NEW YORK-Luxury retail is a tricky business. Make a product too exclusive and it limits the number of potential customers. Make it too accessible, and it can tarnish the brand's image.Michael Tiffany Bracelet on sale has walked this tightrope since joining New York-based Tiffany & Co. in 1992. Chief executive officer since 1999 and chairman of the board since 2002, Kowalski is a Wall Street favorite, with his company consistently posting double-digit earnings. In May, Tiffany reported first-quarter 2007 net earnings of $49.7 million, up 15 percent over the same period in 2006- a rise attributed to a 15 percent increase in sales, both domestic and abroad (to atotal of $620.9 million), and a trend toward sales of higher-ticket items. The New York flagship experienced a 26 percent uptick in same-store sales, which analysts attribute to the weak U.S. dollar and sales to foreign tourists. Comparable sales at other Tiffany stores averaged 9 percent.Kowalski, 55, says Tiffany has struggled to find an aspiration-accessibility balance over the years."We've been very respectful of the power of the Tiffany brand," he says. "We recognized it is, first and foremost, a retail jeweler, and we've focused all our energy on building retail franchises around the world. While the brand is powerful, it is not infinitely elastic, and we have to stay focused on what we do best."A careful expansionThe company has come a long way since opening its doors as Tiffany & Young in New York City in 1837 with its headline-making policy of non-negotiable prices. Since then, Tiffany has evolved into arguably one of the most recognized luxury brands Tiffany CuffLink on sale the world, and it has been traded on the New York Stock Exchange since 1987. Today, the Tiffany empire has 103 retail locations, including 65 in the United States."We recognize that while we have grown the brand significantly, we have grown it in a very carefully constrained manner," Kowalski says. "I've always taken the position that the Tiffany brand can be significantly larger than it has been historically, but it will only work if both the customer experience and the product quality are better year after year."
This philosophy was challenged in the late 1990s when the company's more moderately priced silver products experienced a success that actually threatened Tiffany's image."Our silver business was by far the fastest-growing segment in the company," Kowalski says. "The store traffic, quite frankly, was beginning to dilute the Tiffany retail experience for the entire customer base."In early 2002, the company pulled back on its silver offerings and increased its diamond selection. Both entry-level and average prices were increased, and advertising was curtailed or suspended."In 2004 and 2005, [increased store traffic] did have an impact on profitability, but today the Tiffany brand is stronger than ever," Kowalski says, adding Tiffany Earring on sale sales are strong again, too."We've always believed we are a product- and retail-driven brand, not a marketing-driven brand," he says. "We certainly use all our marketing skills and tools to drive [sales], but we'd rather use that to create the Tiffany experience and product quality."The company, which manufactures 65 percent of the product it sells, has focused on improving quality, as well as customer service. Each of the U.S. retail locations participates in a customer service campaign in which post-sales phone calls are used to follow up with customers and collect service-quality ratings. The ratings are calculated using statistical methodology and they hold each location's management accountable for the results.The intimidation challengeThe company has also found success by focusing its attention on the younger customer.
"There are two points of contact with that younger customer: silver jewelry and the engagement ring," Kowalski says. "An engagement ring customer is a customer for life- if that couple's experience is everything they expect it to be."To attract a younger clientele and other customers, Tiffany has made it a mission to be more welcoming to all who walk through its doors."Twenty years ago and more, Tiffany had an issue of accessibility and Intimidation. That was Tiffany Key Ring on sale of our biggest challenges," Kowalski says. "One of the ways we communicated accessibility is growth in the number of stores. Then, once a person steps through the Tiffany threshold, we hope they will have a warm, welcoming and gracious experience. The pressure is upon that first encounter to make sure the customer does indeed have the experience they've wished for."The company plans to continue adding retail locations. In June, Tiffany announced it will open its watch business to wholesale distribution in 2008 in an effort to expand what is already a strong product segment. The first assortment will include the brand's "Mark," "Atlas," "Grand" and "T-57" collections, as well as a selection of jeweled timepieces. "Our watch business continues to be an underdeveloped product category at Tiffany," Kowalski says. "We have been quite successful in terms of the watch sales we generate, but we have come to recognize that to have a truly successful watch business, wholesale distribution is essential."
