Bead wars
Those merchandising skills were put to good use when in 2010, Travis launched Persona, a bead and charm line that was going up against Pandora Jewelry. Although the Danish brand had been around since the 1980s, it wasn’t until gold prices hit record highs that it really resonated with consumers. With its price point-sensitive silver beads and charms, Pandora was being billed as the saviour of the jewellery industry due to its affordability and do-it-yourself appeal. Within a short period, numerous competitors began appearing on the scene, Persona being one of them.
The difference as Travis saw it, though, was in how First Jewelry would present the product, simplifying the selling process for both mass merchants and independents.
“We developed merchandising systems that would make it easier for the retailer to control their inventory, display their products, and make the sale faster,” Travis explains. “The display systems take a smaller footprint, show the beads in a manner that represent what they might look like on somebody’s wrist, and every bead is individually tagged and priced so retailers don’t have to refer to a guide book to look up the price or style number.”
Although Persona first launched at The Bay in 2010, First Jewelry soon expanded distribution to independents, followed by Peoples and Mappins. To ensure it is on the right track with consumers regarding product development and marketing, the company relies on consumer focus groups.
“We run our products and advertising concepts by them, and we get very good feedback,” Travis notes. “We do a lot of research on the bead-buying consumer. We also look at who’s not buying beads. What we’ve found is there are still a tremendous number of people that don’t own beads and quite a lot of opportunity to market to potential customers”¦ The bead business still has a lot of legs. The goal is to find the perfect combination of what is meaningful to the wearer and what is exciting in terms of fashion.”
Appealing to a new customer base was the driving force behind My First Diamond, silver and diamond jewellery for girls between eight and 13 years old. Although there are various children’s lines available, the tween segment was one Travis saw as a niche market and one retailers could profit from. The collection is sort of “Tiffany-esque,” as he puts it.
“The tween market is actually a more sophisticated group of young ladies than a young female child,” Travis explains. “People think there is a market for children’s jewellery and a market for adult jewellery, but there isn’t anything in between until you focus on it. You need to try and capture that market from the girl who wants the next iPhone or a spa package. The goal is to cultivate your future customer.”
