By Larry B. Johnson
Have you ever thought of just how many descriptive words you use in daily store conversations involving light and the manipulation of reflected light? Words like brilliance, fire, lustre, colour, clarity, and shine all would not exist without a light source. It follows that a sales presentation in which you want to assign those attributes to a particular piece of jewellery will likely suffer when the lighting in your store is working against you. The science of environmental lighting has made major advances in recent years due to a better understanding of how significantly lighting influences our actions and our decisions.
To their credit, jewellery retailers have recognized the importance of good store and in-case lighting, and created a strong demand for products to meet their specialized needs. At a recent national trade show south of the border, the largest attendance out of two dozen assorted educational seminars was one in which effective jewellery store lighting was the focus. Obviously, if allowed, discussion of the topic can quickly become very technical and full of confusing and unfamiliar terms. This article is intended to answer the most commonly asked questions and help retailers put the power of appropriate lighting to work in their stores.