The Company reports information in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles ("GAAP"). Internally, management monitors its international sales performance on a non-GAAP cheap Tiffany Key that eliminates the positive or negative effects that result from translating international sales into U.S. dollars ("constant-exchange-rate basis"). Management believes this constant-exchange-rate measure provides a more representative assessment of the sales performance and provides better comparability between reporting periods.It can take millions of years for Mother Nature to make a diamond. Investors won't have to wait nearly that long for US-based Tiffany, the world's second-largest luxury-jewelry retailer, to sparkle again. But they will have to be patient: Big spenders aren't spending so big in the current economic climate, and the Street sees dulling sales and profits in 2009. So critics have good reason to pan the stock, which is off more than 50% this year, as its sales and profits fall victim to a weakening global economy. Tiffany's shares have fallen into the bargain bin. At 9.7 times forward earnings, the stock trades at a 2% discount to the Standard & Poor's 500, according to Thomson Reuters.IT CAN TAKE MILLIONS OF YEARS FOR Mother Nature to make a diamond.Investors won't have to wait nearly that long for U.S.-based Tiffany, the world's second-largest luxury-jewelry retailer, to sparkle again. But they will have to be patient: Big spenders aren't spending so big in the current economic cheap Tiffany Money Clip, and the Street sees dulling sales and profits in 2009. So critics have good reason to pan the stock (ticker: TIF), which is off more than 50% this year, as its sales and profits -once fueled by flush natives and tourists- fall victim to a weakening global economy.Yet the stock trades near a record-low forward price/earnings ratio. And with profits expected to start recovering in 2010, Tiffany offers a compelling investment opportunity, particularly since the shares already seem to reflect expectations of a very bleak year ahead.
'The shares are attractive right now, but you must be patient," says Larry Coats, chief executive officer of Oak Value Capital Management. "This is a good business, with good management, andthestocknowtrades at bargain valuations. That is what people should look for right now."Profits are expected to fall for each of the next four quarters as sales suffer. But Tiffany has scaled back its expansion plans and is cutting costs and eliminating jobs. The company also stands to gain market share as mom-and-pop jewelry stores go out of business.Tiffany operates 204 stores here and abroad, including a flagship Fifth Avenue shop in New York (opened in 1940). Profits at the company, which had $2.9 billion in revenue last year, cheap Tiffany Necklace start climbing in late 2009 and keep rising in 2010 as the U.S. economy and jewelry demand revive. "Tiffany's brand and the quality of its merchandise will outlive this downturn," says Stephanie Hoff, an analyst with Edward Jones.Now renowned for its "little blue boxes," Tiffany was founded in 1837 when Charles Lewis Tiffany and John B. Young opened a stationery and fancy-goods emporium in New York. It controls just over 2% of the fragmented $130 billion global retail market for jewelry. According to Barclays Capital, it gets 40% of its sales from diamond jewelry,.
In the U.S., where jewelry retailing is a $35 billion annual business, Tiffany is the No. 3 player. "They have always leaned toward the high end of the market, which provided good insulation from the twists and turns of the economy," says George Van Horn,- a senior analyst with IBISWorld, a market-research firm.That insulation, however, has worn thin: The global financial crisis has hurt the rich. It's also dampened demand for luxury goods in emerging markets, which had been offsetting a drop in U.S. consumer spending. Combined with a stronger U.S. dollar and fatigued overseas economies, these developments have helped end the boom in foreign tourism to the U.S., which had helped Tiffany and other luxury retailers late cheap Tiffany Note year.Last quarter, Tiffany's year-over-year same-store sales fell 7%. This quarter, the company expects same-store sales in the U.S to slide 25% to 35%.Tiffany recently slashed profit projections for the current fiscal year, which ends Jan. 30. The company now expects to earn $2.30 to $2.50 a share, versus previous targets of $2.82 a share to $2.92 a share. And in the fiscal year that starts Feb. 2, profits could be 10% below the current fiscal year's, according to Thomson Reuters.In a Nov. 26 conference call, Tiffany didn't reveal how much cost-cutting it would do. But Kristine Koerber, an analyst at JMP Securities, expects sales, general and administrative expenses to fall 9% in the next fiscal year. The company has offered voluntaryretirement incentives to 800 U.S. employees, a recent regulatory filing says.
