November 25 is a special day in the life of Americans, the so-called "Black Friday", which marks the official start of Christmas shopping. On this day, stores, shopping malls and online retailers are offering special deals and discounts and buyers literally hunt for the best deals, which usually end up in a matter of hours during the "hot sales." In the midst of Friday the 25th Rough&Polished correspondent visited jewelry stores in one of the major shopping centers in San Diego, the second largest city in California, to talk with staff and find out what was the "black" day on the calendar for them.
On Black Friday stores open their doors at 4 A.M., but this year, some shopping malls, as for example Macy's, started at midnight. As Rough&Polished was told by a salesperson of the jewelry department at Macy's, almost 10,000 people awaited the opening of their flagship store in New York located on Herald Square. You may get the feeling of what was going on at Macy's in the first minutes after the doors were flung open in this photo.
Macy's in San Diego also had "about twice as much" foot traffic compared to a regular day. "Customers in the jewelry section were offered big discounts for diamond jewelry, so jewelry pieces usually priced at $600 could be bought today for just $150-$200. We register strong demand for our action among customers," a store clerk told Rough&Polished.
After visiting the large shopping mall, I went to David and Sons, a jewelry company based in San Diego, which is a family business. They also offered a wide range of diamond jewelry to their customers on the holiday weekend topping this with a more "cozy" service.
Rough&Polished: Can you tell us about your special offers for Black Friday shoppers?
David and Sons: Tax was included in all our sales today, so customers didn't have to pay that extra 8% with a purchase.
Rough&Polished: What were your top-selling jewelry items today?
David and Sons: Diamond engagement rings were selling well, solitary diamond rings, diamond earrings, especially diamond studs.
Rough&Polished: Do you expect any increase in sales during Black Friday this year in comparison with the last year?
David and Sons: We've not yet finalized the sales numbers, but there has been a good amount of customers coming to our store today. We usually see the biggest increase in our sales 10 days before Christmas.
Rough&Polished: What was the most expensive purchase today?
David and Sons: Probably a diamond engagement ring worth about $8000.
The next shop, where I went, was Kay Jewelers, a division of Sterling Jewelers Inc., headquartered in Akron, Ohio. Together with Signet Jewelers Limited, their parent company, they are the largest specialty retail jeweler in the world. Sterling Jewelers’ employee responsible for relations with the mass media politely declined to answer questions from Rough&Polished. However, Kay Jewelers told our agency that for these holidays the company released a new catalog of jewelry and that their store "was pleased with the sales during Black Friday."
I also dropped in a store of Ben Bridge, which is a national jewelry chain with over 70 stores in the United States. Ben Bridge offers 14 and 18 karat gold, sterling silver, diamond, pearl and gemstone designer jewelry for men and women.
Rough&Polished: Can you tell us about your special offers for Black Friday shoppers?
Ben Bridge: We give our special Teddy Bear with every $180 purchase, our teddy bears are different every year. Other than that, we give "Best Price" deals every day. There's no price difference on Black Friday, the only thing we are promoting is the Pandora Limited Edition Heart Charm which is only for Black Friday and quantities are very limited. We basically come out with Pandora surprise charm for Black Friday every year.
Rough&Polished: Were there many customers today?
Ben Bridge: Yes, we can say so.
Rough&Polished: What were your top-selling jewelry items today?
Ben Bridge: Pandora charms are being a big seller almost every day and today were even bigger. Other than that, diamond jewelry, watches, David Yurman collection were selling well. We carry many of the world's finest timepiece brands like Rolex, Movado.
Olga Patseva, Editor in Chief of the American Bureau, Rough&Polished
