John Howie, the former chief executive of the Jewellers Association of Australia, has officially launched Master Jewellers Australia to give quality independent jewellers “a voice in an industry dominated by chain stores and existing buyers group”.
Howie said MJA licensees would be able use the name ‘Master Jeweller’ to publicise their business and access a wide range of services including signage, insurance, travel, education, freight forwarding, customs clearance and consumer credit.
Howie said he decided to launch MJA to help independent jewellers regain the respect of Australian consumers.
“We recently surveyed over 2000 consumers and found that the majority did not think highly of the jewellery industry because of the constant discounting, continuous sales and a perceived perception of unethical trading,” he said.
“In addition, most of the consumers said they would rather deal with an independent jeweller than a chain store and had little recognition of buying groups.
“When asked whether they would rather deal with a jeweller or a Master Jeweller 100 percent replied ‘Master Jeweller’,” he said. “As a result we registered the name ‘Master Jewellers’ in Australia.
For more information visit http://www.masterjewellers.net/ or phone (02) 9929 0410