Kay also wanted to attract business from more affluent customers, so, in the late 1970s, it reactivated the name of Black, Starr & Frost, which it had acquired when it bought another jewelry operation in 1973. Black, Starr & Frost had been one of the nation’s oldest jewelers christmas gift, but had had no stores in operation since the early 1960s, when the chain’s previous owner had lost its store on New York’s Fifth Avenue.
The difference between Kay and Black, Starr & Frost is quite simple christmas gift on sale, Lavington says. While Kay’s average sale is around $200, the cheapest thing you can buy at Black, Starr & Frost costs $200. Lavington adds that the more expensive chain’s average sale is around $1,000.
Between 1979 and 1982, about 126 new Kay stores and more than a dozen Black, Starr & Frost stores were opened. But the rapid expansion took a toll on the company, with profits dropping from $15 million in 1980 to $10.8 million the following year.
As a result, Kay decided to curtail its expansion program drastically and to open stores only in areas where the company already had branches. “Before we open a Kay store Links Rings , we must feel confident that the store can do $1 million in sales by the third year,” Lavington says, noting that is the point when the company “starts making good money links of london friendship Bracelet.”