers everybody.
Speaker 1:This episode is brought to you by Punchmark, the Julie industry's favorite website platform. Whether you're looking for better e-commerce performance, business growth or campaigns that drive traffic and sales, punchmark's website and marketing services were made just for you. It's never too late to transform your business with a user friendly, point of sale, integrated website platform designed for growth and results. Sign up for your free demo today at punchmarkcom. While enjoying this week's episode, take a moment and leave us a star rating on the Spotify mobile app or, if you're on Apple Podcast, leave us a star rating and a review. It's the best way to help us grow into show that you really enjoy in the show. Thanks, and now back to the show. What is up, everybody? My name is Michael Burpo. I'm joined by Audrey from Sundance Jewelers and Vincent from Arezzo, a returning guest from the previous retail roundtable. How are you guys doing today?
Speaker 2:Good, how are you?
Speaker 1:How are you Doing really well. I'm very lucky to have your guys' time right now because it is the busy season. We are recording this on December 8th and I know you're like why would you interview a whole bunch of retailers right in the middle of holiday season? And I thought it'd be interesting to capture the moment of like how are things going? Just like, let's get a temperature check, vincent, maybe we can start with you. How is your holiday season going? How is Black Friday? What's it looking like right now?
Speaker 3:November did start a little slow, but then we did kick off a sale prior to Black Friday. We had a port marketing sale, 60% off for six hours on November 18th and that really kicked off the holiday shopping season because that was a very big turnout. It was very well received and ever since then, the following weekend they're all the way till Black Friday and small business Saturday. We were pretty steadily busy. None took up until now. We've been pretty steadily busy. So I'd say, yes, since Black Friday it's really kicked off. It's not record breaking, but we're making our numbers, so that's good.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's great, and I mean port marketing friend of the show. We had him on about five, six, seven episodes ago. So make sure you guys look, Audrey, how is your guys' store doing, when are you guys located first of all, and how's your guys' kind of November into December looking?
Speaker 2:Yeah, we're in East Lansing, michigan, so we're right next to Michigan State University. It's been really good. We had our 50th anniversary in October so we sent on a flyer for thank you 50% off one item and that was super, super popular. We had a huge boost in sales and then Black Friday was the best Black Friday we've ever had, so that was great and it's remained really steady through now.
Speaker 1:Another question from you guys, if you don't mind. So you guys just had these hyper sales, 50% off, 60% off. Tell me this are you guys ever concerned that these things are going to be, let's say, too successful and you are actually eating into, let's say, potential sales, going into a part of the year where you're probably going to be selling without trying very hard, going into the holidays, because the shopper mindset is right there? Do you feel like you're like, oh, we're eating into way too much of our inventory, or is it just like, honestly, any sales good sale kind of thing?
Speaker 2:We definitely didn't want to set a standard of 50% off. That's always kind of a worry of people kind of expecting a larger sale. We did end up, kind of because it went so well, we decided to restructure it and do buy one, get one free, which has been really popular, so we kind of extended that through December. I've noticed a lot of wedding ban purchases happening through the last couple of months, which is a little bit concerning, but I don't think that'll be an issue in the future. I think it'll remain steady.
Speaker 1:Can you explain to us a little bit more? Why is wedding ban purchases a concern?
Speaker 2:So the people that were coming in their weddings were in a year, two years that sort of thing, and it was kind of like will those sales kind of affect the sales that would be happening? In a year at a higher rate, but I think the benefit always any negatives there.
Speaker 1:Interesting. What about yourself, Vincent? Is that at all concern? I know that big part of the port marketing sales with 60% off is you are moving aged inventory and it's more about like let's get some cashflow going, but is that all a focus going into, let's say, the back half of December.
Speaker 3:At first glance you think it is, but honestly it's really not. If I did the sale every year, then it would basically it would devalue everything that I have, but it is a sale that I try to spread out every four to five years. Last time I did it was in 2019, so it was about time we get it done Now. We did have a lot of aged inventory a random reports to the edge so we did this sale. We only displayed anything that was over two years old and it was wildly successful. And the most surprising part was we sold a lot of the state jewelry way more than we expected what we wanted to.
