Jewelry in particular, which rides the economy, is on an upswing. Birks has really beefed up its product line. I used to never see anything near the quality jewelry here in Canada that I saw in Europe. But that's not the case anymore. Jewelry, such as diamonds, gold and pearls form about 60 per cent of Birks's sales, with the balance coming from time pieces, crystal, smaller gift items and the service department.
Wedding bands continue to be a big draw.
According to a study by De Beers, Canadian women are among the world's biggest buyers of diamond wedding bands. But not all that business is going to De Beers, since Birks recently began selling its own line of Canadian mined diamonds. Baby boomers are now smack in the middle of Birks target client age group and earning demographic. Many boomers are winding up their house payments at the same time they are entering peak salary years, giving them a lot of loose cash to throw around. Many are taking the opportunity to spoil themselves a bit.