This is true, he maintains, even when customers are buying pieces as gifts. “You can see how someone connects to a piece xmas gift on sale. When you show that first ring, if you guess right, you can see their eyes light up. It’s not a book, or a CD or a DVD; it’s something that’s really personal and intimate,” he continues.
“For us, the Internet site is like a catalog. Perhaps at some point the web can be a source of sales, but in the final analysis, jewellery is all about emotion and sentiment xmas gift sale. If we have 50 strings of pearls; how can the Internet show the difference between them, and how can someone pick the one they’re going to own and wear for the rest of their life?”
In other ways, however, Lou Goldberg Jewellers is evolving. “We’ve always felt attached to pearls, but now we’re finding ourselves drawn to tanzanites for the value and the beauty of the stone,” says Eric Goldberg. “Joel and my dad have been able to find incredible stones; they’ve found one or two that have just knocked their socks off Links Necklaces . We’ve just completed a set for a customer of matched tanzanites, almost impossible to find.”
The family members hope someday to see a third generation of Goldbergs coming into the Company. “Shelley has two sons who are both involved in the business, and Joel has a daughter who’s interested, which is nice,” says Eric Goldberg. “We see ourselves as a kind of a brand; we’ve spent a long time building up trust, which we’ve worked very hard to win. We’d like to expand. We see more than just a store in Montreal sweetie Bracelet. It’s not that I’m going to say that we have any specific plans, but we think we could do more.”