50 Jewelers/50 States: Alabama

NJ: What’s the top-selling item or brand at your store?

GP: Our top-selling item is going to be bridal engagement rings, diamond engagement rings and wedding bands. Martin Flyer and Gabriel & Co. are two of our best-selling brands.

NJ: Describe your regional customer.

GP: We’re in a college town. The University of Alabama is located here. We get students from all over the United States. So our bridal market is primarily that market, not just the regular Tuscaloosa population.

We serve basically west Alabama and east Mississippi. We have Birmingham to the east of us so there are people in that area who don’t need to come this way, but we have a tremendous area in west Alabama that covers about six or eight counties that we serve, as well as eastern Mississippi.

NJ: What’s the most popular style of engagement ring with your clientele now?

GP: I guess I got to say it’s still the halo, but I am seeing a little pushback from that since it has been so popular. We’ve actually sold a couple of solitaires--basic four-prong, Tiffany-style solitaires--and I’m also seeing a great trend of yellow gold. It’s been years since we’ve sold yellow metal for bridal, but we’re seeing a little of that. (There is a) very, very slight trend toward rose gold. Mainly, if there’s anything other than white, it’s going to be yellow.

NJ: What about diamond shapes?

GP: Right now, we’re mainly selling round brilliant but I see a little popularity in oval and maybe a smidgen going back toward marquise … I haven’t seen the marquise in 15 years, but I’m seeing a little bit of interest in marquise now.

Gene Poole, owner of Hudson-Poole Fine Jewelers

NJ: What’s your internet presence like?

GP: HudsonPoole.com is our website. We’re not selling a tremendous amount online but we do sell online, especially in the holiday season. We carry some collegiate merchandise for the University of Alabama, so alumni across the United States will order that online. When they google “Alabama jewelry,” we come up pretty high.

I’m really amazed at the number of my longtime customers who will do their research online and then come in to buy. The other day I had a gentleman who had an anniversary and came in and showed us a picture of a tanzanite and diamond ring that we had online and said, “That’s what I want,” and we took it out of the case, wrapped it and handed it to him.

I see a huge amount of the millennial population come in and pull up a picture on their iPhone and say, “This is what she wants.” It makes my job a lot easier in that respect, that you can pull something out of the case, even if it’s not that particular brand the customer shows you, and you can compete.

My real agitation with the internet is sales tax. I can compete with diamond prices and I can compete with mounting prices, but I can’t compete with sales tax and I had a long discussion about this with the mayor of Tuscaloosa. They’re losing money on sales tax because so many people are shopping online, not just jewelry but apparel and housewares and everything.

Most cities in the South depend on sales tax as opposed to any other type of tax for road and bridges and infrastructure. I just saw Amazon came out and said they’re going to start collecting state sales tax. That’s fine, but it doesn’t help cities and counties. If I have a young man going online, I’m 9 percent non-competitive right off the bat because we have a 9 percent sales tax. Nine percent on a diamond engagement ring is enough to make you think, “‘Well, hell, I think I’ll buy it online,’ and I don’t like that.”

At some point, we have to level the playing field and Congress needs to get on board and the state governments need to get on board because it’s hurting the brick-and-mortar retailers of all types and it’s hurting the states, the cities and the counties for their infrastructure needs and education needs. It’s just crazy.

NJ: Of the social media accounts you’re using, which is the most important to Hudson-Poole?

GP: Instagram is really, really good for us. We have a lot of followers, and again I get people who will tell their husbands or significant others that they like a particular piece that we posted. We try to stay real fresh and real current on that. We do Facebook and it’s OK, but I think Instagram is better right now for us.

NJ: What’s the best piece of advice you’d offer to other independent jewelry stores?

GP: This is not anything new, but you still have to get customers into the store. I think online media is the way to do it. I spend money on Facebook and Instagram and advertise there. I also advertise on radio, TV, billboards, newspaper, direct mail, everything, but I do think that online is really significant. And I’m putting more and more dollars there.

But that’s basically getting the purchase on your website or getting them into the store. When they come into the store, you have to make sure your customer service is superior to anyone else’s.

So we try to make sure that we’ve read all of the articles and done all of the training and studying to make sure that our customer has a really good experience when they walk in the door at Hudson- Poole Jewelers.

They’re greeted within five seconds. They’re offered Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Sprite, water. We do everything we can do to put them at ease and relax. We try to just talk and show jewelry; there’s no pressure. And it basically seems to work really good for us.

NJ: What’s a fun fact about you we can share with our readers?

GP: I’ve had three lives. I’m a retired military colonel, U.S. Army Special Forces. I still play oldies rock ‘n’ roll music--the drums--and I love the jewelry industry.