The economic recession devastated the American luxury market, that’s no surprise. What is a surprise is the increased demand this season for perhaps the most quintessential luxury item: jewelry.
Some encouraging stats:
-The percentage of people who bought jewelry during “Black Friday Weekend”, Nov. 26-28, increased from 11.7 percent to 14.3 percent. That is close to a three percent increase.
-In a recent study from the National Retail Federation, the percentage of people saying they will be giving jewelry as gifts has increased from 18.4 percent to 20.3 percent.
-According to “Cotton Lifestyle Monitor” jewelry is ranked at number five as planned holiday gifts in 2010. Jewelry didn’t rank at all in 2009.
The jewelry industry may not draw out the 2 a.m. crowd on Black Friday, but the increase in jewelry sales this past weekend was felt immediately by both retailers and designers. It also helped spark optimism for the economy and retail sales in general.
“While Black Friday weekend is not always an indicator of holiday season performance, retailers should be encouraged that a focus on value and discretionary gifts has shoppers in the spirit to spend,” said Matthew Shay, National Retail Federation, president and CEO.
Looking at the bigger picture, the fact that people are looking at jewelry a lot more this holiday season could mean that American’s are ready to start spending on luxury items in general again. It might be possible that this is the first sign of the recession being a part of the past.
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