Jewelry retailer Tiffany & Co.'s earnings more than tripled in the third quarter, buoyed by the sale of its Tokyo flagship. The company also raised full-year-guidance.For the three months Tiffany Necklace sale Oct. 31, earnings climbed to $98.9 million, or 72 cents a diluted share, from $29.1 million, or 23 cents, in the year-ago period. During the quarter the company completed the sale-leaseback of the building that houses its Tokyo flagship for $328 million, which resulted in a gain of 48 cents a diluted share after tax.Sales for the quarter soared 18 percent to $627.3 million from $531.8 million, while total same-store sales jumped 8 percent domestically and 10 percent internationally.For the nine-month period earnings leapt 64 percent to $185.5 million, or $1.52 a diluted share, from $113.4 million, or 85 cents, last year. Sales climbed 18 percent to $1.89 billion from $1.60 billion."We are pleased with our overall businesses in the U.S. and internationally, as well as with product performance ranging from robust diamond jewelry sales to a healthy increase in silver jewelry sales," said Michael J. Kowalski, chairman and chief Tiffany Note sale officer, in a statement. "We are now one month into the all-important November-December holiday season and are pleased with overall sales growth that is meeting our expectations. The vast majority of holiday season business is still ahead of us, so it is premature to extrapolate recent results or draw any conclusions about consumer spending."The company raised full-year guidance to a range of $2.25 to $2.30 a diluted share, from a prior outlook of $2.22 to $2.27 a diluted share.NEW YORK-With a name built on exclusivity, but revenue built on mass luxury, Tiffany & Co.When the Collections concept and expansion plans were announced Oct. 18, the company's stock price rose with analysts praising the focus on high-margin silver jewelry and the exclusion of low-margin engagement and statement pieces.Canavan defends suspicions that the Collections concept would cheapen the Tiffany name. Focus groups found that women were loyal to their local Tiffany store, she says.
On a conference call with analysts, Mark L. Aaron, vice president of investor relations, said U.S. retail sales increased 12 percent in the third quarter "largely driven by increased spending per transaction, as well as an increase in the number of transactions. An 8 percent increase in comp-store sales was in line with our high-single-digit expectation."Aaron went on to say that from a "price stratification viewpoint, there was price strata growth in a wide range, from under $500 to over $50,000, but the greatest percentage growth in sales and transactions was in the $4,000 to $50,000 range."Aaron said geographically, the U.S. was strong, with sales in the New York flagship rising "25 percent in the quarter on top of a 13 Tiffany Pendant sale increase last year, and were up 28 percent year to datewith the increases coming from increased transactions and higher spending per transaction."LONDON-Less than a decade ago, Sierra Leone was a warravaged zone, and, as illustrated in last year's film Blood Diamond, conflict diamonds were very much entwined in the chaos of the country's late-1990s civil war.The nation is now at peace, though both the diamond industry and human rights organizations are still working to improve conditions for alluvial miners there.One sign of progress comes from Tiffany & Co., as well known in the industry for its stringent ethical policies as it is for its blue box. It is now investing in Target Resources, an alluvial diamond and gold mining company that operates in Sierra Leone. Target announced a $5 million exclusive marketing agreement with Tiffany in September.
