jewelry stores

Bailey, Banks & Biddle Plans Holiday Return

Filed under: Jewelry

Last year we wrote about the bankruptcy of jewelry retailer Finlay Enterprises which necessitated the closure of the Bailey Banks & Biddle jewelry chain. The intellectual property for Bailey Banks & Biddle was sold last November in a liquidation auction.

But the venerable retailer, which traced its roots back to 1832 in Philadelphia is being revived. Five stores have already opened in Austin, Houston and Plano, Texas as well as St. Louis and King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. A new website for the company should be up in time for the holidays. The stores all opened in October in the same spots they were in before closure. BBB Group Inc. is the parent company of the new chain and former Bailey Banks & Biddle President Paul Leonard is the head of the company. National Jeweler reports that the new stores have a focus on bridal jewelry with a new in-store design studio where customers can test out sterling silver and cubic zirconia samples. Flat-screen televisions will allow customers to browse an online selection of loose diamonds. The company doesn't plan to open any more stores in 2010 but hopes to eventually expand.

Tags: bailey, bailey banks and biddle, Finlay Enterprises, jewelry, jewelry stores, retail jewelers

More Jewelers Fall Victim To Gold-Selling Scams

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Jewelry, Crimes and Misdemeanors

With gold's high prices more and more people have been selling off gold. In some ways that has been good for jewelers but it has also meant that gold-related frauds are on the rise. JCK Online reports on the findings of the Jewelers' Security Alliance which has received over 28 reports of gold-related frauds committed against retail jewelers in 2009. That number doesn't sound like a lot but last year saw just six scams.

There have been two major types of fraud, a bait and switch in which the seller shows the jeweler a gold item and then switches it with a lookalike fake, and a scenario in which the jeweler buys a piece that tests positive as gold but is instead a heavily plated item. Jewelers are advised to be aware of the proliferation of fake items and to test it as much as possible. Both buyers and sellers should be aware of the possibility that even if a piece is stamped as gold that does not mean it really is.

Gold sellers are also warned to be cautious. Check the daily prices and be aware that while any jeweler or gold dealer will also take a share of the profits it pays to shop around because the percentage may be different and different stores may offer varying prices for pieces. Depending on the value of the piece it may also be advisable to have it evaluated by an independent appraiser before shopping your jewelry around that way you know the range that it could fetch.

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Tags: gold, gold jewelry, GoldJewelry, jewelry stores, JewelryStores, selling gold, SellingGold