Vicenzaoro Highlights, September 2024: Culture of Buying. Where Do We Stand?

Last Sunday, the focus of the dialog between President Squarcialupi and President Andreis was on several questions relating to the sentiment of the retail world, the distance to be shortened between companies and stores, and the need for a generational change that is not so easy to do, but which implies bureaucratic streamlining, trust, institutional intervention and a great deal of courage. President Andreis said: «There must be synergy between production and retail. Perhaps we have let it go over the years or perhaps we have sat back in terms of training and innovation. We have not been proactive and collaborative with those who come into the store and ask us for an item. We have not kept up with the times. It is now necessary to create and strengthen synergy with production, with the companies them selves, in order to be able to convey the emotion of a piece of jewelry to those who buy it. In short, those who create must pass the baton to those inside the jewelry store and have a duty to establish a conscious relationship with those who enter the jewelry store. We must be jewelers and not traders. We are also suffering considerably from the issue of generational change, but it is not easy. We have to work in the right place to find solutions.» Maria Cristina Squarcialupi reiterated his remarks: «In general, there is a lack of human curatorship in the stores. Soft skills are needed. The big chains are currently providing quantitative training without intervening on soft skills. Being in who buy it. In short, those who create must pass the baton to those inside the jewelry store and have a duty to establish a conscious relationship with those who enter the jewelry store. We must be jewelers and not traders. We are also suffering considerably from the issue of generational change, but it is not easy. We have to work in the right place to find solutions.» Maria Cristina Squarcialupi reiterated his remarks: «In general, there is a lack of human curatorship in the stores. Soft skills are needed. The big chains are currently providing quantitative training without intervening on soft skills. Being in syntony with the customer is fundamental. Jewelry must communicate, transmit beauty and all that is behind it, Italian craftsmanship, heritage. There is a lot of talk about closed doors in jewelry stores, but companies too often have closed doors. There should no longer be secrets in our profession because opening the company up, bringing production to life, letting people know how a piece is made must be a source of pride and something to boast about. And I can only agree about generational transition. It is essential to survive in a world that is a little old. But the courage to pass the baton is needed because without young people nothing can be done.»that it actually becomes real.