Remember the Glory Days

Driving through a blizzard just East of Prince Rupert a few weeks ago, the Bruce Springstein song Glory Days came on the radio.  The Boss sang about the highschool baseball hero who has nothing to talk about but the old days when he could “blow that speed-ball by you; make you look like a fool…”

In our spare time, my wife Jana and I have invested in real estate.  There were a few years there where everything we did made money, despite any mistakes we made.  Those were the glory days.  In mid-2008, the surging market came to a halt, but for a great few years before, retail sales were quite robust.  Maybe those were the glory days.  Actually, when my dad was in the oil industry through the 70s, things were pretty good.  I recall the bumper-sticker that came out in the early 80s after the National Energy Program destroyed the Alberta advantage; it said “Lord give us another oil-boom, we promise not to piss it away this time.”  The 70s were definitely the glory days!  Or were they?  What will they say about 2012?  Was the “Pandora era” the glory days of the early 20-teens?  For me, 2011 was the best year ever for jewellery sales.  Am I in the middle of my glory days?

I never want to be like the high school baseball star whose best days are behind him.  I’m grateful for the glory days of the past, but I truly believe that there are many glorious days in my future.  There have been days in the jewellery business when we had less competition, when margins were better, when we only had to worry about stocking one metal -- yellow gold -- and when the internet wasn’t siphoning sales from us respectable bricks-and-mortar full service jewellers.

The world is moving fast, and if you believe that the glory days are past, just stop trying new things.  Stock your store with yellow gold clusters, herringbone chains, Zoppini charms, tie-clips, stairway-to-heaven rings and Gucci bezel watches.  Just wait for the glory days to return, and you’ll be ready for it!  Good luck with that.