Closings are flat, and more new businesses are opening.
The Jewelers Board of Trade reported that 195 U.S. jewelry retailers closed their doors in the second quarter of 2018.
That number represented no change from the number of closings in the second quarter of 2017.
The total included 158 retailers in the category of “ceased operations” as well as 34 “consolidations (sale/merger)” and three bankruptcies.
The total number of U.S. jewelry businesses that closed, including retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers, was 234. That was a decrease from 235 in the second quarter of 2017.
Meanwhile, JBT reported that 63 new retailers opened their doors in the U.S., up from 22 in the second quarter of 2017.
The total number of new jewelry businesses, including retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers, was 71. That was up from 25 new businesses in the year-ago quarter.
JBT listed a total of 19,270 jewelry retailers in the U.S. as of the second quarter of 2018, down from 20,136 in the same quarter a year ago.
The group listed 25,484 jewelry businesses in all, including retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers. That was down from 26,682 in the second quarter of 2017.