Look Book

Susan David wrote in her new book, Emotional Agility, "Humans evolved as a social species that always needed to be part of the family or the pack for survival. This means that, even today, feeling cut-off from our tribe is still life or death scary." More than a year and a half into the pandemic, David's sentiment couldn't ring any truer. I suspect that whatever version of Covid you've lived through, you'd readily trade it for the ability to connect more feely with other people; whether that's in-person meetings with colleagues, customers, or suppliers, or just the freedom to reach out a welcome hand to greet a friend or customer without risk of offense. The 'new normal' has different aspects to it, but the confusion around whether to hug someone (full disclosure, I'm a hugger!), shake hands, fist-bump, or elbow-bump, will continue to present small, but important mini-dilemmas every working day. The need to physically touch people is central to our physiol- ogy, perhaps even our humanity. Why else would we possess a nerve fiber in our skin designed specifically to react to the pleasantness of human touch? I see retail metaphors in many life situations and activities. For instance, a couple of weeks ago my wife and I went to our first live music performance since the onset of the pandemic. Kat Edmonson, one of our favorite jazz singers, was performing in our neighboring state, New Hampshire. I should note that Kat has performed free shows (with the opportunity for a donation of your choosing, of course) every Sunday evening on Face- book live for more than a year and yet we never once tuned in to those Facebook shows. Watching a favorite artist on our laptops held no appeal for us whatsoever. However, once we saw that she was coming back to live performances, we couldn't buy tickets fast enough. Beyond the expense of the tickets, attending the show in person necessitated an overnight hotel stay and seven hours of driving there and back. The experience of being in the hall, however, and having that meaningful human engagement, was a huge motivator. I've no doubt that customers who choose to frequent retail stores do so for similar reasons to why my wife and I prefer live music over digital shows. We can, and do shop online – four- teen percent of all sales last year happened online – but the attraction of actual human connection will always be a draw. Most retail jewelry stores have enjoyed an unprecedented run of success since the onset of Covid. It is almost uncanny how robust business has been for retail jewelers in the face of the uncertainty that has closed thousands of stores across the country. A walk down Newbury Street in Boston, Michigan Avenue in Chicago, or Fifth Avenue in New York quickly reveals For Lease signs and/or the remnants of previously healthy stores and restaurants lying dormant, or shut down permanently. Other than the desire to be around other human beings, the attraction of consumers to luxury shopping - even in the throws of the pandemic - should not be that surprising. As Dr. A.K. Pradeep wrote of our brains in his book, The Buying Brain, Secrets for Selling to the Subconscious Mind, "It is, in fact, a highly trained hunting machine, the likes of which the world has 30 www.thejewelrybook.com By Peter Smith Peter Smith Fall 2021 | On Retail Successful Retailing In A Global Pandemic

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