POLAND, Ohio – Aebischer’s Jewelry of Poland had its best year ever in 2021, with sales increasing by 36% over the previous record year of 2019. But it wasn’t easy.
“Managing our growth became challenging at times,” says Adam Aebischer, sales manager. “All of our manufacturers experienced staffing problems during 2021 – reduced staff due to ‘the great resignation’ or from quarantining with COVID.”
The shortage of workers equated to longer production times for jewelry orders. Aebischer’s responded by continuously checking on the status of orders and repairs, then keeping customers apprised. The jeweler also encouraged customers to allow extra time, Aebischer says
The company made a point to increase its inventory last year in the bridal, watch and fashion departments. This reduced the need for customers to place orders and circumvented the supply-chain slowdown, Aebischer says.
“Continuously monitoring jewelry trends gave us a better understanding of what to buy and how much to buy,” he adds.
Still, the slowdown in diamond mining meant meeting customer requests was more challenging than usual. To alleviate the problem, Aebischer’s joined Rapnet, the largest diamond trading platform.
“This provided me access to more diamond dealers and their inventories,” he says.