Members will now receive benefits of both organizations
(NEW YORK) – Jewelers of America (JA), the national trade association for businesses serving the fine jewelry retail marketplace, has announced it is merging with Jewelry Information Center (JIC), the non-profit public relations association serving the fine jewelry and watch industries. Their integration into a unified resource for the jewelry industry is a natural evolution of the two organizations’ long-standing relationship.
“Jewelers of America and JIC play complementary roles in support of the retail fine jewelry industry, in a mutual effort to advance consumer confidence in jewelry purchases,” says President & CEO Matthew A. Runci. “Combining our resources – in the fields of professional development and industry advocacy and promotion – leaves us well-positioned to remain a leader in the advancement of the fine jewelry industry and its professionals in the 21st century.”
The merger is enthusiastically supported by each organization’s Boards of Directors and their members, who voted in favor of the merger at two recent annual meetings. After New York State finalizes the merger, JIC will be the consumer public relations and marketing arm of JA. All JIC retail and supplier members will become JA members.
Merger enhances JA’s business-building benefits
Through the integration, JA will increase association benefits, as members will receive access to more business-building resources – those of both JA and JIC. For example, Jewelers of America retail members, who seek custom marketing resources to promote their businesses, will have access to JIC’s high-quality PR and marketing materials – such as customizable print advertisements, Trends Reports and JIC’s “Jewelry Stories” national consumer marketing campaign materials.
“Jewelers of America has always offered resources for professional development to its members,” says Director of Member Services David Peters. “With the addition of JIC’s marketing services, we will provide members with a complete package – the marketing resources to draw customers to their stores or brand and the educational resources to close sales once they have them at the counter.”
JIC continues to increase consumer demand
As the consumer public relations and marketing arm of Jewelers of America, JIC will continue to work aggressively to increase jewelry purchases through its media outreach in print, radio and television. JIC, led by spokeswomen Amanda Gizzi and Helena Krodel, will remain the consumer-facing resource for jewelry shopping and buying information. Its newly redesigned website, www.JIC.org, features a “Jewelry Stories” campaign and interactive consumer jewelry guides designed to increase consumer demand for fine jewelry.
Visit Jewelers of America at www.jewelers.org and Jewelry Information Center at www.JIC.org.
