Why are jewelers hiding jewelry?

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Why are jewelers hiding jewelry?

Retailers use treasure hunts to gain brand exposure

By Michelle Graff

October 07, 2009

This blue-and-silver box from Levy's Jewelry in Birmingham, Ala., signals a free gift for its finder and is part of a store promotion that created headlines for the store.

Birmingham, Ala.--The adage "finders keepers, losers weepers" evokes memories of grade school, when many a misplaced toy wound up repossessed after falling subject to this widely accepted--if unwritten--rule.

This childhood chant has taken on new meaning, however, for a handful of retailers who have taken to hiding pieces of jewelry all over town for finders to keep--with no strings and, fortunately, no weeping losers attached.

Store owners say these treasure hunts, in which pieces of jewelry are hidden everywhere from Catholic church confessional booths to hospital elevators to bus depots, can help put a smile on participants' faces in these troubling times. It also gives jewelers a way to remind area residents that jewelry--of the variety sold at their store, of course--is the type of gift that many would love to find hidden under a Christmas tree.

At Levy's Fine Jewelry in Birmingham, Ala., third-generation owner Jared Nadler launched such a promotion over the summer, employing both his staff and trusted longtime customers to place 87 gifts around the Southern city to mark each year that Levy's, which opened in 1922, has been in business.

The original idea behind the promotion was to give back to the community where the store has been a fixture for nearly nine decades, Nadler says. The store's generosity had unintended, but not unwelcome, consequences.

"We wanted to give back, and the weird thing is we got publicity out of it and that worked out great," Nadler says.

He took a viral marketing approach to the promotion, choosing not to advertise the gift boxes at all and simply let the word spread on its own.

"The whole idea is we want people to discover it themselves," he says. "We didn't want people to go out looking for it."

As more people discovered packages, word of the promotion spread far and wide, inspiring phone calls from as far away as England, where news of the giveaway had made its way onto a syndicated radio show and piqued interest.

"It's something we truly enjoyed doing," Nadler says. "We had a lot of fun with it. And our customers [who helped us] had a lot of fun distributing the gifts."

Moving stubborn pieces

But, what types of pieces were in those boxes? And how did Nadler let finders know the source of the jewelry?

Nadler says he choose a mix of aged inventory and newer pieces, all priced between $20 and $1,000, noting that a side benefit of the promotion was that it allowed the store to turn over some of its stubborn inventory.

Each package was wrapped the same way, in silver paper tied with a blue bow.

The attached cards read: "Congratulations! Here is a gift for you to have, wear, give away, and most of all--enjoy! This Levy's box is yours--and we hope you will come and see us soon. Your Friends at Levy's, Birmingham's Family Jewelers since 1922." The cards also included the store's address and telephone number.

Though Levy's has already surpassed its goal of distributing 87 gifts, Nadler says he is not done yet, and has opted to expand the promotion to include 100 gifts, including a few presents he'll distribute as the holiday season approaches and consumers start to think about where they might like to do their holiday shopping.

"As we get closer to the holidays, November, December, I just might drop one or two off in public, high-traffic places," he says.

Day's drops hints

At New England chain Day's Jewelers, owner Jeff Corey conducted a gift hunt last holiday season, hiding one item every day between Thanksgiving and Christmas in each of the six towns where his stores are located.

The promotion seemed like the perfect potion to spill into the bleak days that led up to last Christmas, a way to cut through the doom and gloom and lighten the mood.

"I think it did a wonderful job of that," Corey says. "It was a fun thing people did."

Dubbing it "Finders Keepers," Day's took a more direct approach to spreading the word about the promotion, taking out ads on the local radio stations in each town.

The 60-second spots, like the one still available here, announced the promotion, and some gave listeners clues as to where they might find that day's surprise.

Like Nadler, Day's offered slow-turning merchandise, with the gifts ranging in price from about $50 to $1,000.

Corey says each gift was accompanied by a card asking the finder to call the store and describe how the gift was discovered, thereby making the recipient eligible for the contest's ultimate prize: a $500 Day's gift card.

The names of the finders and their stories were posted on the Day's Jewelers Web site, adding yet another fun layer to the process.

"It was just a good thing to do for the community," Corey says. "It positioned Day's as the good guys, the jeweler that cares."

Take steps for security

While their intent was to spread Christmas cheer, both Nadler and Corey also took steps to ensure their unattended packages didn't create any type of panic in this post-Sept. 11 world.

Corey says he and his staff did not originally call ahead of time to let people at the various public hiding places know that jewelry might be stashed on their premises, "but then we got some people that were a little bit upset, so we decided it would be a good idea to let some of the places know."

Nadler says his team cleared its promotion with a number of city officials, including the police chief, and also let the general managers at their local television stations know what they were doing.

"It was well thought out," he says. "We called the right parties. You have to do that if you do a promotion like this."

Chain retailer Burlington Coat Factory went a similar route recently in New York, where ever since Sept. 11, public service messages have been continually reminding residents and visitors "If you see something, say something," in regards to reporting abandoned packages.

The retailer contacted the New York Police Department ahead of time to advise officials of a promotion that involved placing messenger bags containing gift cards ranging from $5 to $500 around Manhattan to spread the word about its new store-within-a-store concept, The Factory.

Spreading cheer and happy tears

Jeff Johnson, owner of Gem and Diamond Specialists in Imlay City, Mich., also opted to do a gift-hiding giveaway to bring cheer to his town, where auto industry layoffs in the Detroit area have pushed unemployment to above 18 percent.

"The economic climate in Michigan is just pathetic," Johnson says.

He used a mix of aged and newer inventory priced between $50 and $1,000 and, like Nadler at Levy's, let the word spread on its own rather than taking out any ads to announce the promotion.

"It wasn't really about tooting our own horn," Johnson says. "It was about doing something nice and fun for the community."

Johnson started hiding gifts in September and will continue through this month, though he doesn't see the promotion extending beyond October because it's too time-consuming for the store's staff.

He recommends that any jewelers considering a similar promotion outsource the wrapping to a company that supplies pre-fabricated, gift-wrapped boxes.

Despite the time and energy expended, Johnson, like Corey and Nadler, concedes that doing this promotion was worth it, not just for store exposure or community standing, but for the heartfelt reactions of those who found the gifts.

Johnson hid his gifts in places where he suspected people might need a lift, like a Catholic church confessional booth and a hospital, while Nadler in the South opted to spread the wealth, making sure his gifts made it to all areas of town, regardless of income.

"There is out-of-pocket expenses to do this," Johnson says. "[But] it's worth it in the fact that you get a lot of joy...people call up and they're in tears."

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