The investment, still subject to final documentation, will be in the form of a five-year subordinated debt. Tiffany will have first right of refusal on Target's production at market price and can sell, on Target's behalf, diamonds it does not wish to keep.Wade Watson, president of Pride Diamonds, a wholly owned subsidiary of Target, Tiffany Ring sale Tiffany is putting its money where its mouth is and that successful projects could benefit natives of Sierra Leone. Up until now, while companies have been able to raise money, they haven't been able to achieve major results in terms of exports, he says."We can create a lot of jobs, we can do community projects-that's top-line capital-but the real change comes from us actually succeeding," he says.Tiffany Chief Financial Officer James Fernandez said in a statement that the move is consistent with the company's policy of selectively investing in diamond miners who ethically mine high-quality stones."EBay has long been a pioneer in the fight against counterfeits on the Internet. We have gone above and beyond what is required by the law," said Hani Durzy, director, corporate communications.Following the first day of trial eBay said it was pleased with how things went. Tiffany declined to
With so many parties going on it's very easy to exhaust your wardrobe. Rent
the Runway is a website that lets you borrow a designer dress straight off the
runway for a fraction of the cost. You Tiffany
Earring for sale have to be seen in the same dress twice!Choose
your cocktails wisely and you'll get beauty benefits. Genesis Today Pomegranate
and Berries with Resveratrol juice is a great mixer. Resveratrol is a popular
ingredient often seen in skin creams that prevents fine lines and wrinkles. On
serving is loaded with more antioxidants than a glass of wine and it has
energizing B12 We can start to look a bit pasty this time of year so a little
body glow is just what you need so you can show some skin with confidence.
Jergens Natural Glow Revitalizing Daily Moisturizer gives you natural-looking
color that you can control depending on how often you apply.Don't leave home
without your Ms and Mrs. Minimergency Kit. Think of this as your survival kit
for the holidays because it's got 16 portable essentials like a mini hairspray,
clear nail polish, the trick to stopping a run in your nylons, stain remover,
double-sided tape, deodorant towelette, dental floss, earring backs.
etc.Charming Charlie is a fashion accessory boutique that, according to its
website, "helps shoppers pull together their look through the key finishing
touches -- earrings, necklaces, bracelets, handbags, scarves, belts ... in a
fun, boutique environment." Head to the depot Visit the holiday open house 5-9
p.m. Wednesday at Fort Wayne Tiffany
Key Ring for sale and Bike Depot, 1004 Cass St. The store, which
sells outdoor apparel, shoes, bikes and boats, will have food, drinks, special
sale prices and giveaways.To see more of The News-Sentinel, or to subscribe to
the newspaper, go to http://www.news-sentinel.com/. Copyright (c) 2010, The
News-Sentinel, Fort Wayne, Ind. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information
Services. For more information about the content services offered by
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit
www.mctinfoservices.com.
Nov. 19--Let the season of holiday shopping (or
should we call it holiday madness?) begin.My favorite time to go to the mall is
the week before Thanksgiving. The stores are full of beautifully displayed
merchandise that hasn't been picked over by shoppers. I went one rainy night
this week, and the stores were blissfully quiet. It's the proverbial calm before
the storm.As you're outin' and aboutin' this holiday season, I've got two bits
of advice: a) Be nice to retail employees. Most of them are working their tails
off. b) If you're thinking about swiping something: don't. It isn't just Santa
who's got his eye on you. I have a relative who works in loss prevention. I've
heard the stories. Believe me, if you're about to Tiffany Key
for sale something, you're probably acting in a way that arouses
suspicion, and they're already watching you.Visit marketplaceThe old Marshall
Field's space at Glenbrook Square is the location for this year's Holly Days
Marketplace now through Sunday. One hundred vendors will sell apparel, jewelry,
home and garden decor, gourmet foods and more. Tickets cost $5. The event
benefits Mad Anthonys Children's Hope House, a nonprofit pediatric hospitality
house where families can stay when they have a critically ill child at Lutheran
Hospital.Meet rural artistsVisit artists in their studios 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
Saturday during the Rural Studio Tour. Eight artists selling prints, pottery,
fiber art, photography, jewelry and more will open their studios to the public.
It's an opportunity to meet the artists and perhaps purchase a unique, handmade
gift for yourself or others. The self-guided tour includes three stops in
northwest Fort Wayne, four in Leo and one in Spencerville. To view a map, go to
www.facebook.com/ArtStudioTour. Or you can pick up a brochure at Orchard
Gallery, Artlink or Firefly Coffee House in Fort Wayne, or Higher Grounds and
Leo Cafe in Leo.
