Zales The Diamond Store

No.

And then, um, and we said the only jewelry store I knew was like Zales, 'cause that was the commercial.

Yeah.

So we said there was a robbery at Zales, and we're trying to figure it out, and you know, it's always a twist.

So it was like somebody...

And I remember the one girl goes, "Um, my mom said that Zales is like not that great of a jewelry store." [laughs]

Oh, wow.

I didn't...

Uh, Bloomingdale's also pointed to fine jewelry as a strength in their report, and I thought the read from Signet was fascinating.

This is a company that owns Kay, Zales, and Jared, and they said that sales of pieces priced above $2,000 grew by high single digits.

Interestingly, lower priced fashion jewelry declined significantly.

Um, maybe a little bit less surprising given what we've been talking about with the consumer economy, but I think still worth noting.

Brent crude futures, the international benchmark, rose nearly 3% to cross the $100 per barrel threshold for the first time in roughly two months.

Moving to earnings, shares of Signet Jewelers were up over 24% today as the parent company of the Zales, Kay, and Jared brands hiked its fiscal year earnings forecast.

Management noted that while it cut its advertising budget this fiscal quarter, the company still grew same-store sales by driving free organic interest through social media instead of relying on paid traffic.

Those influencers must have been saying, "Ooh, he went to Jared." Finally, sticking with earnings and wrapping up with Jersey Mike's, the sub chain, ticker JMKE, just went public at the end of July, and today's earnings results were largely in line with expectations.

This season, we're going to be talking with guests who have broken the mold and moved the mark.

Like the new Dean of McCombs, Bradley Stotts, Sue Gove, former CFO of Fortune 500 companies like Zale Corporation, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Golfsmith, Catherine Rowe, U.S. Army veteran and Longhorn grad, and Honcho's very own founder and CEO, Clayton Spencer.

I hope you'll join me this season as we listen to and learn from some of the best in business right here on McCombs Bay.