Episode 72: JCK Show Takeaways and Interviews

The Jewelry District

JCK

Fashion & Beauty, Business News, Business, Arts, News

9.9 • 25 Ratings

🗓️ 22 June 2022

⏱️ 36 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In This EpisodeYou’ll hear JCK editor-in-chief Victoria Gomelsky (https://www.jckonline.com/writer/victoria-gomelsky/) and news director Rob Bates (https://www.jckonline.com/writer/rob-bates/) share their post–JCK show takeaways and the interviews they conducted live on the JCK show floor.Show Notes00:30 Rob and Victoria share their takeaways from the JCK show09:30 Victoria interviews Jewelers Mutual Group’s chief content executive, Mark Smelzer11:00 Victoria interviews Stuller CEO Matt Stuller13:40 Rob interviews Craig Underwood of Underwoods Fine Jewelers17:00 Rob interviews Feriel Zerouki of De Beers20:18 Rob interviews Steve Coe, CEO of Lightbox Jewelry25:40 Victoria interviews Yuliya Kusher, CEO of Meylor Global29:26 Victoria interviews Manos Phoundoulakis of EZEC31:23 Rob interviews Jeff Corey, former owner of Day’s Jewelers, now currently the vice president of marketingEpisode CreditsHosts: Rob Bates and Victoria GomelskyProducer and engineer: Natalie ChometPlugs: jckonline.com (https://www.jckonline.com/), @jckmagazine (https://www.instagram.com/jckmagazine/)Show RecapJCK Show TakeawaysVictoria and Rob comment on how amazing the JCK show was this year. Rob says the mood and attendance were really strong and how the jewelry industry has been on a high the past two years. Some people even told Rob it was their best show ever. Others came to the show for the first time—a great reminder of why we have in-person shows. There was some awareness of inflation at the show. Victoria also mentions orange emerging as a hot color in jewelry.Mark SmelzerVictoria interviews Jewelers Mutual Group’s chief content executive, Mark Smelzer. Mark used to be the publisher of JCK, and Victoria asks what it's like to be on the other side of the JCK show experience. Mark comments on the overall energy at the show, and that it’s great to see sales happening at every booth.Matt StullerMatt Stuller, CEO of Stuller, is excited to be at the show. Victoria comments on how busy the Stuller booth is. Victoria asks about its innovations this year. Victoria loves its permanent bracelet stand. Victoria asks how business has been so far this year, and Matt says business has been very strong. Everyone is cautiously optimistic.Craig UnderwoodRob mentions how Craig Underwood of Underwoods Fine Jewelers has just won the Robert M. Shipley Award, and Craig says they’re still on the high from receiving that award. Rob asks what they’re seeing at the show so far, and Craig says he’s loving the energy. Rob asks if Craig thinks this is going to be a great holiday, and Craig says yes—he’s cautiously optimistic.Feriel ZeroukiFeriel Zerouki, who won the Diamonds Do Good Next Gen Award at the show, is the senior vice president of corporate affairs for De Beers. Rob asks about Feriel’s involvement with the Responsible Jewellery Council, and Feriel says despite some problems recently, there’s also been great progress. Rob asks about the JCK show, and Feriel says it’s going well.Steve CoeRob asks Steve Coe, the CEO of Lightbox Jewelry, how things have progressed with Lightbox, which created shock waves in the industry when it first released its lab-grown jewelry line. Steve says 25% of their buyers are repeat customers. Rob notes how Lightbox expects to be using 100% renewable energy by the end of 2022, and Steve says it is making great progress on that.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the jewelry district, a podcast by J.C.K.
0:14.3	Today, Rob Bates and Victoria Gamalski share their post-JK show takeaways and interviews that they captured live from the JCPay
0:22.0	show floor.
0:29.7	Hey everyone, welcome to the jewelry district. This is Victoria Gimelsky, editor-in-chief of J-CK,
0:36.1	J-CK Online.com, back in L.A. after a whirlwind
0:40.1	in Vegas, and I'm with.
0:41.9	Rob Bates, news director of J-C-K and J-C-K Online, back in the New York groove after still
0:49.4	recuperating from Vegas.
0:50.8	I think it takes a couple months, but that should be okay.
0:56.3	Yeah. Amazing show, huh?
1:02.2	Yeah, it was. It was dense. It was like the most densely packed Vegas I remember.
1:08.3	Yeah, it was like an old Vegas. It was. It was very much a pre-pandemic Vegas. All the events were back. The one plus side of the Vegas we had last August,
1:11.9	the pushback Vegas that took place in 21, was that I got to eat at all the different restaurants
1:16.4	that I'd been planning to check out or hoping to check out because there were no events. So we had
1:20.9	lots of time for meals with friends. This year, we had meals with friends, but they were at the
1:26.0	gala events that were back. And that was also
1:28.4	nice. Yeah, I'm wiped. I'm totally, totally wiped. What was your take on it? I mean, you got in,
1:34.6	went to some education, I know. I know we saw each other, which was great. But yeah, tell me your
1:39.2	takeaways. I think the mood was really strong. I think attendance was really strong. I think obviously jewelers are aware that there's some warning signs for the economy, put it that way, but been on a hive for the last two years and it still seems to be going. It hasn't run out of steam. In some cases, it may have slowed a little, but it seems to be going very well. People still seem to be making sales and they needed inventory. So the mood was really very strong. I mean, two people told me it was their best show ever that they've ever had. You know, you don't usually hear that. So I think it was a very strong show. I mean, we'll see what's going on with a larger economy. I mean, we don't have any control over that. But I think jewelry seems in a decent place. And certainly that the show showed it.
2:22.4	Yeah. I mean, you know, you talk about traffic and just general buzz. On day one, I walked from my
2:28.9	room in the palazzo, you know, and sort of that gauntlet towards the show. And I've truly never seen a registration line so long. It was just down the hall and it seemed quite endless. And it felt like one of those horrific roller coaster queues you stand in and you sort of dread with your kids while you're waiting for their favorite coaster. It was so long. And it was great. It was great to see. I very much got the impression
2:51.8	that people who had not been to JCK in a long, long time or had never been took the opportunity
	...

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