• Adrian Turner of Fifth Avenue.

Then and now at Fifth Avenue

Adrian Turner, of Fifth Avenue Jewellers, was one of the advertisers in the first issue of Channel. He reminisces about changes in retail and in his business over the past nine years (100 issues) since Channel Magazine first hit the streets.

Well done to Aidan, Michelle, and the whole Channel Magazine family.  You put out a quality magazine that's full of great content and really benefits (pardon the pun) the North Shore community - a huge congratulations on your 100th edition.

I remember that back in July 2010 our business in Shore City was a little different from where it is today - not just geographically, but as a business model.  We carried a variety of brands back then, both watches and jewellery. These brands controlled a lot of our business and made it very hard to concentrate on the diamond and manufacturing side of the business which is what we loved and enjoyed; now, this is something that we specialise in and our customers tell us that we do this very well.

Over the years we've had some great people making up part of the "Fifth Avenue family", and a lot of customers reading this would remember Renata, Dave, Ami, Ellen, Amy and Sheila along with myself – Adrian – from back in 2010. Over the years people retire and our young effervescent part-time students move on to their chosen careers, but that’s life and you're happy for them nonetheless. As the journey finishes for one person, a new one begins for another, and I'm very fortunate that we have a small, lovely and close-knit team today, with Gail, Hannah, Kirstin, Lisa and Eden.

Over the last nine years we've experienced many changes:

Changes within Shore City, where we were located in 2010, prompted our move back out onto Hurstmere Road, where it all started for Fifth Avenue Jewellers over 68 years ago.

Major changes within the whole retail landscape –- the way customers shop, the influence of online, social media, and even changes with large-scale suppliers/brands. One example was Pandora - which had both a negative and, in the end, a positive impact on us back in the day.

You've got to look at things in life and business holistically - look at the bigger picture, and enjoy and learn from the journey along the way.

Brands like Pandora and Tag Heuer were great for us in Shore City. However, like a lot of big brands, they can dominate and dictate your business, and often control what happens within your business, whether you like it or not. When we no longer carried these two products we almost had a "what are we going to do now?" moment – but taking a step back, it was actually a sigh of relief. We were able to control what we wanted to do, and where we wanted to go, and that was the beginning of our plan to move back into what we love, enjoy and are good at – diamonds!

Shopping habits have changed for sure. People now tend to do the majority of their research online and will narrow down their options to potentially two (or three) stores that they'll visit before making their purchasing decision.

And now those final decisions are based on their experience instore.  I believe customers now are looking for a unique experience instore, which is personal to them – valuing them as either individuals or as a couple. Price is not the motivator any more – sure it’s important, but not the main driver like it was years ago.

People want to feel valued, they want a friendly personalised experience – and to know that they are receiving value. Value can be many things – it’s not just all about price, and I think those customers purchasing a nice piece of jewellery are very savvy about that!

We are very, very grateful and feel very privileged to have designed and created treasured pieces of jewellery for our clients. We are so lucky to be included in some of their most personal significant moments, and to our customers reading this, thank you, thank you so much for allowing us to be part of your special world.