Whoever considered the holiday season over might need to think again: Many jewelers are seeing just as much business during January as they witnessed during the Christmas period, if discussions on a popular social-media forum are anything to go by.
Customers are still visiting stores, and not only to redeem gift certificates and get their purchases repaired and resized, according to several of the more upbeat participants in the 15,000-member Facebook group Jewelers Helping Jewelers.
The responses weren’t all positive, but many said the holiday momentum had continued, or even picked up. That’s after an earlier thread on December 22 produced a more sober consensus about the season.
However, such January jobs can be lucrative, as one member pointed out after forfeiting a rare free Saturday to show a client the results of a large repair project.
“But hey, $1000< (sic) repair job is worth the effort I’d say,” she noted. A lot of income appears to have come from customers coming in to use up the cash they received over the holidays. “Lots of young and old gals buying themselves Christmas gifts — guess some guys missed the hints,” said one. Customers also see January as a time to buy for themselves after spending on others over the last month, another explained. They also have more time to spare, and may just have got a bonus, she said. “This happens every year, and I usually don’t slow down until August,” the poster added. Source - Rapaport
