Look Book

H E A R T S O N F I R E S T O R E S , A U T H O R I Z E D R E T A I L E R S , H E A R T S O N F I R E . C O M IGNITE SOMETHING O N L Y T H E P E R F E C T C U T C A N U N L E A S H A D I A M O N D ' S B R I L L I A N C E . H E A R T S O N F I R E S T O R E S , A U T H O R I Z E D R E T A I L E R S , H E A R T S O N F I R E . C O M IGNITE SOMETHING O N L Y T H E P E R F E C T C U T C A N U N L E A S H A D I A M O N D ' S B R I L L I A N C E . WWW.HEARTSONFIRE.COM never seen. Hundreds of thousands of years and countless trillions upon trillions of evolutionary advances have honed the organ inside your skull into an ideal pursuit device." We are, as Pradeep wrote, neurologically wired to hunt, and today's hunting takes place in retail stores. We now know with complete certainty that the competition for retail jewelry and timepieces is not other retail jewelry stores, but alternative outlets for discretionary spending. At its most basic level, that includes cruises, luxury travel, live sporting events, live theatre, and, of course, live music. The perfect storm of, as Pradeep wrote, "an ideal pursuit device," coupled with precious few places to spend those luxury dollars was a boon for jewelry retailers and will, I suspect, continue for some time yet. But it won't last forever. We will have to confront head-winds sooner or later as other avenues for those discretionary dollars open up and, I fear, the decades-long trend of retail jewelry shutdowns will resurface. In the meantime, let's hope the positive business environment for retail jewelers helped build a platform for the years to come, with debts cleaned up, cash in the bank, inventories right-sided, teams shaped for the near future, and a better alignment of a bricks and digital strategy. And fi nally, keep loving your customers and note that there has simply never been a better time to reach out and engage new customers. You can't grow a business without them. Happy Retailing! Peter Smith is the president of Mémoire and Hearts On Fire (Chow Tai Fook, North America) and a columnist for National Jeweler and The Jewelry Book, where he writes about the retail experience. He is also the author of three books, The Sales Minute – 101 Tips for Retail Salespeople, Hiring Squirrels – 12-Es- sential Questions To Uncover Great Retail Talent and Sell Something, Principles and Perspectives for Engaged Retail Salespeople.

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