Southern Jewelry News
  • Featured
    • All
    • Featured
    • Featured Retailers
    • Retailer Roundtable
    • Sponsored Content
    • Supplier Spotlight
    Jeweler brings Midwest to the Southwest
    Tara Fine Jewelry: Atlanta’s not-so-secret, best-kept secret
    Finding the Big Ones; Zambian Trophies for the Ages
    The Golden Girls of Gemstones
  • Latest News
    • All
    • COVID-19
    • Furry Friends
    • Industry Awards
    • Industry Events
    • NRF
    • On The Move
    • Other News
    • Tradeshow News
    • Video
    • What's New
    Hard Rock Summit event info
    Hardrock Summit to return to Denver in September 2023
    ASJRA brooch
    Iconic Jewelry Firms is theme of ASJRA’s 18th annual Conference
    DMIA members meet-and-greet and hear updates from GIA, NDC
    diamonds on plant
    How to drive more sales and referrals through social media
  • Podcast
  • Columnists
    The Story Behind the Stone: Diamonds on Pins and Needles
    Jewelry Marketing Survival Guide
    The Story Behind the Stone: Out of the Blue
    What’s Hot Now!: Latest Designer Trends 2023
    A Winning Strategy: How SEO and buying intent can skyrocket your sales
    business people shaking hands
    Networking for small business owners
    Is the customer always right?
    Successful Custom: A Clean Disaster
    Brad Huisken
    A quick note about technology
  • Classifieds
  • Subscriptions
    • Newsletter Signup
    • Print Subscription
No Result
View All Result
Southern Jewelry News
  • Featured
    • All
    • Featured
    • Featured Retailers
    • Retailer Roundtable
    • Sponsored Content
    • Supplier Spotlight
    Jeweler brings Midwest to the Southwest
    Tara Fine Jewelry: Atlanta’s not-so-secret, best-kept secret
    Finding the Big Ones; Zambian Trophies for the Ages
    The Golden Girls of Gemstones
  • Latest News
    • All
    • COVID-19
    • Furry Friends
    • Industry Awards
    • Industry Events
    • NRF
    • On The Move
    • Other News
    • Tradeshow News
    • Video
    • What's New
    Hard Rock Summit event info
    Hardrock Summit to return to Denver in September 2023
    ASJRA brooch
    Iconic Jewelry Firms is theme of ASJRA’s 18th annual Conference
    DMIA members meet-and-greet and hear updates from GIA, NDC
    diamonds on plant
    How to drive more sales and referrals through social media
  • Podcast
  • Columnists
    The Story Behind the Stone: Diamonds on Pins and Needles
    Jewelry Marketing Survival Guide
    The Story Behind the Stone: Out of the Blue
    What’s Hot Now!: Latest Designer Trends 2023
    A Winning Strategy: How SEO and buying intent can skyrocket your sales
    business people shaking hands
    Networking for small business owners
    Is the customer always right?
    Successful Custom: A Clean Disaster
    Brad Huisken
    A quick note about technology
  • Classifieds
  • Subscriptions
    • Newsletter Signup
    • Print Subscription
No Result
View All Result
Southern Jewelry News
No Result
View All Result
Home Columnists

24 Karat Corner – News and Views from the 24 Karat Club Southeastern U.S.: Summertime…

Howard Kelrick by Howard Kelrick
July 1, 2013
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Reading Time: 4 minutes

… And the living is easy!  My summer intern has the office running smoothly, and Kiki has the refrigerator door plastered with travel brochures.  All across the country it’s quiet on Main Street.  As my friend Mark once said rather awkwardly, “If you can afford to shop in my store, you can afford to go to the beach or mountains for the summer.”  Unless your store is located in a resort town, you probably have some time on your hands.  So, what to do?

