September 16, 2013

York Jewellers – a family affair

Jenny Berich talks to the family behind one of Sydney's most respected jewellery stores.

Robert Ely, the owner of Sydney’s award-winning York Jewellers, fell in love with the jewellery industry as a teenager during a shopping trip with his mother.

Just 14-years-old at the time, Robert still recalls the day he visited the original York Jewellers store in Penrith with his mother who was having a piece of jewellery remodelled.

“The whole experience of being in a jewellery store captured my imagination,” he recalls.

“I loved seeing something that was dear to mum being transformed into something new. Of course the precious gold and diamonds were also appealing but I think it was the fact that I could see that jewellers could work with customers and use their hands to create something beautiful that really impressed me. I remember thinking this is probably something I would love to do.”

Robert’s father supported his son’s desire to enter the jewellery industry and arranged a part-time job for him at the store.

A few months later began his jewellery career by cleaning jewellery, sweeping the floor, cleaning benches and helping in the workshop after school and on the weekends.

Doing all the small jobs failed to deter Robert’s jewellery retailing dreams – in fact it helped convince him that it was his future.

“From the beginning I loved the jewellery retail trade and understood how it worked from the front floor to the back room,” he says.

“Then when I left school at the end of Year 10 I got an apprenticeship at the store and started making jewellery from the get-go as I had already learned so much during my part-time job.”

However Robert’s ambition quickly progressed beyond just working in the store – he wanted to own it.

Eventually the opportunity presented itself when York Jewellers’ original owner retired in 1976.

Robert, then 26-years-old, bought the store, which was located on Penrith’s High Street, with his wife Helen.

According to Robert, the store was then “a very traditional country jewellery store” stocking a broad product range that included not only jewellery and watches but also giftware, clocks, barometers and crystal.

However over time Robert gradually changed the focus of the store to fine jewellery and watches.

“As the jewellery side of the business grew and people realised we did remakes and manufacturing our reputation as a quality jeweller grew and the store began to thrive,” he says.

However, it was soon time to move.

“Penrith was changing, the Penrith Plaza later named Westfield, was also going through a once in a lifetime transition and this presented an opportunity to position York Jewellers in a busier hub, allowing for customers to park and shop in comfort.”

Since opening in Westfield, York Jewellers has undergone two refits and increased its floor space to around 120 square metres.

Today the store, a member of the Showcase buying group for around 25 years, is Penrith’s most established and respected jeweller.

The store is sleek and stylish and filled with its “own unique and unusual designs” ranging from affordable dress rings to three-carat engagement rings as well as popular brands like Pandora, Passion8, Dora, Georgini, Ti Sento, Storm, Jacques Lemans, TW Steel and Autore.

“We are a destination jewellery store providing quality products and excellent customer service at an affordable price,” says Robert.

“Every year I travel to Antwerp to source the highest quality diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires and pearls to bring back to our workshop and create exquisite jewellery for our customers. But we also stock jewellery for customers who might not be able to afford such special pieces but still want to treat themselves.”

“We have a broad selection of jewellery perfectly chosen to not have any of our customers feel that we are too expensive whilst at the same time we do not alienate our high-end customers.

“Women aged 28 to 55 are our main target market. In fact the grandmother, the matriarch, is probably the most important person to our business. We work very hard to maintain contact with our customers so when they become mothers and then grandmothers they get their children and grandchildren to come to us.”

Indeed Robert argues his business success is largely due to the relationship the store has with its customers – irrespective of their budgets.

“We need to understand the psychology of our customers,” he says.

“We have to engage them regularly so we might call them and say ‘hey we haven’t seen you for six months and realise it’s time for you to come in so we can clean and polish your jewellery, and by the way is there anything in your jewellery box that needs repairing?”

“When they come back into the store and are waiting for their cleaning or repair we have the opportunity to develop our relationship with them…. Basically we’re enjoying the interaction and creating a relationship with the customer and this in turn, as our figures suggest, pays dividends for the growth of the business.

“My staff are not jewellery sales people they are jewellery consultants who help customers find the piece they want to buy – to help them purchase their first family heirloom or continue their family tradition.”

Indeed Rob’s passion for jewellery making and jewellery buying seems largely unchanged from when he first walked into the original York Jewellers with his mother all those years ago.

“I have a major passion for the industry,” he says.