Speaker 3:We did have a goal set up to sell a certain percentage, so we put it in a showcase that would help that emphasize the estate and it did way better than we expected. We expected to sell a lot more of our high end pieces, in which we did. We sold actually three out of four of our big heavy diamond necklaces that we've had for longer than we wanted. But yeah, in the end, if you do it, you spread it out. It is a success and it does get people excited. We did do it before Black Friday, so, and we saw that that helped start the shopping season a little early for us. So yeah, if you spread it out, I think it's more beneficial than it is harmful.
Speaker 1:Interesting. That's a really, really, really good insight to have. Honestly I think that that was, I'm sure that you had some advisors or you thought about it critically when it came to placing that sale ahead of Black Friday. I do think that you watch out the whole thing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's a really. That seems like it would be the opportune position, and I kind of want to talk about the holiday season setup and, forgive me, I might be an amateur on this, so I'm going to rely on you all to kind of illuminate me. But, for example, we always were taught that the holiday shopping season starts on Black Friday, which is our international listeners that is, the day after Thanksgiving, which is the, I think, third Thursday in November, and then it runs until, theoretically, the day before Christmas, which is December 24. And then the end of the year is basically those last couple of months. However, I am hearing that there are shake ups or the holiday season is adapting and lengthening now because of just good old consumerism, but also because things are being advertised online and sales are starting earlier. How has, for example, audrey does the sales leading up to Thanksgiving? Does that take into account? Because I hear that that is like Cyber Week is essentially starting. You know, november 1st now. Is that where you are seeing at your store?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think everybody's kind of starting early. I did notice A lot of the big box retailers really weren't. The sales aren't like they used to be. So we kind of took advantage of that and did the biggest sale that we've ever been and I thought that was a really good move. I think people are kind of trending towards shopping a little bit smaller during that. I mean, black Friday used to be nothing for us whatsoever and it seems to be kind of shifting and yeah, it's lengthening, but I don't see that as a negative.
Speaker 1:Got you? What about yourself, vincent? What does November typically look like? And I kind of want to also ask specifically about what do December 26th through 31st look like for you guys, because I know some stores it's like their busiest time, and then some stores just shut their doors and they don't even open until after their new year.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I'll start with the beginning of November. I feel like this year people are shopping a little earlier, but they're trickling in more than coming in in the big waves. But that's for us. And to what Audrey said, the big box stores this year the discounts weren't as spectacular as they used to be. I think the reason I think the average was 30% for Black Friday was the average savings across all retailers in the United States. So that's why we thought the 60% off would really get people excited. Yeah, so that really shot everything off is because we did have the big sale. But post Christmas for us, for some reason, is insane. The day after Christmas we're closed just to get that break because two days. But then two days after Christmas until New Year's Eve, for some reason we are jam packed and it's shoppers because they're off. A lot of people are not working, they're on vacation. I know my wife's off work that entire week, so for some reason we are bombarded like it is the week of Christmas. Yeah, what?
Speaker 1:about you, Audrey? Do you guys have a good post Christmas time or is it really just shut the doors? Come back in the new year.
Speaker 2:We're deciding to close the 26th this year just to get a little bit of a break, and then we'll be open the next three days and then we're shutting for the new year. We just decided that because we are a smaller shop and we don't have a ton of employees, it's kind of best to just shut the doors for a couple of days. The 26th tends to be a big day, but I know that my customers will come back the next day. It's really they'll be here when we're here.
Speaker 1:Definitely, and I guess I kind of want to now shift into, now that we know when customers are coming in. I kind of want to talk about jewelry trends and this is something that, again, I'm so amateur I've learned that I have not good jewelry taste. When it comes to like what I think is popular in, like the wider audiences, I'm like, oh, everybody's wearing you know this type of thing and it's like no only people on the internet are wearing that. It's like, okay, maybe, maybe, maybe not. What are you guys seeing as far as trends when it comes to jewelry? I hear that Halo engagement rings are out. What's back in and what's popping for you guys at your various stores?
Speaker 2:Ovels are definitely still huge. They kind of biked over the last couple of years but they've been made super steady. Radiance are also really popular for engagement rings right now. Just fancy cuts in general.
