Southern Jewelry News
  • Featured
    • All
    • Featured
    • Featured Retailers
    • Retailer Roundtable
    • Sponsored Content
    • Supplier Spotlight
    Lambrecht’s Jewelers, 130-years-old and counting
    Celebrate with Gold®
    Tracing Diamond’s Origin
    Pickens, Inc.: Steady pace wins the race
  • Latest News
    • All
    • COVID-19
    • Furry Friends
    • Industry Awards
    • Industry Events
    • NRF
    • On The Move
    • Other News
    • Tradeshow News
    • Video
    • What's New
    Stuller introduces several new offerings at JCK Las Vegas
    JSA reports crimes against U.S. jewelry firms in 2021 exceeded pre-Covid levels
    GCAL partners with VDB to add 8X® Cut Grade search filter
    Registration opens for HardRock Summit 2022
  • Podcast
  • Columnists
    The Retailer’s Perspective: With great power comes great fails
    The Retailer’s Perspective
    The Story Behind the Stone: Yearning for Kazakhstan
    10 Cybersecurity Questions small and medium businesses should ask in 2022
    Motivating your sales staff
    IAS Training’s Keys to Effective Communication – Part III
    Kate’s star-studded style. What will the next trend be?
    Motivating your sales staff
    IAS Training’s Keys to Effective Communication – Part II
    Retailing in a post-PC world
    Motivating your sales staff
    IAS Training’s Keys to Communication
  • 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
    Lambrecht’s Jewelers, 130-years-old and counting
    Celebrate with Gold®
    Tracing Diamond’s Origin
    Pickens, Inc.: Steady pace wins the race
  • Latest News
    • All
    • COVID-19
    • Furry Friends
    • Industry Awards
    • Industry Events
    • NRF
    • On The Move
    • Other News
    • Tradeshow News
    • Video
    • What's New
    Stuller introduces several new offerings at JCK Las Vegas
    JSA reports crimes against U.S. jewelry firms in 2021 exceeded pre-Covid levels
    GCAL partners with VDB to add 8X® Cut Grade search filter
    Registration opens for HardRock Summit 2022
  • Podcast
  • Columnists
    The Retailer’s Perspective: With great power comes great fails
    The Retailer’s Perspective
    The Story Behind the Stone: Yearning for Kazakhstan
    10 Cybersecurity Questions small and medium businesses should ask in 2022
    Motivating your sales staff
    IAS Training’s Keys to Effective Communication – Part III
    Kate’s star-studded style. What will the next trend be?
    Motivating your sales staff
    IAS Training’s Keys to Effective Communication – Part II
    Retailing in a post-PC world
    Motivating your sales staff
    IAS Training’s Keys to Communication
  • Classifieds
  • Subscriptions
    • Newsletter Signup
    • Print Subscription
No Result
View All Result
Southern Jewelry News
No Result
View All Result
Home Columnists

24 Karat Corner: The summer intern speaks freely

Howard Kelrick by Howard Kelrick
August 1, 2016
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Summer is half way through.  The beer aisle at my favorite liquor store is finally running out of those vapid light “summer” ales, the afternoon summer thunder storms are rolling in, and our summer intern has finally found her groove and is getting comfortable in the office.  Perhaps too comfortable.

In the late afternoons, as the South Florida summer heat and humidity takes its toll on my energy level, I often have a snack to go along with the half gallon of iced tea I need to get me through the day.

“Wow, is that like your fifth cookie already?” Amy asked as she stumbled into my office. “You really should watch what you’re eating!”

“Who’s asking?” I wanted to know. “The summer intern, or the kid who gets to go back to college in two weeks?”

With that, Amy smiled at me, took the last cookie on my plate, and walked out the door. We both knew the answer. Yes, I eat way too many cookies each day. And, yes, Amy gets to go back to college in two weeks and is feeling pretty good about herself.

Our industry faces many problems, and new hurdles always seem to be popping up. Speaking of which, have you seen the new lab-created diamonds? Talk about problems down the road! Check them out at the next trade you show attend. They are already available at your favorite findings house!

At a recent trade conference, one of the speakers explained that three quarters of the independent retail jewelry stores in the country are operated by folks who are 55 years of age or older. For anecdotal evidence, just think of all the stores you know personally and who is running them. And, unfortunately, 90% of them have children who have no plans to continue in the family business. Who can blame them? If Mom and Pop were successful in their shop (thanks to six days a week of being open 9 to 9, and even longer in December), then why shouldn’t their children look to find happiness outside the retail life?

Even our precious intern Amy, who spent the summer successfully working in all of our various departments, thinks she is headed to Wall Street or law school. So, where do we find the next generation of retail jewelers? And, who is going to train them? It appears the days of third and fourth generations of the same family learning on the job and then running the store in the future are a thing of the past.

Later this month, The 24 Karat Club will deliver a number of scholarships to people working in the retail jewelry industry to take courses to improve their technical or professional skills. Members of The 24 Karat Club nominated deserving individuals who demonstrated a commitment to developing their bench, sales, or managerial skills.

The retail jewelry store owners of tomorrow are most likely the people currently working behind the counter or benches today. But, they need the training and expertise to assure their success, and The 24 Karat Club is there with the scholarship money to make sure it can happen.

We, like many other companies, offer summer internships to give college kids a professional taste of the jewelry business, and we are hopeful that some might even consider a career in our industry. If your business is offering a summer internship next year, let us know and we’ll put the information on our website.

Next month you’ll read some of the inspirational stories about our scholarship winners, who will be announced at the 24K Club banquet held in conjunction with the SJTA Atlanta Show. We hold great hopes for their future success in our industry. If you or someone you know would like to be considered next year for a scholarship from The 24 Karat Club, please ask your favorite 24 Karat Club Member for details on the nomination process. You can find a listing of our membership at www.the24karatclub.org.

I hope I get to see you at the SJTA Atlanta Show. And, if you think I’m having too many cookies, feel free to say so! Even my intern had no problem telling me!

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 Retailer’s Perspective: With great power comes great fails

The Retailer’s Perspective

June 30, 2022

The Story Behind the Stone: Yearning for Kazakhstan

June 30, 2022

10 Cybersecurity Questions small and medium businesses should ask in 2022

June 27, 2022
Motivating your sales staff

IAS Training’s Keys to Effective Communication – Part III

June 22, 2022

Latest News

Industry Events

Stuller introduces several new offerings at JCK Las Vegas

July 4, 2022
Other News

JSA reports crimes against U.S. jewelry firms in 2021 exceeded pre-Covid levels

July 4, 2022
On The Move

GCAL partners with VDB to add 8X® Cut Grade search filter

July 4, 2022

Other News

Registration opens for HardRock Summit 2022

NRF says economy is slowing but recession is unlikely in near term

American Gem Society targets negotiation skills for Confluence 2022

Lambrecht’s Jewelers, 130-years-old and counting

Celebrate with Gold®

Tracing Diamond’s Origin

Southern Jewelry News

© 2022 Southern Jewelry News.

Additional Information

  • About
  • 2022 Trade Shows
  • Media Kit
  • Contact

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
  • Columnists
  • Classifieds
  • Subscriptions
    • Newsletter Signup
    • Print Subscription

© 2022 Southern Jewelry News.