“I love the industry. I have people coming into our store and if we work it right they have a great experience…So what can we get out of that? Yes there is financial benefit but ultimately satisfaction.”

Robert’s love of the jewellery industry has clearly been passed onto the next generation –Robert and Helen’s sons’ Matthew and Douglas both work in the business.

Like his father before him, Matthew began working part-time at York Jewellers when he was just 14-years-old and knew he wanted to be a jeweller.

When he completed Year 12 Matthew formally applied to his father for an apprenticeship but Robert said “no” as he wasn’t really sure that his son really knew what he wanted.

“I then went looking for an apprenticeship at other jewellery stores so dad then knew I was serious about a jewellery career and offered me an apprenticeship,” says Matthew.

Matthew began his apprenticeship in December 2004, just one week after completing his HSC.

Since then, he has made a big impact on the success of York Jewellers by winning several industry awards (including the World Skills Competition, a scholarship with the Australian Overseas Foundation and many Showcase Jeweller design awards) and thus rapidly establishing his reputation as a highly skilled jeweller

“I have set my standards very high and have dreams of making some of the most beautiful jewellery in the world,” Matthew says.

Douglas is also making an equally impressive debut in the Australian jewellery industry. He has entered the World Skills Australia competition this year and is currently a NSW finalist.

Not surprisingly Robert concludes that he is happy with York Jewellers’ success.

“The jewellery business has certainly lived up to the expectations I had when I walked in with mum as a teenager.

“Although I now work on the business, not on the bench within the business, I love going into the shop to chat with customers and I love watching my sons succeed.

“My expectations for the boys are much higher than for me” he laughs.

Gregory turns 45

With a jewellery-making heritage spanning over a thousand years, it was probably inevitable that the Gregory family would succeed when they opened up their jewellery…

Posted in Jeweller Profiles Gregory Jewellers Jeweller Profile

With a jewellery-making heritage spanning over a thousand years, it was probably inevitable that the Gregory family would succeed when they opened up their jewellery manufacturing and wholesale business in Sydney in 1978.

Isak, Lahdo & Christopher Gregory, the co-directors of Gregory Jewellers, began producing silver filigree jewellery in the Aramaic village of Midyat during the late 1950s, as apprentices to the master jewellers, known as the Asra family.

According to Christopher and Lahdo, jewellery-making, particularly silver filigree work, was the main trade for all the men in the village − and has been so for over a thousand years.

Nonetheless the quality and popularity of the brothers’ designs prompted their uncle, Isaac, to join forces with them and formally establish Gregory Bros as a business in 1967.

During the next decade, the business shifted its focus from the manufacture of silver filigree jewellery to fine diamond jewellery, and became increasingly commercially successful in Turkey. However due to ‘political unrest’ in the country, the Gregory Family, despite knowing very little English, decided to migrate to Australia, “the lucky country” from 1976 to 1978.

When the Gregory trio and their families arrived in Sydney they set up a workshop in the centre of the CBD and began manufacturing the precious diamond jewellery that had proved so successful in their homeland.

The business quickly established itself as a trusted supplier to “some of Australia’s most luxurious and respected jewellery brands” and during its peak, in the mid-1980s, boasted more than “1500 loyal clients” in Australia, New Zealand and Fiji.

However, Gregory Bros’ fortunes took a dramatic turn for the worse in the late 1980s due a confluence of economic factors including the devastating 1987 stock market crash and the resulting drop in property prices.

Edward Gregory, son of Lahdo Gregory and joint CEO of Gregory Jewellers today with Helen Gregory, daughter of Christopher Gregory, says that in many ways these outside factors “forced” the family business to move into retail.

“Wholesale business was really slow,” he explains, “and we were slowly starting to go under due to what was going on around us.

“Many of our jewellery clients were not paying their accounts and a lot of our stock had to be written off completely when some of our clients were declared bankrupt.

“We were quite happy being manufacturers and wholesalers but because the market changed we had to change otherwise we would have gone bankrupt too.”

The three families re-mortgaged their homes and then contacted numerous shopping centres in a bid to establish a retail outlet.

“Unfortunately as our name wasn’t recognised in the retail market at the time many shopping centres didn’t want to know us but thankfully, the leasing manager at Blacktown WestPoint, Jim Wakeling, gave us an opportunity.”

