Headlines

229 US Jewelry Retailers Closed in the 3rd Quarter

The pace of industry shrinkage edged upward.

Published

4 years ago

October 21, 2019

INSTORE Staff

The Jewelers Board of Trade reported that 229 U.S. jewelry retailers closed their doors in the third quarter of 2019.

That number represented an increase from 193 closings in the third quarter of 2018.

The total included 182 retailers in the category of “ceased operations” as well as 43 “consolidations (sale/merger)” and 4 bankruptcies.

The total number of U.S. jewelry businesses that closed, including retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers, was 286. That was an increase from 226 in the third quarter of 2018.

Meanwhile, JBT reported that 57 new retailers opened their doors in the U.S., up from 42 in the third quarter of 2018.

The total number of new jewelry businesses, including retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers, was 63. That was up from 51 new businesses in the year-ago quarter.

JBT listed a total of 18,780 jewelry retailers in the U.S. as of the third quarter of 2019, down from 19,300 in the same quarter a year ago.

The group listed 24,795 jewelry businesses in all, including retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers. That was down from 25,537 in the third quarter of 2018.

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When There’s No Succession Plan, Call Wilkerson

Bob Wesley, owner of Robert C. Wesley Jewelers in Scottsdale, Ariz., was a third-generation jeweler. When it was time to enjoy life on the other side of the counter, he weighed his options. His lease was nearing renewal time and with no succession plan, he decided it was time to call Wilkerson. There was plenty of inventory to sell and at first, says Wesley, he thought he might try to manage a sale himself. But he’s glad he didn’t. “There’s no way I could have done this as well as Wilkerson,” he says. Wilkerson took responsibility for the entire event, with every detail — from advertising to accounting — done, dusted and managed by the Wilkerson team. “It’s the complete package,” he says of the Wilkerson method of helping jewelers to easily go on to the next phase of their lives. “There’s no way any retailer can duplicate what they’ve done.”