Gold sales dip, say jewellers in Oman

Muscat: Gold jewellers in Ruwi said they have lost nearly a third of their clientele as austerity is beginning to impact people’s spending power in Oman.
“If earlier I used to have about 100 customers a day, now I am lucky if I receive even 60 or 70,” said the owner of one shop on Ruwi High Street. “The problem is that people are scared because they don’t know for how long they will have a job or where their next salary will come from.”
“What’s bad for us is that we can’t even insure our gold in case of theft or a fire breaking out because we no longer receive enough customers in a day to cover the cost of insurance which is very high,” he added.
Many jewellers who the Times of Oman spoke to shared similar opinions.
“If you were to compare our business to what it was a couple of years ago, we have lost about 30 per cent of our customers because no one has the money to spend anymore,” said an employee at another shop. “We’ve even had to cancel many orders because people say their main goal now was to put food on the table. Gold is a luxury they can’t afford any more.
“However, we have to spend money to insure our shop because just a few days ago, one of our customers stole a necklace that was on the counter, and we only caught him because of the cameras on the street,” he added.
“I have been working in this shop for more than 30 years now,” ventured another owner, who specialises in designing customised gold and silver jewellery.
“Earlier, I used to get about 50 to 60 customers a day. Last year, that went down to less than 15. Even they invariably call in advance to haggle over price, and once that’s agreed upon, only then do they arrive. “Earlier, everyone used to show up in Ruwi because it was Oman’s gold market,” he said. “These days, you have malls where the big gold stores are located and they can afford to take a hit even if they don’t do as much business as us.”
But to complement the woes of these small shops, the manager of one chain jeweller outlet said the only reason his business hadn’t dropped was because of the decrease in gold prices.
The price of gold in Oman came down from OMR16.20 to OMR14.65 per gram in the beginning of last December, and this, he claimed, helped him retain the same level of business.
“Despite all the uncertainty, people are still buying gold because it is a safe investment,” he said. “If you ever need money in the future, you can sell whatever gold you have and have access to cash almost immediately.
“But we would not have been able to maintain our business if the price of gold had not fallen because of the austere times affecting the nation,” he added.
“My shop is crowded today because people are taking advantage of the lower gold prices,” opined the manager of another shop, adding, “Otherwise I wouldn’t even be doing half the business I am doing now.”
“People prefer the big shops over independent stores because of the reputation they carry, and that is helping us break even at present,” he added.