In 1989, the Gregory’s opened the doors to their first store. Called ‘Diamondland’ to differentiate it from their then still active manufacturing business, the store took about six months to establish successfully.

“Our aunt and mothers, Gulay, Leyla and Rose took on the retail work. The first six months were difficult but after that they learnt what they were doing, how to build relationships, how to close a sale, etc, and the business began to take off,” explains Helen.

A few years later after the Gregorys opened more stores, the Diamondland name was replaced with ‘Gregory Jewellers’, and gradually began to expand their retail empire further while winding back the wholesale side of the business.

Today the business encompasses 14 “boutique showrooms” throughout Sydney.

Each is stocked with rings and diamond jewellery, designed and manufactured by the company’s jewellers as well as locally designed but imported jewellery and an extensive collection of Swiss watches including Baume and Mercier, Bell & Ross, Breitling, Cartier, Dior, Gucci, IWC, Jaeger Le Coultre, Longines, Omega, Oris, Rado, TAG Heuer, Tissot, TW Steel and U-Boat.

Helen says the company’s success can largely be attributed to the fact that the Gregorys are “yes” people who cater to their customers’ needs for bespoke designs.

“We have always been ‘yes’ people,” she says. “We would never say ‘no’ to a customer − whatever a customer desires we aim to deliver.

“I guess that’s what makes us stand out from everybody else. As experienced jewellers we have the ability to deliver bespoke designs and that’s increasingly important as more and more customers want the opportunity to create something unique from a sketch.”

Edward agrees, readily acknowledging that the business is moving “in the opposite direction” of many of its competitors by manufacturing most of its stock.

“With the high cost of labour the cost of manufacturing is such that a jeweller cannot be globally competitive if they manufacture in Australia but nonetheless instead of focussing on more affordable imports we are expanding our local manufacturing business so we can give our customers a product that is 100 percent Australian-made and 100 percent Gregory-made from design to manufacture.

“We believe that by doing this we are maintaining our soul and that we haven’t given away what our parents have inherited – being a history of more than 1000 years of jewellery-making experience – for the lure of the dollar.”

“It probably makes it more difficult to compete but we’re very comfortable with the direction were taking.”

Helen adds that although the business does have “some ready-to-wear jewellery made overseas” it is designed locally and the “production process is tailored to meet our standards, under strict quality control”.

“We will however never deviate from making our own engagement rings although some High Street jewellers have already done so.”

Edward and Helen are both adamant that Gregory Jewellers will always remain true to its family’s cultural heritage.

Isak, Lahdo and Christopher Gregory are still directors of the business and are not only actively involved in overseeing the jewellery design and manufacturing side of operations but also find the time to regularly visit their stores – Lahdo and Chris often still work seven days a week.

Furthermore Edward and Helen are not the only members of the Gregory families’ second generation to be involved in the family business.

Edward’s younger brother Robert is Gregory Jewellers chief operating officer, while his older brother Simon manages the Castle Hill boutique. Helen’s sister Suellen is the group visual merchandising manager, based in Bondi Junction, and her youngest sister Sara the noutique director of Gregory Jewellers newest boutique in Westfield Chatswood.

The family’s cultural heritage will also be spreading its roots further in the coming years.

After operating so successfully in NSW for the last 45 years, Helen and Edward say the family is finally “open to expanding nationally”.

Although reluctant to reveal their expansion plans in great detail, they are happy to say that their first interstate store, in Melbourne’s Highpoint shopping centre, is due to open this March.

Shiels – still ‘no Hoo-Haa’

The men behind one of Australia’s most successful jewellery retail chains reveal the secrets to their success - and their expansion plans. With 15 stores…

Posted in Local News, Retail Profiles Albert Bensimon Local News Retail Shiels Jewellers

The men behind one of Australia’s most successful jewellery retail chains reveal the secrets to their success – and their expansion plans.

With 15 stores in South Australia, 16 stores in WA, eight stores in Queensland and plans to expand into Victoria and NSW in the year ahead, Shiels Jewellers is an indisputable success.

However, despite its obvious popularity with consumers, the company and its founders have not always won the praise of their jewellery industry counterparts for their success or the marketing tactics that have helped “revolutionise’ the local jewellery retail landscape.