After you’ve tackled those pesky special order re-mount jobs you’ve been putting off, cleaned up the shop, and shipped the filters and sweeps off to the refiner, there is still plenty of long, hot summer left.  So, here’s my suggested “to do” list for you to tackle until things get busy again:

Go to a trade show.  There has to be one near you at some point this summer (hint:  the Atlanta Show is August 3-5).  And, if that isn’t near you, so much the better!  Spend a couple of days at the show, and then re-charge your batteries with a few days vacation either in town, or in the mountains just a couple of hours drive away.  For a list of my favorite activities in and around Atlanta, send me an e-mail.

Take a class. Most community colleges offer reduced rates for summer classes, and don’t care if you are a full time enrolled student.  It doesn’t have to be jewelry or business related; guitar, a foreign language, film, anything that get the brain cells going.  For your staff, however, you might recommend a jewelry related course, either locally, or on-line.

Decide which new civic organization or charity you are going to get actively involved with.  Its probably been a while since you joined a fresh organization and made some new friends.  Now is the time to make the phone calls and see what most interests you so you can hit the ground running in the fall.  Don’t forget to encourage your sales staff to do the same thing.  My friend Lexi works for a company that mandates she attend one community/charity event at least one day or night each week.  Her company even reimburses her for out of pocket expenses such as dues, chamber breakfasts, cover charges, etc.  Anything that gets you and your people out and involved in the community should be actively encouraged.

Get to know The 24 Karat Club.  The members are all experts in their fields, and have pledged their time and resources to enhance and strengthen the jewelry industry.  If you have a relationship with one member, ask that he or she introduce you to some of the other members.  If you are not familiar with any of the members, take a little initiative, find a member from the website (www.The24KaratClub.org) in a business segment that you might like to explore, and make contact.  We would all enjoy hearing from you!

As ever, I appreciate your thoughts and comments, and while I always reply, there may be some delay this time of year.  That brochure Kiki laid out about glacier and volcano climbing in Iceland seems to have caught my eye!


Howard Kelrick is President of Finger Mate and a  board member of The 24 Karat Club, SEUS.  Finger Mate manufactures and installs expandable ring shanks and sells to retail jewelers throughout North America. Contact Howard at 954-458-2700 or e-mail Howard@FingerMate.com.

Howard Kelrick

Howard Kelrick

Howard Kelrick is President of Finger Mate and a  board member of The 24 Karat Club, SEUS.  Finger Mate manufactures and installs expandable ring shanks and sells to retail jewelers throughout North America. Contact Howard at 954-458-2700 or e-mail Howard@FingerMate.com.

Related Posts

The Story Behind the Stone: Diamonds on Pins and Needles

March 20, 2023

Jewelry Marketing Survival Guide

March 15, 2023

The Story Behind the Stone: Out of the Blue

March 15, 2023

What’s Hot Now!: Latest Designer Trends 2023

March 13, 2023

Latest News

Industry Events

Hardrock Summit to return to Denver in September 2023

March 22, 2023
Industry Events

Iconic Jewelry Firms is theme of ASJRA’s 18th annual Conference

March 22, 2023
Industry Events

DMIA members meet-and-greet and hear updates from GIA, NDC

March 22, 2023

Other News

How to drive more sales and referrals through social media

The Story Behind the Stone: Diamonds on Pins and Needles

Mystery shopping results reveal opportunity for proactive consumer natural diamond education

Jewelers of America announces 2023 GEM Awards winners

ASA partners with BrankoGems Academy to offer testing loose and mounted diamonds and gems training

KIL N.Y.C. introduces the Cranium Ring

Southern Jewelry News

© 2022 Southern Jewelry News.

Additional Information

  • About
  • 2023 Jewelry Trade Shows & Events
  • Media Kit
  • Contact
  • Sitemap
  • Newsletter Signup

Get Social with Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Featured Articles
    • Featured
    • Featured Retailers
    • Retailer Roundtable
    • Supplier Spotlight
    • Sponsored Content
  • Latest News
    • What’s New
    • Industry Events
    • Tradeshow News
    • On The Move
    • Other News
    • Furry Friends
  • Podcast
  • Columnists
  • Classifieds
  • Subscriptions
    • Newsletter Signup
    • Print Subscription

© 2022 Southern Jewelry News.