Jewelry

The recent vote by the United Kingdom to leave the European Union will have the biggest retail impact on companies that have high U.K. exposure, including U.S. off-price giant TJX Cos., MarketWatch reported.    Swedish fast-fashion giant H&M is also among the retailers to be most impacted. The United Kingdom is the company’s third largest market, behind Germany and the United States. 

Toms Shoes is expanding its fledgling store portfolio, and will open a location at Mall of America, Bloomington, Minnesota, in time for holiday shoppers.   Founded in 2006, Toms matches every shoe purchase with a donation to a child in need, and gives glasses, medical treatment and/or sight-saving surgery with each purchase of eyewear.  

Eight new tenants have opened their doors at Silicon Valley’s Santana Row, a 1.7 million sq.-ft. multi-use property that includes a hotel and office and residential space.    Suitsupply, a European import, assumes the highest profile of the newcomers with a 4,425 sq.-ft. space. Jewelry retailer Kendra Scott and body and hair care specialist Aesop will inhabit spaces of just over 1,000 sq. ft.  

If it seems like more if your inventory is disappearing, you’re probably not imagining things.   According to the 2016 National Retail Federation (NRF) Retail Security Study, conducted in collaboration with the University of Florida, retailers’ inventory shrink averaged 1.38% of retail sales, or $45.2 billion in 2015, up by 3% from $44 billion the previous year.  

Blue Nile jumped into the physical space last summer with a store at Roosevelt Field mall in Garden City, New York, but it’s not stopping there.   The online jeweler has opened two additional locations, at Tysons Corner Center mall in Fairfax County, Virginia, and at The Westchester mall in White Plains, New York. Blue Nile will open a fourth store later this summer, at the Washington Square mall in Portland, Oregon.  

Saks Fifth Avenue has relocated its store in Houston’s The Galleria, opening a larger space that offers the ultimate luxury department store experience.  

Signet Jewelers Ltd., whose store banners include Kay Jewelers and Zales, issued a strong rebuttal against charges that its stores swapped customers’ gems for lesser-quality stones while they were in for service.   The controversy started with an article by BuzzFeed about a Maryland woman who said her engagement ring — purchased at a Kay Jewelers store — had its diamond swapped out for a lower-quality manmade stone while in for service. The story quickly went viral on social media.   

Synchrony Financial will continue to offer consumer financing to Pandora Jewelry customers.

The two companies have announced a multi-year extension of their consumer financing program agreement. The program, which began in 2011, will continue to provide Pandora shoppers with access to a range of payment options through the Pandora Preferred card program. Special financing will be available at select concept stores nationwide.

Blue Nile is expanding its fledgling store portfolio.    The online jewelry retailer has opened its second physical location, at The Westchester mall in White Plains, New York. Blue Nile opened its first store in June 2015, at Roosevelt Field mall in Garden City, New York. Two additional locations will open later this summer: one at Tysons Corner Center mall in Fairfax County, Virginia, and one at the Washington Square mall in Portland, Oregon.      

Tiffany & Co. missed Wall Street expectations for profit and revenue in a lackluster start to fiscal 2016, but still plans to open 11 new stores worldwide.

The retailer reported net earnings of $87 million during the first quarter, down 17% from $105 million the same period a year earlier. Lower gross profit and higher selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses drove the reduction in profit.