Fortunoff's Remaining Inventory To Be Auctioned Off

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
May 21st 2009 at 6:02PM

Where does the jewelry from liquidated stores like Whitehall Jewelers and Friedman's end up? What doesn't sell in close-out sales may end up at SimplexDiam a company which was once a manufacturer but has now switched its business plan to buying up the assets of stores. The Wall Street Journal reports that SimplexDiam has bought millions of dollars in leftover inventory from defunct chains and then sells it online and at auction to other retailers. It has been chosen to run an auction of more than $1 million worth of inventory leftover from Fortunoff's bankruptcy liquidation.

Neel Madhvani of SimplexDiam wrote an interesting post on his blog last month where he proposes a strategy for retailers selling to clients. He recommends that stores ask the suppliers what they are trying to get rid of rather than going for what they think they want to buy. Then he says that the trick is to sell the customer on what he terms "an investment stone" rather than an impulse stone. It's an interesting idea but it implies that the customer has to really trust the person doing the selling that they are being sold the stone that is best for them and not just best for the jeweler's bottom line.

Tags: diamonds, fortunoff, friedman, jewelry, simplexdiam, whitehall