So here it is—my employees are ordering items for their family from Quality Gold, Stuller, etc—little items that the store doesn’t carry. Now I obviously don’t want to make money off of them so I wrote up an employee form awhile back—take a look below. One of my staff members came up to me and wasn’t too happy; said that items purchased for their family members should also be 20% above cost and 10% for management. I feel I’m pretty open to their ideas/wants/and opinions so I thought I’d ask you all—Is that right? So if they buy gifts for their family from a catalog under the store’s account should they be allowed to purchase the item at the same price as if it were for them? What about their spouses? Their spouse wants to buy an item for his or her sister? What’s your policy on that? How do you ...Read More

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I am insulted when I receive a Christmas card with the company’s stamp on the outside and stamp on the inside. No one’s written anything or signed it. To me that’s just a waste of paper and I don’t even read them but instead trash them. After receiving a bunch of these I frantically went through my stash of Christmas cards and thank god in each one of them I wrote something. Yes, the message was pretty standard and I could’ve probably wrote the same thing in every one and it would’ve worked. So, I decided since I hate receiving crappy Christmas Cards I’m not sending them to my best customer’s this year—but instead, I am sending them “tasty treats.” Of course I cannot send all my customers “tasty treats” so instead of boring Christmas cards do you all know of anything that makes a sta...Read More

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Yes, I have been bold and created bad blood between HOF and I but why should I hide from the truth. I asked to return the line (we were not selling it); they wouldn’t take it back, and ultimately I have to do what is best for Guliani’s Fine Jewelry. Since discounting the line 30% I have already sold a diamond remount, the whimsical oval pendant, my first cross, and a few others. I have opened an account with eBay and the pieces are going online soon.

Thank you to all those who have called me, commented, and opened up about their experiences with Hearts on Fire as well as other brands. Of the 8 to 10 people who contacted me:

1. Two of

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I just sat on the phone and called each and every local store in North Carolina and South Carolina and asked, “Do you sell Hearts on Fire? Are you offering any discounts on Hearts on Fire?” (Almost every store called my store back to confirm—it was quite funny).

This is the answer I got:

“Hearts on Fire worldwide cannot be discounted. We report our numbers every month and if we discount it they will take the line.”

NOT QUITE. I am discounting the line because they won’t take it back. I am disc...Read More

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Guliani’s acquired Hearts on Fire last year October. I was so excited to acquire the line knowing couples in my area are young and have brand awareness. Unfortunately, it’s been one year since we’ve had the line and we’ve sold a total of 4 or 5 pieces. By February, I noticed the pieces weren’t moving and I had to seriously take action—I went to the Hearts on Fire Owners Forum, I sent two employees to a HOF local training seminar, my sales manager attended HOFU, we had contests—where employees could win cash (up to $50) if they sold a piece. I even instilled Guliani’s own training manual/program for HOF. Still nothing. My customer’s were sticker shocked even with a well perfected 2 minute presentation. I have to say even I ...Read More

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So I haven’t had any smokers until now. I have an employee that smokes, takes breaks regularly to smoke, instead of taking a lunch. He is supposed to take an hour lunch but instead takes a bunch of 5 minute smoke breaks. I hate having an employee leave the store a bunch of times to smoke—I’d much rather him take an hour lunch and smoke his hearts desire instead of taking a bunch of little breaks. How have you all handled such a dilemma? Can you set restrictions on how many smoke breaks an employee can take?

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In the most straightforward terms, an exit interview is simply a means of determining the reasons why a departing employee has decided to leave an organization:

• Find out why the person is leaving
• Remind the employee of his or her confidentiality obligations
• Get feedback on company operations and policies to spot any needed areas of improvement

Exit interviews should be structured to elicit frank responses. How can you do that? For starters, don't conduct exit interviews on an employee's last day. In fact, don't conduct interviews at all until after employees have left the job.

How can you be sure they will participate onc...Read More

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I understand how important it is to get customer’s in the mood to shop during the holidays—how the white lights and garlands decorated in the window, the cold weather, the coat rack at the front door, and the cheery music get customer’s in the mood for the holidays and more importantly—in the mood to shop. But hold on a minute—Halloween isn’t for another month. It drives me batty when I see stores decorating as early as this and I’m sure it does others too. We usually start decorating the store the Tuesday or Wednesday before Thanksgiving and take it down by the 5^th or 6^th of January. When do you start your holiday decorating?

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Many employers attempt to test prospective employees (and employees already on staff) for drug and alcohol use. An employer may face legal difficulties if it chooses to test only certain applicants for a position.  In other words, an employer cannot pick and choose which applicants it will test for drugs or alcohol.  The employer must treat all applicants for the same job in a similar manner. Although increasing in popularity among

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) makes it illegal for any employer to test a prospective employee without first making a conditional offer of employment. The ADA also says you can't discriminate against prospective employees on the basis of past drug-related problems. Then again, you may refuse to hire candidates if you have reason to believe they will return to substance abuse or endanger the safety and health of your workers.

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Indesign’s October 2008 issue received 28 responses regarding…Which lab do you use most often for diamond certification? From those respondents here were the percentages:

• GIA 64%
• AGS 14%
• AGA 7%
• GGL 7%
• EGL 4%

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Like many new stores, I didn’t have the funds to invest in a line of eternity bands or even a few for show. They sit around—not turning—because they have to fit perfectly and of course most cannot be sized. I haven’t had many customers ask for them either—but then again my mom says, “If you don’t have at least a couple to show they’ll think you can’t make them or even order them and will buy else where.” So—I’ve been thinking of investing in Overnight’s eternity ring program. They set you up with a 5-10 eternity ring styles set with CZ’s for only a few hundred dollars. Have any of you ordered a starter kit like this from Overnight or other companies? Is it worth it?

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I carry what I think a high-end Sterling Silver line should be…Scott Kay but other that I really didn’t dabble much into sterling silver until now. During the month of May and June I experience many customer’s coming in for gifts between $50 and $100 and I had nothing but white gold and yellow gold hoops and of course some thin chains. My Scott Kay Sterling line was no where near that price point and many of them I lost because they weren’t willing to look through a catalogue. During the summer months I also noticed many teens in my shopping center and quite a few came in looking for gifts for their girlfriends—again wanting to spend $50-$100. I finally sucked it up and invested in a sterling line called Artistry which I am s...Read More

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