The Gridiron and Retail Jewelry Stores: CTHR, SIG, TIF, ZLC. JWN, JADE, MOV
Sentimental Advertisers Cash In on the Playoffs.
From 3rd and Nine to Opening a Little Box with a Diamond Watch
For you sports enthusiasts who like to watch football, you’ll affirm my amazement that every game that airs is loaded with ‘romantic moment’ advertising from Jewelry Stores. Jewelry has replaced beer or so it seems. Of course the marketing makes complete sense. Who wants all that jewelry; well ladies and girls for the most part and who’s going to buy all of those rings, and pendants, and bracelets for those ladies and girls? Males.
And what do males watch during ‘playoff season? Football. Now you don’t see Tiffany & Co (TIF) selling $20k tiaras, but you do see Zale Corporation (ZLC) buying up airtime left and right for that $100 to $2,000 ear ring and broche combination.
Now don’t get me wrong, going from a ‘smashmouth’ running play to a tender moment under the Christmas tree between two lovers isn’t terrible; it’s pure capitalism and being a capitalist I get it. Here are two other publicly traded Jewelry Store chains which I haven’t seen advertising for, but are no doubt, counting on their in-store sales people to pitch to men: Charles & Colvard (CTHR) and Signet Jewelers (SIG).
And when local station advertising time is sold during football games, there is no lack of local and regional private Jewelry Store chains that are mixed in with discounts, and waving sales staffs dressed in Christmas garb. And there are big discounts at jewelry counters at every big department store like Nordstrom’s (JWN) but they wait for the consumer to show up and pitch their wares on a point-of-purchase level. I would also be amiss if I didn’t mention two publicly traded providers of wholesale merchandise to retail stores.
The first up is a SmallCap that almost every SmallCap investor knows which LJ International (JADE), a Hong-Kong based dealer of precious and color gemstones, and diamond jewelry (which incidentally has 95 ENZO Jewelry Stores in China), and Movado Group (MOV) which distributes fine watches and jewelry. The company offers its watches under Movado, Ebel, Concord, ESQ, Coach, HUGO BOSS, Juicy Couture, Tommy Hilfiger, and Lacoste brand names at 31 outlet stores and 27 Movado boutiques in the U.S.
Just look at a MOV chart and you’ll see the stock has gone from $12 to $17 in 2-weeks.
Jewelry sales of courses climbs during the holidays on the shear sentiment of us being human and a deep analysis would probably reveal a cyclical, seasonal pattern. Football has beer ads, cheerleaders, and diamond; shiny objects… can baseball be far behind?
Dennis Askew is a paid contributor of the SmallCap Network. Dennis Askew's personal holdings should be disclosed above. You can also view SmallCap Network's complete disclaimer and disclosure.
