Shane CoNow that January is upon us, we have much to be grateful for. Last year was not an easy one for us, overall. But having gotten through it, with huge sales increases, has been a rewarding experience for the Shane Co. team. We are thankful for the support that our customers have shown us, by continuing to buy new items from us and for letting us service their existing jewelry.
We finished the year with a reasonably well balanced inventory, which means that most of the people that came into our stores must have found what they were looking for. As we plan on next year, we are counting on continued sales growth…both with existing customers and from new customers. Most of you may wonder, with all of our advertising, where do the majority of new customers come to us from? The answer is word of mouth. In other words, friends telling friends about our value and service orientation.
The overall economy is stronger this year here in America; people are more willing to resume a normalized pattern of shopping. Many people put off buying jewelry for the past couple of years. But the reality is that jewelry is a necessary and important part of a woman’s wardrobe…whether she is in jeans or at work or going out for an evening. Our emphasis has been to keep things practical, meaning she will get many days worth of wearing pleasure each month from what we sell.
Our sterling silver has been very powerful, as it is really a new, refreshing look, at very reasonable prices. Charms have been very strong as well. Besides marking personal events in someone’s life (or lives together), they also are reasonably priced. Women buy these things the same as they would a new purse or pair of shoes…but the difference is that for the same dollar amount, the jewelry will last her for a lifetime. That is one reason men love to also buy jewelry for their significant other…it has a practical feel about it! Yet, years later, she will remember who gave it to her, and for what occasion.
I spent the week before Christmas in one of our Denver stores. While I’m in our stores often, it has been several years since I “parked myself” in a store for an extended period of time. But it let me really focus on how the customers were responding to our offerings. I am pleased with what I saw, which is verified by the fact that most people left our store with two important things…a Shane Co. bag and a smile. And in all honesty, the latter is what makes the former possible. As always, suggestions about how we can further improve our services and our offerings are always welcome. We do want to be “Your Friend & Jeweler”.
