The D”™Errico brothers wanted their jewelry store to stand out from the suburban-scape of strip malls and other retailers along Central Avenue, so they set up shop in a log cabin.
Ten years later, they”™re still thriving in the face of an economic recession by standing out from the crowd.
“In this tough economy, you can”™t do business as usual; you have to come up with new and innovative ideas to draw traffic,” said Rich D”™Errico, co-owner of the D”™Errico jewelry stores in Scarsdale and Mount Kisco. “However, I”™m of the opinion that as the economy slows down, luxury items still do well. Even during the Great Depression people still bought jewelry.”
Rich D”™Errico said when the economy gets bad, custom work is in demand.
And, lucky for the D”™Errico brothers, they specialize in custom jewelry, all of which can be done in-house while the customer watches the process.
“That is one of the key things that make us survive in tough times,” Rich D”™Errico said.
The brothers regard themselves as “jewelry tailors,” and their goal is to focus not on selling gems, but on creating a perfect fit between a client, the piece they buy, their collection, their wardrobe and even their lifestyle.
“We can take your piece and turn it into something new,” Sal D”™Errico said. “We take measurements of the piece, do a drawing, give an estimate, make a wax sculpture of the piece, and once the wax is approved by the client we”™ll set the diamond and polish it while they watch.”
As for D’Errico”™s response to the economy, Rich D”™Errico bought his inventory in June, when the Dow was near 14,000.
When he saw where the economy was headed in late October, he decided to break with tradition and do something the store had never done before ”“ hold a discount sale. That sale started on Nov. 3 and ran through Nov. 21.Â
“I was a little bit worried about it,” Sal D”™Errico said of the progressive sale, which started at 17 percent off and went up three percent every day up to 50 percent. “There was a tremendous response. The idea behind it was with the way the economy”™s going, the buyer”™s confidence is a little bit lower, but they still are out buying. I just feel like the client who was spending a lot of money may be backing it down this year with everything that”™s going on, so we want to respond and move with the times. I think this year the consumer”™s going to be a little more price-conscious. They”™re going to be really looking for the value.”
The brothers started working elbow-to-elbow as diamond setters in Manhattan when Sal was 17 and Rich was 23.
From there, they developed “a little bedroom shop” at their mother”™s house in the Bronx, which led to opening up a showroom in their Throggs Neck neighborhood.
Soon after, they moved the business up to Westchester.
“The dream was to have a standalone building with a parking lot, and we picked the unique architecture of the log cabin,” Sal D”™Errico said of the Scarsdale store. The Mount Kisco store, which opened a year ago, is also a log cabin. “From day one, as soon as we walked in, it was all about service.” Â
According to First Research, jewelry sales depend partly on consumer income. Small jewelers can effectively compete with large chains because price isn’t the main factor determining sales. Profitability depends on merchandising and effective marketing, according to the industry research company. Jewelry is also sold in department and discount stores, and by mass merchants. Because regular gross margins are very high, often 50 percent, mass merchants have been able to cut prices and take market share.Â
Walmart is the largest jewelry retailer in the United States.
At another jewelry store in Westchester, the outlook is grim.
“Jewelry sales are down,” said Shawn Ali, owner of Mawa USA Jewelry, a discount store in downtown Yonkers.
Ali said he has noticed a “100 percent drop” in sales over the past eight months. He is considering moving the store to another community if sales don”™t improve, and he”™s not optimistic.
“People have no money, and they”™re not interested in buying anything, so it”™s very hard to survive,” Ali said. “We are losing money. This is a big recession. It”™s becoming a depression, and I think it will destroy (the business).”