Nonetheless Shiels chairman Albert Bensimon, who started his retail empire with the purchase of a small jewellery and gift store in Adelaide’s city centre in 1977, is proud to say that the company was the one to introduce “genuine discounting” in the Australian jewellery industry.

Armed with a degree in marketing and experience selling pharmaceuticals and computer software, Albert and his wife Nyra bought the store, which was established by Jack Shiels in 1945, from his widow in 1977.

The decision to buy an established jewellery store rather than open a new business was purely strategic.

“I bought the store so I could advertise that I had been in business 30 years,” he explains.

“The jewellery business is largely based on trust and such trust can take a long time to build so I thought it would be better to buy an existing business than start a new one – that’s why the business is called ‘Shiels’ and not ‘Bensimon’s’.”

Discount daze

“Building on that trust”, Albert gradually replaced the store’s giftware with jewellery, and became “the first jeweller in Australia to discount diamonds and gold in a meaningful way” with his infamous advertising slogan ‘No Hoo-Haa’.

“We weren’t the first in the market but we were first in the market to discount and that’s what we quickly became renowned for,” he says.

“Jewellery stores didn’t discount in those days but I bought one carat diamonds that were selling for $3000 or $4000 in other stores and sold them for $2500 making $500 instead of $1500 in profit.

“Everyone {other jewellery retailers} was waiting for me to go broke but I didn’t – I was in fact making a lot of money due to the volume of sales.”

Spurred on by his discounting success, Albert then became the “first jeweller in Australia to sell gold by the gram”.

“Everyone was selling gold jewellery by the piece in a little plastic bag and I decided it should be sold by weight so people knew what value they were getting,” he says.

“We then became known for selling gold and diamonds.”

Suburban dreams

Albert then decided to expand his successful business by opening stores in the suburbs.

“I had travelled and seen what happened to city retailers in other countries, particularly Canada where I had worked for Hoffman Laroche in the pharmaceutical field,” he says.

“Montreal, Toronto and other major cities took a real bashing as the suburbs and malls slowly took over. It got so bad that you couldn’t buy a nail or screw in the city.

“I thought retailers in Australia would move to the suburbs too. It took a little longer than I thought but it did happen.”

Albert opened his first suburban store in Marion, the Westfield Group’s first shopping centre in South Australia and then “basically went wherever Westfield went” until he had about 10 stores.

Albert believes his decision to expand into the suburbs was critical to his success.

“A lot of my competitors didn’t recognise the potential of the suburbs,” he says, adding that many were held back by a “lack of trust” and a good management system.

“Most people have difficulty trusting anyone with high priced items or cash. They are scared to have people other than themselves looking after half a million dollars in stock located somewhere else but I don’t have a problem with that as I believe most people are basically honest.”

“However, different skill-sets are needed to run one store or run multiple stores,” he says.

“I was a good buyer and seller which is great skill when I had just a couple of stores but when I went beyond three stores I had to learn a little about accounting and MYOB, at five stores I had to learn about human resources, and at 10 stores I had to have a policy manual…”

Yet despite his company’s obvious success in the city and suburbs of South Australia, Albert’s success was not always welcomed by the jewellery industry.
“At one stage in 1980 the JAA tried to kick me out because one of my main competitors thought my discounting would ‘ruin the prestige of the industry’.

“I wanted to stay in the association and couldn’t see why I should get kicked out simply for offering good deals to my customers.”

Fortunately common sense prevailed and Albert even eventually went onto become president of the Association for three years in the early 1990s.

Equally importantly, Albert’s once controversial discounting strategies have now become common practice throughout the industry and retailing in general although Albert himself has bucked his own trend in his other jewellery retail business, Grahams Jewellers, where fixed prices are the norm.

Shiels Today

“When I started out I was known for discounting diamonds but then others came along and copied me, and then I was known for discounting gold and others started to copy me for that too,’ says Albert.

“I then did something that I thought would be harder for others to copy and that was to stock the widest range of jewellery possible.

“I still believe we have that point of difference.”

Today Shiels stocks items with retail prices ranging from $11 to $27,000.

“No other jeweller (high-, middle- or low-end) offers that,” says Albert.

“In addition we always strive to be first to market with new products and innovations like Madagascar rubies.

“A lot of jewellers say Madagascar or created rubies are “inferior rubies’ but we sell a lot of Madagascar rubies because we know some of our customers want a ruby and are happy to buy an enhanced ruby for $500 or $1000 rather than an untreated ruby for $15,000.