Speaker 3:Yeah, ovels are dominant right now. They have been the last three years, but right now the ones that are coming up are Radiance and Marquis. Those are starting to come up. Halo design I haven't sold a Halo in the past couple of months. It does come. People sometimes do as, but it's a majority hidden Halo designs or some or fancy art that goes.
Speaker 1:I want to ask it seems like Diamond Jewelry was really the front runner last year. I think it seemed like Diamond Jewelry's especially, with lab grown being at its almost peak popularity last year, was really driving the average ticket value up for just shoppers, and at least this is what we're seeing online. And then this season or this year, gold and fine jewelry especially is kind of taking that front space and as a result, that average ticket value has gone down, even though the average transaction account is about the same. Is that at all tracking with what you're seeing in store, audrey, for example, is the shift to Diamond, to gold or just silver jewelry? Is that as paramount for you guys in store?
Speaker 2:I'm not selling any silver at all. Pretty much it's mostly I'm doing a ton of gold hoops. I have sold out my gold hoops. I've had to replace them probably four or five times. I'm a refill but I mean I'm still selling Diamond Jewelry. There's a lot of lab Diamond Jewelry that I'm selling. Flex bangles, I mean it's still Diamond jewelry still definitely dominant. Colored stuff is definitely more popular this year as well.
Speaker 3:Yeah, the color. The color is growing as far as popularity. It's hard to have color because nobody wants a simple color piece. Everybody wants something super ornate and it's not something you have, something you gotta make. Diamond jewelry itself I have a lot of trouble selling lab grown finished jewelry for some reason. I don't know what it is, but the area that we want wants natural as far as finished pieces, so that's still being sold like it's being sold at my market. Lab grown diamond engagement ring, though those have definitely gone over 50% of engaged finished engagement ring sales. Wow, so, yeah, yeah, other than that, the dominant is gold. We've always been a gold store, so we sell a lot of gold chains, a lot of finished gold chains, gold metals and a lot of gold fancy jewelry non-religious is probably the most popular and gold hoops Gold hoops are. We can't give them in stock.
Speaker 1:Last year I had you on Vincent. You mentioned that you guys do a ton of Cuban link. Is that still popular?
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, it's still popular. I have a lot of other fancy links. Now people are coming in for those because everybody has Cuban and majority of people who want Cubans now want a bigger one, and I own Stockholm so I'll make them to order, because it's just gold at 2000,. It just dropped to $2,000, which is fine, but golds are expensive right now. So I have a lot of yeah, a lot of small Cubans, curbs, figueroa a lot of fancy links.
Speaker 2:Interesting that you say that your lab diamond engagements. I'm probably more on 75% for that or maybe even 80 for lab diamonds 75 or 80% lab centers.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Wow, yeah, that's crazy yeah super high it might be.
Speaker 2:I have a little bit of a younger market next to a university, but it's definitely way more than I actually read.
Speaker 3:I got an older demographic by me.
Speaker 1:Interesting. That's a because man people will make you believe that the price is driving all the business away and it's like I don't think so. I think it just honestly makes it even more appetizing to a lot of people that it's like oh, you mean I can get like a really nice piece for something that isn't going to. That would be absolutely unreasonable for me to consider a natural. It seems like, yeah, maybe a younger demographic that would appeal to. But I would love to hear from like more people just across the industry Like are you finding that there is this shift or is it fluctuating along with the price?
Speaker 3:It's hard to say Price is, I think, a big part of it, because a lot of people do buy labs. They're buying three carats, four carats, because they can and it's because they're taking this money like if someone. They think like me, if they're taking this money that they put in a natural diamond, there's no investment there to throw away their money. They can invest, they can buy a house together. They could put that money towards a car or something more important, or this. They'll reinvest the money and they'll make something off of it, but then they'll still get a big, beautiful gemstone that's going to last for generations to come, because it's. I don't want to argue on what it is and what it's not, but that's I think. Yeah, price is the biggest thing.
Speaker 1:So I kind of want to ask one more is before we start talking about next year, is there any trends that you feel like you missed out on this year or like anything that you're like? Ah, as soon as we're able to poke our head out and like, start planning for next year, the number one pickup we're going to be doing is going to be much more of this. Do you guys, are you able to think ahead to 2024, or is it like just got to sell, sell, sell right now?
