Diamond News Archives
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(IDEX Online) - The increase in the overall sale of jewelry and watches at all US outlets slowed slightly in January, compared to the same month in 2018. There was a like-for-like rise of 4.1 per cent, so the trend remains positive, but the figure for the previous month, December 2019 was 4.7 per cent. January was the seventh successive month of sales increases, following six months of negative growth between January and June 2019.
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Outlook
Looking ahead, the future could barely look bleaker. February's figures will begin to reflect some impact of the worldwide coronavirus epidemic. Anxiety across all retail sectors and reduced footfall everywhere will inevitably affect sales after many months of positive growth.
But some retail activity is better than none at all. The jewelry trade has now ground to a halt. States across the US started imposing various levels of lockdown from mid-March, and jewelry stores have closed their doors indefinitely. Nobody can predict what the future will hold. For FULL story, which is available under login only, under IDEX Online Research, click here[1]....
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Signet, the world's largest retailer of diamond jewelry, reported an improved performance for the last quarter of 2020, but will be borrowing $900m as it faces the uncertainty of coronavirus.
The company, whose brands include Kay Jewelers, Zales, Jared, James Allen, Peoples and Piercing Pagoda, last week closed all its 3,200 stores.
It saw same-store sales grow 2.3 per cent overall and 2.9 per cent among those (all but 450) in North America.
Signet Jewelers Ltd's revenue for Q4 of 2020 was $2.15 billion, unchanged from Q4 of 2019.
The company's CEO, Virginia C. Drosos, said: "Prior to this crisis, our Signet team delivered results ahead of expectations for the fourth quarter and Fiscal 2020. Moreover, we delivered our best overall holiday business performance in four years.
"What's paramount now is that we are moving quickly and aggressively to strengthen Signet's financial flexibility by reducing capital expenditures, driving transformational cost savings, and accelerating optimization of our real estate footprint."
Meanwhile, the New York Times reports that Signet Jewelers Ltd has reached a $240m settlement of a shareholder lawsuit accusing the company of concealing sexual harassment allegations against senior executives and losses in its customer financing credit portfolio....
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