Diamond district jewelers closing up shop

Manhattan’s diamond
district has dozens of vacant booths, empty showcases and “for rent”
signs, and jewelers in the area say business is down 50 percent over
the past year. The city’s jewelry industry is facing a tough credit
landscape as lenders who once specialized in gem financing are cutting
back or even exiting the niche. The combination of plummeting demand
and dwindling credit threatens to shrink the city’s industry, which
employs 25,000 people, and endangers plans for a city-subsidized
41-story tower designed to strengthen the diamond district. Nationwide,
the number of jewelry company bankruptcies has doubled in the past year
to 34 in the first quarter.