The gold standard
If you're planning to charm your valentine with gold jewelry this week, expect to pay more or settle for less.
With prices for the precious metal hitting record-high levels of more than $900 an ounce, some area jewelry stores say prices are up to 40 percent higher than last year.
Jewelry stores traditionally are full of activity around Feb. 14. In addition to Valentine's Day gifts, it's also a big time of year for engagements.
Jewelers don't believe soaring gold prices will keep shoppers away. Maybe shoppers will settle on a smaller pair of gold earrings or take look at silver, they say.
"I don't think the increase in gold is going to stop people from buying jewelry. If they have their heart on buying something, they will," said Timothy Grant, owner of Timothy Grant Jewelry store in Lake Zurich.
For jewelers, spiking gold prices add another stress at a time when higher energy costs, falling home values and a hesitant economy are weighing on consumer spending.
"The increase in gold is indicative of the times," said Grant, who has operated his business in Lake Zurich for the past decade.
Valentine's Day, Christmas and Mother's Day are the Big Three holidays when it comes to annual sales in the jewelry business, experts agree.
Peggy Bennett, owner of P.K. Bennett Jewelers in Mundelein, says spiking gold prices are being passed down to the consumer. She adds that her old custom pieces are still at the old gold prices. In mid-August gold was nearly 40 percent cheaper, or about $260 an ounce cheaper, than it is now.
She expects that sales will be "OK," but not phenomenal this month.
Many investors consider gold as a safe pick during economic uncertainty. "Gold's always going to hold the value," said Bennett, who has operated her business for seven years.
Gold has soared during the past year on rising prices for oil and other commodities and also by the falling U.S. dollar, experts say. These trends have only made the metal shine more in many eyes.
Another trend jewelers are seeing more of lately is people who are selling their older gold jewelry pieces they no longer wear. "If people want to sell gold, now is a good time," Bennett said.
Many jewelry stores buy old gold. The price paid for the piece depends on its weight, condition and the price of gold that day.
Some shoppers sell their old gold in exchange for a new piece, he added. Grant explained that he sends the gold he purchases to a refinery where it's heated and then returned to him for custom pieces.
Nearly 17 percent of shoppers will buy jewelry for their sweetie, according to a National Retail Federation survey. The average gift buyer plans to spend about $122 on Valentine's Day.
However, if jewelry has been priced out of your budget this year, flowers or chocolate are always options.
Resale goes upscale: Is it possible to find a Talbot's jacket for $15, a pair of Cache jeans for $18 or a Coach purse for $50 to $100 instead of close to $200?
Shoppers can find deals like this at the new Clothes Mentor store that opened Saturday in Schaumburg. The upscale resale shop at 1402 N. Roselle Road at Golf Road is part of a growing national chain.
Elaine Krieger recently opened her first store of this kind in Naperville. She also owns five Plato's Closet teen resale stores and two Once Upon A Child children's resale stores in the West and Southwest suburbs.
Krieger opened Clothes Mentor to serve savvy, brand-conscious adult women. Shoppers will find only freshly laundered name brand clothes including DKNY, Eddie Bauer, J. Jill, Jones New York, Ralph Lauren, Saks and more.