Speaker 3:I'm definitely thinking ahead. Something I feel like I missed, but I'm not going to take up, is the permanent jewelry. Yeah, feel like if I made the investment early enough, I would have made some money on it and it got some excitement out on it. I feel like I started. Now it's basically begging for business, so, but I do feel like I did miss a little bit about on that. What I'm thinking. Another thing I missed is I need a laser engraver. I bought a laser welder this year. That was probably my best investment I made. I need an engraver now and that'll probably be my first purchase of the new year.
Speaker 1:Wow, what about you, audrey? Are you seeing any trends that you kind of wish? Maybe, ah, wish, I would have jumped on that quickly, or anything that you got ahead of that is now kind of proving to be super popular?
Speaker 2:Same with Vincent. We kind of we didn't hop on the permanent jewelry trend. I just, I don't know, I wasn't super sold on it and then by the time I kind of wanted to do it, it was the boat had already left the station. So I am mostly focusing on making our own pieces for the shop. Next year we're upgrading our CAD program, 3D printer, that sort of thing, to start producing more in-house and have a little bit more unique pieces, Because the fancy colored stone, fancy shape stones are definitely something that suppliers aren't really doing for the most part, and I'd like to kind of fill my cases with some more unique pieces that I don't really see from vendors.
Speaker 1:What kind of upfront cost comes into starting, let's just say leaning into custom design? You mentioned a new CAD machine. What else goes into that?
Speaker 2:I was just talking to Vincent about this the other day actually. So you know whole new desktop, you know CAD program. I mean it's probably around a 10 to 12, thousand dollar investment just for you know the CAD program, new laptop, learning it, and then of course, the time. And then, of course, if you wanna invest in a really good 3D printer, you could be looking anywhere from 10 grand to 30 grand. I'm not spending that, I'm getting something that's pretty much just to show customers. And then, as of right now, I'm outsourcing my casting. I'm not sure if I will bring that in-house, but right now it just kind of makes sense to outsource that.
Speaker 3:Okay, Peter, you go with.
Speaker 2:I went with the Omen. I went with the Omen.
Speaker 3:I'm really excited.
Speaker 2:It'll be here right at the beginning of the year, so I'm-.
Speaker 1:Nice, nice. It's a big 2024 project. That's gonna be great. And, vissy, you do a ton of custom, I think, at your store, right, yeah, that's like my-.
Speaker 3:That's your niche. So yeah, audrey, you need any advice, just ask it.
Speaker 2:Oh, thank you, I'm sure I'll have questions.
Speaker 1:I guess that's another thing is like how do you even market that too? You gotta probably have to be able to shift how you speak about things, and I'm sure it also has to. You know, it's not just about buying the tools and having them available. It's also about like starting to mention them and training staff to talk about it intelligently. Is that something that there's documents online for, or is that you just have to kind of feel it out and learn along the way?
Speaker 2:We already do a ton of customer and I think consumers are aware that it's available. I have people come in and ask all the time you know if it's something that we do, and we do do it right now. I mean, I have counter sketch, which is really limited, so I'm able to produce some things through there and then outsource a lot of things as well. But it's not something that I mean. I know I will get a return on investment without even having to up marketing specifically on custom work, but we will Nice.
Speaker 1:I guess that was going to be kind of the segue to the next part of the year. I guess next year Are there any shows that you guys are going to be going to that you're super excited about, and I guess, kind of what is on the docket when it comes to starting to plan for how these shows are going to come in? Did you have like an underperforming line that you're going to be dropping out and you need something to replace it, or is it? We want to be more additive and I want to just kind of expand the offerings to our clients. Thanks for listening.
Speaker 3:I'm gonna be going to as many shows as I can. Definitely gonna be in Dallas for the IJO and I'm excited that the right after Dallas IJO be coming to Chicago, so you guys all be coming to me, so that'll be fun. It the end of January is the Vicenza Oro show in Italy, so I'll be attending that. We do that one twice a year, so that's like that one's a fun one, but that one's the hardest one because it's it's you're only in Italy for five days. A majority of it's on an airplane, so, and then the rest of it's at the show. So it's exhausting but it's, it's fun, it's great to see, and there's stuff that you see that you won't see in any other show. So those are my big three shows and my parents will be going to Centurion show and I think that's in Arizona, I believe, yeah we usually send someone there.
