"House of Pinchers"

[Ned Serious]

I don't have any postions in jewelry stores. Our local radio station has WSJ radio for an hour each morning before the wacky radio morning crew starts, and I heard a report about a lot of the stores that went out of business or bankrupt. I'm sure you're aware of this, but an FYI. I just looked up what looks to be the story that the radio was reporting on.

the below if from (full article at link):

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123449016586680497.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

...Of course, even before December's poor sales, local jewelry stores and regional and national chains had been disappearing at an alarming rate. For all of 2008, 1,140 jewelry businesses closed -- more than half of them retailers -- and the number of bankruptcies rose 19%, according to the Jewelers Board of Trade, a Rhode Island-based credit research and collections bureau for the jewelry industry.

Two large jewelry chains liquidated last year: Whitehall Jewelers Holdings and Friedman's Inc. The pair shuttered a combined 373 stores. Now, jewelers who held on through the holidays are showing signs of severe strain.

"This will go down as one of the most difficult years in our industry's history," said Dione Kenyon, president of the Jewelers Board of Trade. "On September 15, the curtain slammed shut and everything just stopped. Cash got very tight and people stopped paying for everything."

Last month, Colorado-based Shane Co., a family-owned jewelry retailer with 23 stores in 14 states, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after holiday sales declined 32%. Christian Bernard, a chain of 15 stores on the East Coast, recently said it would liquidate after filing for bankruptcy protection the day after Christmas.

------------
good luck.