Brian Marshall
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
Yep, there IS an elephant hiding in the room. (And on ALL the forums)
I only have a few minutes to start this, but I will continue later this evening or tomorrow morning.
Couple things to think about in the meantime:
Well over 4,000 small Mom & Pop jewelry stores have closed across the USA in the past couple of years. These stores will NEVER reopen. Most of my students came from these little stores. Parents sent them to me to learn benchwork and engraving with the idea that one day they would inherit the family business. Not gonna happen now...
Walmart is now the largest retailer of jewelry on this planet.
One more and I gotta go:
Personally, I have lost two large engraving accounts during this time frame. A $25,000 hit.
(I am one of those nasty engravers that does "production" work, not "Art". Yeah, I know, shame on me for doing it, and shame on me for admitting it - but it used to pay very well)
One went bankrupt, but thought enough of me to see that I got paid before he did it.
The other looked around at the metals prices and the general state of the economy and decided to close his business and retire before he too went bankrupt.
I have not been able to find accounts to replace these two... haven't given up yet - but I'm definitely looking in places I never would have looked before.
Anyone else is welcome to chime in about how the depression/recession/escalating metal prices have affected you - and what you are doing to save your @$$...
Brian
I only have a few minutes to start this, but I will continue later this evening or tomorrow morning.
Couple things to think about in the meantime:
Well over 4,000 small Mom & Pop jewelry stores have closed across the USA in the past couple of years. These stores will NEVER reopen. Most of my students came from these little stores. Parents sent them to me to learn benchwork and engraving with the idea that one day they would inherit the family business. Not gonna happen now...
Walmart is now the largest retailer of jewelry on this planet.
One more and I gotta go:
Personally, I have lost two large engraving accounts during this time frame. A $25,000 hit.
(I am one of those nasty engravers that does "production" work, not "Art". Yeah, I know, shame on me for doing it, and shame on me for admitting it - but it used to pay very well)
One went bankrupt, but thought enough of me to see that I got paid before he did it.
The other looked around at the metals prices and the general state of the economy and decided to close his business and retire before he too went bankrupt.
I have not been able to find accounts to replace these two... haven't given up yet - but I'm definitely looking in places I never would have looked before.
Anyone else is welcome to chime in about how the depression/recession/escalating metal prices have affected you - and what you are doing to save your @$$...
Brian
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