Speaker 1:I think too. Audrey, what about yourself? Do you have any shows kind of line up for for next year?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'll be going to both IJO shows. And then we were kind of talking about JCK. My dad is going to Tucson and GIS usually goes to GIS in the fall. But yeah, we're going to More shows this year definitely than we did the last couple.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, and I'm going to JCK. I always forget about that one. I feel like that said that the false one.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it seems like everybody goes there and like makes it so that it's the big central point for, I think, like follow-ups, I think everybody knows that you know everybody's going to be there so you can have like all the meetings that you need. So that sounds like it'll be awesome.
Speaker 3:And as far as the other question you asked, I don't plan on dropping any lines this year. I mean, there are underperformers, but it's. It's kind of spread out through everything. The one thing I am going to Do is buy more simple pieces. This time around I'm not going to get the ornate stuff because I already have a lot of it and that's something sitting for a while. So it's going to be a lot more simple diamond pieces, simple chains, a lot more hoop earrings, because I can't believe these past two years they, this season it, this Q4 is they? They just fly out. So finally, a lot more, a lot more simple stuff. And then in the colored stuff, I do want to get some more ornate pieces, but if those are hard to pick, so I do want to see what there is. And then a lot more service oriented pieces, like I'll be looking for a laser engraver.
Speaker 1:Oh, Catch it, got you, got you. Oh, interesting man, what, uh, it's there's. So it just feels like you can only expand. It's like in man I. I used to play Clash of Clans back in the day. It's like adding like tons and tons and tons. You can never go backwards. You're always like adding new features and new additions. I can only imagine how stressful and and how much thought that must take for you guys, but I think that maybe we'll start to. We'll just wrap that up. Is there anything else that you guys want to add on? I guess, kind of the end of this season? I? I know you guys are probably anxious to get back to your stores, but what's it? Is there anything that you guys are focused on going into, like the end of holiday season? I?
Speaker 3:Can't wait till it's over. Yeah, what a focus thing I do. I do want to. I do want to. You know, I want to make our numbers this year and I want to sell the right pieces this year. Sure, I don't want to. I've been trying to train myself to not just sell anything. Try to like, learn, be more trained on how to guide customers to the pieces that we want to sell them more than like okay, we'll take that for the right price. So I'm trying to try to have my staff more attentive in that and not just rush customers out the door even when we are busy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and Audrey.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean I, I like I said we're a really small store so I actually just hired my first time like full-time employee. I'm not first. I mean I've had people in the past, but it's been a couple years. I've just had, you know, part-timers. So just really focusing on getting her to a place where she feels you know, comfortable with Selling and custom work and that sort of thing, and putting putting a lot, of, a lot of time into getting her To be my, my helper nice.
Speaker 1:Well, guys, I can't thank you all enough. It's been super awesome hearing from you, vincent and Audrey. This episode will be coming out very soon, so I'm hoping that people will be able to listen to this, maybe when they're as they're getting ready for it to open up their their stores and kind of feel like, hey, you know what we're all kind of, you know having the busy season as well, so maybe this will kind of give people some insights and also let themselves kind of reflect on what is going well, what might not be Optimal, and kind of know that they aren't alone in that. So I really appreciate you guys coming on. This has been great, thank you. Thank you coming on. So I cheers guys.
Speaker 1:Hey, we'll be back next week, tuesday with the final episode of this season of season four. Cheers everybody. Talk to you soon. Bye, all right, everybody, that's another show. Thanks so much for listening. A very special Thank you to our guests, audrey from Sundance Jewelers and Vincent from a wretzel jewelers. They were very candid and shared a lot about their stores and that means the world to me and I hope you enjoyed. This episode was made possible by punch mark and produced and hosted by me, michael burpo, music by Ross Cochram and editing by Paul Suarez, and this is the penultimate episode. So we'll have one more episode next week where we'll recap the season, and then we'll have one week off and we'll come back on January 2nd with the start of season 5. Thank you so much for being with us. Stick around for next week's episode and Enjoy the rest of your holidays. I hope it's going well. Cheers everybody. Bye you.