“Many jewellers think ‘if a woman can’t afford $15,000 we don’t want her in our shop’ but we think that’s a load of nonsense.

“We sell what people want. We have no issue with Madagascar rubies at all – they fill a gap in the market.”

New Directions

Albert’s attitudes and preparedness to quickly adapt to changing market needs are shared by his son, Toby Bensimmon, the new managing director of Shiels.
Thirty-three-year-old Toby grew up around the family business but nonetheless started “at the bottom” after completing a commerce degree.

“Dad always said it was up to me if I wanted to join the business or not but growing up around jewellery I really did develop a passion for it, so after I finished studying at university I dived headfirst into managing our store in Rundle Mall for a couple of years before moving into our head office and working my way through each department.”

With a thorough grounding in Shiel’s business operations, Toby then spearheaded successful moves into the WA market in 2007 and into Queensland last year, and is now largely responsible for “the evolution of the brand”.

“Competition is now really tough so we are changing to meet the market’s needs,” he explains.

Toby has also implemented a number of changes to meet the tougher conditions including the introduction of a sophisticated stock controlling system and the launch of Shiels website.

He says he invested a lot of time on the latter as “a website is the introduction to a brand”.

“I wanted to ensure that the first point of contact is congruent with our brand,” he says.

“Uninformed customers simply don’t exist anymore − almost 100 per cent of customers now research products before they walk into a jewellery store, especially if they’re buying an engagement ring or any other significant purchase.

“If your website doesn’t look slick potential customers are going to log onto the next site and that store is going to get your business − they are not going to walk into your store a week later when they’re ready to shop.”

However despite the popularity of Shiels website, Toby is adamant that all online businesses, particularly jewellery businesses, “still need a bricks and mortar store” to back up their online retail presence as “trust is so important when buying online”.

“Stores that are web-only have a harder time establishing trust with customers unless they are extremely large and brands like Amazon and Ebay.
And more bricks and mortar stores are definitely in Toby’s sights.

“Success is exhilarating and fun and it’s certainly something I want to be doing for the rest of my life so yeah expansion will happen but we’re just not really sure of the timeline yet.

“At the moment we’re concentrating on opportunities in Queensland but Sydney and Melbourne are definitely going to happen at some time.

“We are ready to roll and buy when the right opportunities present themselves”.

Raphael Jewellers – a hidden treasure

Jenny Berich meets the two brothers running one of Sydney's most unique jewellery stores.

Posted in Retail Profiles Joseph Akelian Raphael Akelian Raphael Jewellers Retail

Raphael Jewellers is located just metres away from Australia’s busiest shopping precinct, but seems a world away from the steel and glass facades and crowds that define Sydney’s Pitt Street Mall.

Indeed visitors to the store, on the second level of 122-year-old Strand Arcade, could be forgiven for thinking they had magically stepped back into time.

The store is fitted out with an eclectic mix of antique furniture (including magnificent armchairs and an English timber chest displaying a copy of ‘The London News’ from 1855) and every spare space seems to be burgeoning with curios and artefacts from around the globe. And in between all these objets d’art are the store’s own treasures – its high-end jewellery designs.

A visual smorgasbord for shoppers and tourists alike, it is not surprising to learn that the store is sometimes even mistaken for a museum.

However, the large custom-designed jewellers bench that dominates the rear of the store quickly alerts even the most casual visitor to its true identity.

Raphael Jewellers was established by diamond setter Raphael Akelian in 1989. Eight years later, Raphael’s younger brother Joseph joined the business.

Today the store is owned and operated by the brothers who are equally proud of its heritage and uniqueness.

“Many people say Raphael Jewellers is not only one of the most unique jewellery stores in Sydney, but one of the most unique stores of any kind,” says Raphael.

“We spend as much time here as we do at home so we want to make it a warm, friendly and appealing environment for ourselves and our clientele – that’s why we’ve filled the store with such beautiful pieces of furniture and objets d’art.”

Joseph explains that being a “destination” is an added motivation to maintain the store’s uniqueness.

“We try and make the store look as interesting as possible so that when people do walk past, their curiosity makes them almost have to come in.

“Some people really do think the store is a museum and just come in and browse – some even look at everything in the store but the jewellery.”