Day of Giving Here's something else to do Saturday. Radio station WAJI, Majic 95.1-FM. is sponsoring the Majical Day of Giving at Jefferson Pointe. Nonprofits are selling shopping tickets good for discounts Saturday at participating stores. At 7 p.m., Santa Claus and David Archuleta, 2008 "American Idol" runner-up, will light the Christmas tree, and then Archuleta will perform a mini concert. Accessory store Speaking of Jefferson Pointe, a new store is to Tiffany Money Clip for sale this month across from Bath and Body Works. Charming Charlie is a fashion accessory boutique that, according to its website, "helps shoppers pull together their look through the key finishing touches -- earrings, necklaces, bracelets, handbags, scarves, belts ... in a fun, boutique environment." To learn more, go to www.charmingcharlie.com. Head to the depot Visit the holiday open house 5-9 p.m. Wednesday at Fort Wayne Outfitters and Bike Depot, 1004 Cass St. The store, which sells outdoor apparel, shoes, bikes and boats, will have food, drinks, special sale prices and giveaways. In November, the store is offering 15 percent off any bike or boat in stock. It also offers a layaway plan. The store also now sells Patagonia shoes and Scott running shoes.
Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF) reported Tuesday that net sales for the holiday shopping period from Nov. 1 through Dec. 25 increase by 26 percent to record levels, it was announced by William R. Chaney, discount Tiffany Set.The sales gains, compared with the same period in 1988, in each of Tiffany's three channels of distribution were as follows: U.S. retail sales increased 7 percent; direct marketing sales rose 17 percent, reflecting strong performance both in Tiffany's corporate and catalog businesses; and international retail sales gained 170 percent, resulting from continued strong sales to consumers in the Far East and Europe, (Results are based on preliminary, unaudited sales.)Chaney stated that "these fine results continue to confirm Tiffany's strategic advantage of being a geographically diversified company with multiple channels of distribution. We are most gratified with our growing success in serving discriminating consumers around the world.""As we enter a new decade, we are especially excited about Tiffany's many opportunities for continued expansion in both new and existing markets in the United States, the Far East and Europe," Chaney added."Our plans for 1990 include new full-line Tiffany stores in the Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia markets, a boutique in the new Taj Mahal Resort in Atlantic City, and a relocation and expansion of our Beverly Hills store."We also look forward to discount Tiffany Watch an expanded client base of U.S. corporations and increasing our distribution of Selections catalogs through our Direct Marketing activities."Internationally, we plan to expand our market opportunities in the Far East and Europe through Tiffany stores and boutiques, and will increase the size our Zurich store."Tiffany merchandise offerings include an extensive selection of fine jewelry, sterling silverware, china, crystal, watches, clocks, stationery, leather goods, scarves and fragrance.
In addition to its flaship New York store, Tiffany operates retail stores in Atlanta, Beverly Hills, Boston, Chicago, Costa Mesa, Dallas, Houston and San Francisco.Exclusive Tiffany merchandise is also offered through a select group of prestigious jewelers and specialty retailers in other cities. Direct Marketing is carried out through the corporate division and the Tiffany Selections catalog.International retail sales are made through Mitsukoshi department stores and a wholesale distributor in Japan, the Tiffany stores in London, Munich, Zurich and Hong Kong, and through Faraone tiffany in Milan and Florence.Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF) has purchased a significant interest in Faraone S.p.A., one of Italy's most prestigious jewelers. In addition to its flagship store in Milan, Faraone operates a retail store in Florence.William R. Chaney, chairman of Tiffany said, "We view this venture as a unique opportunity to introduce Tiffany merchandise in the Italian market. Both Tiffany and Faraone have several complementary channels of distribution which will provide synergistic opportunities. This represents a marriage of two great companies.""Faraone provides Tiffany with an important presence in Italy where a strong consumer awareness of Tiffany already exists," Chaney continued."In Faraone, we have a well-established, highly regarded jeweler with an outstanding reputation. Faraone stores will now also offer a selection of Tiffany merchandise."
