Estimates are that as many as 3,500 jewelry outlets will close their doors this year. All too many jewelers are in survival mode. Yet Barnes Jewelers of Goldsboro, NC, isn't. In fact, Barnes is expanding from one outlet to two.

Manager Stephen Barnes says the reason for his success is simple: he's got a double edge. "The Edges are absolutely 100% responsible for this," he says, referring to Abbot & Shapiro's The Edge System with its retail automation technology and The Edge Retail Academy and its beyond-cutting-edge coaching.