By sheer coincidence on two different evenings, we ran into owners of two separate north county jewelry stores in the last month.
What was surprising is that they both told us the same thing, without us even asking. They said that sales of jewelry is way down, at the lowest level they have seen. But they are extremely busy with people bringing jewelry in to sell. They said last year and this winter, people were bringing in their unused jewelry, stuff they could live without. This summer, it is their best stuff, things that they would have to be desperate to sell.
Both jewelers had a slight look of panic in their eyes as they talked to us. I think they are truly afraid.
Perhaps we are seeing a severe bifurcation of the masses: those with jobs are continuing on as if there is nothing amiss (thus the full malls), while those who are without work or about to be without work have an entirely different view of the world (and they hawk their belongings to make ends meet).
