Jewelers Sticking With Pandora

Jewelers Sticking With Pandora

“Our Pandora traffic is still good and strong,” says Tony Cruz, manager of JWR Jewelers in Athens, Ga. “Yesterday, we had sales all day long.”William Sites, owner of Sites Jewelers in Nashville, Tenn., says he hasn’t noticed a drop-off either.“Sales have been good for us,” he says. “We get new customers in all the time. It is still a big traffic driver.”Pandora also still brings people in to Wetzel & Truex Jewelers in Norfolk, Neb. “Once a Pandora fan, always a Pandora fan,” says owner Marc Raders.

Still, he sees competitors making inroads. “The whole concept is starting to get a bit diluted,” he says. “We are starting to see people who used to come in with 100 percent Pandora beads and all of a sudden they have other beads on their bracelet.”He thinks the price increase may have had an impact, but says the company also needs to freshen up its product mix.“People may want a soccer ball, and if Pandora doesn’t have it, they will go elsewhere,” he says. “They need to be in tune with what the American pubic wants.”

Robert Smith, owner of E.M. Smith Jewelers in Chillicothe, Ohio, says that while Pandora is still his No. 1 brand, he has noticed a drop-off.“Our Pandora sales have been down for several months,” he says. “I talked to a number of people in our part of the country who seem to be saying Pandora sales are down. It seems to be exploding more in the south right now.”Smith says his area was one of the first to embrace the product, and it may have run its course. “We have sold a ton of Pandora over the last five years but I think you reach a saturation point,” he says.Wear Pandora Beads For Calmness And Good Fortune.

He agrees with company management, who blamed too many price increases for the fall-off. “We’ve had a couple price increases and every time the prices have gone up, sales have gone down,” he says.But the price boosts haven’t scared people away at Miami Lakes Jewelers in Miami Lakes, Fla. “I don’t notice the customer saying anything about the price,” says owner Miguel Gonzalez. “Last time they raised the prices, silver had doubled in price and they only raised it 10-15 percent. It was a modest increase.”