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Wal-Mart has risen to leadership in the jewelry market despite the fact that the prime target market for jewelry -- high-income women from 25 to 54 years -- almost never shops for jewelry in Wal-Mart or any other mass merchant/discounter, according to Pam Danziger, president of Unity Marketing and author of "Why People Buy Things They Don't Need."

Among the key findings revealed in Unity Marketing's Jewelry Report 2004: The Who, What, Where, How Much and Why of Jewelry Shopping -- based upon qualitative focus groups and a survey of nearly 600 recent jewelry buyers -- found lower-income consumers who spend less than $100 on a piece of jewelry chose Wal-Mart.

About 20 percent of jewelry shoppers used non-store channels, mostly the Internet, mail order or television shopping, to buy jewelry in the past year, the study found.

For most jewelry shoppers except for the highest-spending buyers, department stores are the favored channel, with JC Penney's and Sears the top store brands.