While young shoppers might revel in finding great deals or quick finds online, the Internet is crushing many local jewelers and artisans still operating traditional stores.
Consider Tucsonโs Michael and Joanne Rainbow, who moved here from Brooklyn in 1986 to open Rainbow Jewelers Inc., at 1821 E. Prince Road. The coupleโs original store was just a few doors west of where they are now, on the northwest corner of North Campbell Avenue and East Prince Road.
But in recent years, Joanne Rainbow said, diamond and jewelry sales have taken a downturn, with people buying less and the Internet luring away would-be customers.
It isnโt just Tucson thatโs feeling it.
The Jewelers Board of Trade in November reported a 25 percent increase in store closures nationwide, compared to the year before, with 236 shops closing.
The Rainbows have relied on their reputation, their A-plus rating from the Better Business Bureau and their wide variety of services โ including jewelry restoration and repair โ to keep them going. Still, Joanne Rainbow said their revenues are down.
And the challenge is compounded by competition from a wider variety of vendors at Tucsonโs Gem, Mineral and Fossil Showcase, just in time for Februaryโs Valentineโs Day sales.
She hopes when people consider where to buy that special ring or necklace, they keep local retailers in mind.
โYou might pay a little bit more, but you are supporting your community,โ she said. โAnd itโs a big purchase. Having that personal attention makes a big difference.โ
Michael Rainbow said that while the Internet is โmurdering us,โ there is the perk of people learning of their solid reputation with one easy click. (Learn more about their business at www.rainbowjewelersinc.com)
โI get a great recommendation before they even walk through the door,โ he said.
A couple of weeks ago, another local jeweler, Lisa Krikawa, emailed an article to her employees about how the Internet can hurt their trade. Her message was optimistic, but Krikawa said after working in this industry 18 years, she considers the Internet both friend and foe.
Krikawa started her work as a garage jeweler โ selling her items mostly at craft shows and by word of mouth โ after graduating from the University of Arizona in 1997.
By 2002, she was raising a family and, in order to be home more, started to rely more on the Internet. Thatโs when www.krikawa.com was born, she said, and within five years, she had eight employees and was doing 95 percent of her sales online. Then the economy crashed and, in 2008, she opened a small showroom in St. Philipโs Plaza.
In November 2014, that small store was moved to its current, downtown location. The 4,000-square-foot facility, at 21 E. Congress St., includes another 30 local jewelers and artisans who display their work in the 2,000-square-foot showroom.
She said even though her company still has a very strong Internet presence, which accounts for about 80 percent of its revenue, Krikawa thinks of Internet business as unpredictable and tricky.
โItโs much less stable than having a bricks-and-mortar shop,โ she said, adding that itโs also a tremendous amount of work. Krikawa said having a strong Internet presence involves maintaining an active blog, responding to comments and inquiries, and knowing how to develop and maintain a site.
She said her companyโs site is constantly being renovated and, she estimates, eats up about 50 percent of her work time.
โAnd we donโt have the resources of, say, Wal-mart or Target to have five programmers on staff, keeping everything completely up to date,โ she said. โItโs a scramble just to try to stay on the wave of current technology.โ
Thatโs not the case for Maureen Brusa Zappellini, a Tucson metalsmith who doesnโt have a store to maintain and sells most of her work through her Etsy account, www.etsy.com/shop/CosmosMoonJewelry.
โItโs a friend for me, definitely,โ she said of the Internet. โI am able to work on my own terms and sell directly to the public, and I am able to develop my product line based on what the public is telling me.โ
Years back, Brusa Zappellini formed a metal smithing network on Facebook, but she has since discontinued it after it became a lot of work for no money. Still, the connections she made continue to help her with her trade.
She cautions buyers to beware when making online jewelry and gem purchases, as thereโs not much oversight. She urges them to buy only from sites they know well.
โPretty much anyone can hang up a shingle and say they are a jeweler,โ she said.
Kira Geddes lists places where customers can find her earrings, necklaces and other one-of-a-kind items on her website, but she doesnโt rely on the Internet for sales, averaging only about 10 percent that way. (Learn more at www.casakira.com.)
Geddes got her business going by traveling around Tucson, getting to know vendors and merchants. Sheโs now established herself well enough not to need the Internet very much, although she does use Facebook to market her open houses.
โI sometimes jokingly refer to myself as the last traveling salesperson,โ she said.
She said posting everything she makes online would be very time consuming.
โIโd have to photograph and describe it and then, if I sell it, Iโd have to hurry to the site and take it down,โ she said. Still, if she makes something she really likes, she does โsnap a picture and throw it up there.โ