Chaney added, "This relationship provides Tiffany with retail stores in Italy's most exclusive shopping areas, located on Via Montenapoleone in Milan and on Via Tornabuoni in Florence. In addition, Faraone provides Tiffany with existing wholesale trade and corporate businesses and jewelry manufacturing capabilities."Commenting on the agreement, Cesare Settepassi, managing director of Faraone said, "I am extremely pleased with this new relationship with Tiffany & Co. The 45-year heritage of Faraone will continue and our future opportunities will be enhanced by Tiffany's financial cheap Tiffany Bangle and its worldwide reputation." Settepassi added, "Tiffany is more than 150 years old, and like Faraone, is a uniquely prestigious jeweler."Under terms of the agreement, Faraone management will retain an ownership position in the company and Settepassi will continue to operate the stores under the Faraone name.Tiffany merchandise offerings include an extensive selection of fine jewelry, sterling silverware, china, crystal, watches, clocks, stationery, leather goods, scarves and fragrance.In addition to its flagship New York store, Tiffany operates retail stores in Atlanta, Beverly Hills, Calif., Boston, Chicago, Costa Mesa, Calif., Dallas, Houston and San Francisco.Exclusive Tiffany merchandise is also offered through a select group of prestigious jewelers and specialty retailers in other cities.
A president's first year in office is often a time for learning. The harshest lessons are beginners' mistakes, like the Bay of Pigs fiasco for JFK. The real key is to figure out how to Tiffany Set for sale the prestige of the office to get things done: when to conserve your political capital, and when and how to spend it. Judging from Obama's campaign, which revolutionized politics with its ability to tap grassroots networks of donors and activists, many expected President Obama to go over the heads of Congress and mobilize popular passions to achieve his top priorities. But on what may be his signature issue, that wasn't really the case.Obama came close to prematurely ending his effectiveness as president before finally pulling out the stops. In the last push for the health-care bill, he reminded voters of Obama the candidate, fiery and full of hope. But during the health-reform bill's long slog up and around Capitol Hill, Obama was a strangely passive figure. He sometimes seemed more peeved than engaged. His backers naturally wondered why he seemed to abandon the field to the tea partiers. The answer may be that at some level he just doesn't like politics, not the way Bill Clinton or LBJ or a "happy warrior" like Hubert Humphrey thrived on the press of flesh, the backroom deal, and the roar of the crowd. That doesn't mean Obama can't thrive or be successful-even Richard Nixon Tiffany Watch for sale elected to two terms. But it does mean that the country is run by what New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd wryly called "the conquering professor"-a president who leads more from the head than the heart, who often relies more on listening than preaching.
Obama entered politics as a community organizer, and as a presidential candidate he oversaw an operation that brilliantly organized from the ground up. So it was a puzzle to Marshall Ganz, a longtime community organizer, that Obama seemed to neglect the basic rule of a grassroots organizer: to mobilize and, if necessary, polarize your popular base against a common enemy. Instead, President Obama seemed to withdraw and seek not to offend while Congress squabbled. "It was a curiously passive strategy," says Ganz, who worked for 16 years with Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers and now teaches at Harvard's Kennedy School. In a way, he says, Obama's "fear of a small conflict made a big conflict inevitable."The health-care battle "was a tiffany near-death experience for the president and congressional leaders," says Bill Galston, formerly Clinton's domestic adviser and now an old Washington hand at the Brookings Institution. Galston describes Obama's style as "drift and mastery." He recalls early in Obama's presidential campaign, in the summer of 2007, when the candidate seemed oddly inert as he dropped in the polls. Then he perfected a rousing stump speech, just in time for the run-up to the Iowa caucuses. Obama, says Galston, seems to have his own "inner gyroscope," but he also shows a distaste for the messy business of governing in fractious Washington. "He has something approaching contempt for the hyperreactional government in Washington, where people pay way too much attention to the crisis of the moment," says Galston.
The president doesn't have all that much use for the niceties of international diplomacy, either. Early in his term, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown spoke of renewing the "special relationship" between Britain and the U.S. When he came calling in Washington in the winter of 2009, Brown brought a penholder crafted from the timbers of a 19th-century British ship that blockaded the African slave trade. Obama's Oval Office desk is made from the timbers of a Tiffany Bangle ship. In return, Obama gave Brown a lame gift of some Hollywood DVDs and blew him off without a dinner or press conference. Brown has stayed miffed. More recently, Obama has given the cold shoulder to Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu. That may have been more calculated-a rebuff intended to get Israel to act more in line with U.S. interests. One can imagine LBJ exercising the same manipulative disdain.