IWJG September 2012 Las Vegas Show Report

We were flying out of Las Vegas after the International Watch and Jewelry Guild Show, and as we looked out of the plane’s window we could not help but think of the old Dinah Washington recording "What a Difference a Day Makes." Wednesday morning in Las Vegas looked absolutely normal. The streets were all dry. The drainage channels were all practically dry. Traffic was moving in normal fashion. What a difference from Tuesday when a monsoon storm that hit dumped two inches of rain on Sin City and brought everything to a complete halt. Streets flooded, cars and people were stranded, electricity was knocked out and air traffic was halted. Everything was great at the IWJG Show in the Pavilion Ballroom at the Tropicana until about 2:00 in the afternoon when a flood that would have challenged Moses threatened to sweep us out of the building. Thanks to some quick thinking by the IWJG Staff and some of the membership we were able to divert the worst of the water away from the room until the staff of the Tropicana kicked in and took care of business. Results... The show went on and some of the members reported their best business after the battle with the elements. Flood sales were rampant all across the room. The IWJG would like to thank everyone for their patience (especially the Gruenburgs) and help. You were great and that allowed us to turn what could have been a disaster into a minor distraction. As Burl Bullock (IWJG founder) would say "The Show Must Go On."

Monday started off as a typical Las Vegas Show. A late night Sunday made for some slow movers Monday morning. By 9:30AM the show was in full swing and there was plenty of business being done. No doubt the market is off from the highs of 2011 and there are very few steals on the IWJG floor but if you need merchandise, you can find it in the IWJG room and if you need to sell there are buyers looking for good merchandise at market prices. You can have good shows in this flat market, but you have got to work the floor. Burly used to say "Hell, we're all grownups. This is what we do and they call it work instead of play because it's not for children and sometimes are harder than others" Amen! Because of the weather related distraction on Tuesday, we were not able to get as many member show reports as normal but here is what we heard from the members we spoke with.

Ariel Shimunov said Midtown Watch had a great show. Eddie (with Ed Ticheli) also reported a great show. Harry Setian and Craig Small report very good shows. Jack Weir, Mark Nance and the Crumleys, all said they had good shows. Good show reports came in from Robert Wingate and Natilio Saks. Tommy Labret had a good show on older modern watches that look like current models (Older manual and single qwickset day-date and datejust as examples). These watches seem to be filling a consumer taste for today's look at a lower price. Thanks for that insight, Tommy. Lou Brisco, Felix Torres, Gabe Arik, Joe Akkar and Farzad Sharim had good shows and Eric Boneta had a good Las Vegas Show, mostly selling on Monday and then buying merchandise on Tuesday. All in all Las Vegas was a good show for many of our members. If you had a soft show, the advice we hear from the members that are having good shows is, if don't have the right merchandise sell it for a little less and buy what is in demand today (ask Craig Small). In the end you will have better volume, better profit margins and you won't have to work so hard for every sale. It's not always easy and that is why they call it work not play.

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Serving the Best Membership in the World!!!
Olga Cortez Bullock, Joe Nelson, Christina Ledoux and the IWJG Staff

About the International Watch and Jewelry Guild (IWJG)
Since 1985, the IWJG has been conducting 12 to 14 annual cash and carry trade show events throughout the US. The members only shows are supported by over 8,200 of the world's foremost professional watch and jewelry dealers from 75 countries. The IWJG members and shows stake claim to hundreds of millions of dollars in watch and jewelry inventory. For general questions or information on becoming a member visit our website at www.iwjg.com or call us toll free at 800-554-4992. You can also visit us on Facebook at http://www.iwjg.net/facebook for more information or Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/iwjg.