FRANCE: Ca va bien!
‘At last’ says Atlan, the French Retail Jewellery Supremo
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Speaking exclusively to Jewellery International from his offices in the bustling third arrondissement of Paris, Gérard Atlan, President of the Fédération Nationale des Horlogers Bijoutiers Jouailliers et Orfèvres de France (HBJO) was anxious to drive home the message that the retail trade is well on its way to recovery in France - and his optimism for the future. But he admitted that the last few years had been a bumpy ride indeed.
"We had an excellent Christmas overall, both manufacturers and retailers reporting that they were up by almost 8% . That was only towards the end the year though: the rest of the year was still quite rough - the net outcome meaning that most of our members reported the same annual turnover as before. Nonetheless, the year has to be viewed as a success - because this was the first time for several years that takings have not gone down. Things are picking up now. Confidence seems to have been restored - and the French market is now much more positive."
Now in his eighth year of office as the President of the HBJO, Atlan is the living embodiment of his organization’s current slogan - ‘la passion du métier’ - that you simply have to love and believe in the trade. Apart from liaising with some 60 chambers of commerce throughout the land, the HBJO represents the interests of jewellers and watchmakers, with issues of training, security and professionalism high on its list of priorities. Despite the return of an air of optimism, however, Atlan is anything but complacent, as he darts from one office to another overseeing each and every project within his remit. Although sales of gold in France is 98% 18ct, the French retail jewellery supremo is convinced that there is scope for vast improvement in terms of sales. "Turnover here is only 24 billion francs overall", he complains, "which represents precisely 0.3% of consumer spending - my feeling is that we can do much better than that."
Public enemy number 1 for the HBJO is ‘les discounters’ - who, he insists, make up prices as they go along, knocking off vast percentages from entirely fictitious prices. And he looked longingly at the text of Britain’s 1968 Trade Descriptions Act which, in theory at least, is meant to outlaw such practices in the UK. Atlan has also been anxious to encourage a return higher average retail sales (the recession having driven prices down) - and his organization has been insisted in this endeavour by a publicly funded advertising campaign. Revenue received from the government via a taxe para-fiscale was ploughed directly into some 300 television ads in the run up to Christmas - based on the theme of precious stones - with a further 400 radio messages encouraging the public to visit their local jeweller for Valentine’s day, which remains extremely popular in France. Not any old jeweller though, Altan explains, only those who whole-heartedly endorse certain basic ethical standards - and where rigorous standards of training, insurance, guarantees and so on have been met. That is why the HBJO has recently launched its new labelling initiative.
"Its going to be rather like the Guide Michelin", he explains. "Well, if a retailer wants to display our star - then the very highest standards of professionalism are going to have to be met. At the moment we only have a few dozen outlets which have pursued this, but we have a target figure of 400 over the next two years."
A jeweller by trade, Atlan left school when he was 16 and worked for 4 years at the bench as an apprentice. His training was then interrupted to complete 3 years of compulsory military service in Algeria. When he returned he opened up a shop in a well-to-do suburb of Paris and has been there ever since. Working entirely in a voluntary capacity, he sits on umpteen sub-committees and gives at least 20 hours a week to the National Federation. He did admit, however, that he had been considerably shaken up by an armed robbery which had taken place in his shop back in 1986, when three men wearing black balaclavas and brandishing loaded revolvers cleared out the greater part of his stock within six minutes. "This is one of the risks of the trade", he says with a reluctant shrugging of the shoulders. "Unfortunately almost everyone I know can relate a similarly sorry tale. But you can imagine that security is something which the HBJO takes extremely seriously."
It would take much more than an armed robbery, however, to dampen Atlan’s enthusiasm for the trade. "I do it because I love it and feel passionately about the trade. Jewellery has been good to me and I am happy to be able to give something back. Nothing makes me happier than to see the French trade bouncing back. And bouncing back it is."
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