Nonetheless, both brothers are adamant that such ‘browsers’ are not unwelcome.

“They may have not come into the door knowing we sell jewellery but some do nonetheless end up buying and becoming our clients,” smiles Raphael.

“Shoppers today really do want an experience,” says Joseph.

“In an increasingly mass market world, we’re trying to retain the old world charm of the traditional jewellery store.

“Shopping at Raphael’s is not designed to be a ‘come in, buy and leave’ purchase – it’s about
coming in, sitting down, relaxing and talking about what the client would like and what we can offer.

“The discerning jewellery collector doesn’t just want to walk into a store and buy a finished product as much these days.

“A lot of them appreciate fine workmanship and they want to see it.

“They want to see how the jewellery piece they’re buying is being made – that’s why, despite all the antiques on display, our store is very modern in its ‘open plan’ layout which has the jewellers bench as a focal point.”

Raphael readily acknowledges that it is not easy for many jewellers to offer a similar “experience”.

“If you’re in the mainstream market it can be very hard to offer such a level of service because people are coming in left, right and centre but for us, it is definitely worth it,” he says.

“A lot of clients love how much time we spend talking with them, discussing their needs and showing them how we work – it’s a part of the experience for them, and it’s part of the experience for us too.”

However, both men are also quick to acknowledge that it is not just the uniqueness of the store’s appearance or their old world charm and service that has helped the store develop a loyal clientele over the last 24 years.

Although the business has grown “steadily and organically” since its beginning, “there is no doubt” that winning the 1993 De Beers Diamonds Facets Awards competition for a pair of drop-earrings in the ‘Fancy That’ category had a huge impact on the store’s trajectory.

“Raphael was a young up-and-coming jewellery designer then, but the Award really sealed his presence within the industry,” says Joseph.

Since then, Raphael Jewellers has further cemented its designing credentials by being a finalist in the bi-annual De Beers Awards another five times (before the awards ceased in 1999), a Jewellers Association of Australia ‘Dare to Shine’ Award finalist in 2002, and the main winner at the Australian Opal Jewellery design Awards in 2003.

More recently, in 2005, Raphael Jewellers was a finalist in two categories in the inaugural Harpers Bazaar Diamond Guild Awards, and the winner of the Fancy Diamond Award.

Importantly though, the store has developed and continues to develop a strong and loyal client base by making “high-end designer jewellery” that is both appealing and highly wearable.

“We take the time to get to know our clients as much as possible so we understand them and their needs,” explains Raphael.

“We then design a high quality piece of jewellery that is just perfect for them.”

Joseph adds that the store always aims to design and manufacture jewellery that is “timelessly elegant”.

“We manufacture premium quality pieces so the client doesn’t have to remodel it in three years’ time,” he says.

“Therefore we design it so that it will survive the test of time and can potentially become an heirloom for the next generation.”

Joseph stresses that although this may make the store’s designs sound “very old school or old-fashioned”, this is not the reality as both brothers ensure all their designs have a “modern twist or edge”.

“Combining elegance with modern design is the inspiration behind our designs,” says Raphael.

“A lot of the thinking behind our designs is simply a combination of good taste and common sense.

“Creating unique designs is not difficult – the real skill is making unique designs that are attractive and wearable at a realistic price point.”

Both men believe it is this skill, accompanied with the ability to develop good trusting relationships with clients in an “old world” way that is indeed the key to its success.

“Although were not in the mainstream market clients who wear our jewellery are our ambassadors.”

Like everyone else in the jewellery industry, the Akelians don’t know what lies ahead for their business in these “uncertain times” but are determined to succeed.

“We are facing the same major challenges as everyone else in the industry – the high gold price, the Internet, the strong Australian dollar and the sluggish economy,” says Joseph, “but we both still love working in this very charming industry.”

The brothers will therefore continue to do what they have done for almost a quarter of a century.

“It is an absolute pleasure to meet and develop relationships with our clients and then create beautiful jewellery for them,” concludes Raphael.

* Pictured above are Joseph and Raphael Akelian

Day: September 16, 2013

York Jewellers – a family affair

Further reading:

Gregory turns 45

Further reading:

Shiels – still ‘no Hoo-Haa’

Further reading:

Raphael Jewellers – a hidden treasure

Further reading: