Specialty jewelers’ sales flat in August

New York--In August, total sales of fine jewelry and watches in the U.S. grew approximately 2 percent year-over-year to $5.4 billion, according to the latest data from the U.S. Department of Commerce.

However, specialty jewelers--defined as retailers that sell fine jewelry and watches and little or nothing else--didn’t benefit from this improvement. Instead, their sales were essentially flat in August, totaling $2.2 billion.

Industry analyst Ken Gassman said that the figures from the Commerce Department back the reports he has gotten from a sample of specialty jewelers; most said traffic was weak this summer, though the average ticket price went up due to the slowing sales of beads and the rising sales of diamonds.

Meanwhile, jewelry sales at multi-line merchants rose an estimated 4 percent during the month. Gassman noted that while consumers have been willing to buy jewelry lately, they are buying more of it from these type of retailers than they are from specialty jewelers.

For the past four months, monthly jewelry sales have grown by an average of 2 percent, which is in line with average monthly growth of total U.S. retail sales.

Economic forecasts call for the U.S. economy to grow by about 3 percent total in 2015.

Gassman predicted that for the holidays, the same low-single-digit sales growth will continue. He added that while total jewelry industry sales are up only 1 percent year-to-date and specialty jewelers’ sales are down 2 percent through August, they “continue to see positive signs.”

The economic data that Gassman pointed to as positive for the holiday season included growing employment levels and the fact that shoppers have extra money, especially with lower gas prices. He also noted that jewelers seem ready for the holidays with adequate inventory, and that De Beers has started marketing diamonds generically again, which is a boon for the industry.

As a result, American shoppers are in a more positive mood than they have been in several years. Gassman said this likely will benefit the jewelry industry, though it remains to be seen if the benefit will be for multi-channel retailers or specialty jewelers.