Headlines

717 US Jewelry Retailers Closed Their Doors in 2019

The number of closures is down significantly from 2018’s figure.

Published

4 years ago

January 16, 2020

INSTORE Staff

The Jewelers Board of Trade reports that 717 U.S. jewelry retailers stopped doing business in 2019.

That’s down from 852 businesses that closed in 2018.

Of those, 589 fell into the category of “ceased operations,” while 110 were listed as “consolidations (sale/merger)” and 18 were classified as “bankruptcies.”

Meanwhile, 193 jewelry retail businesses opened their doors in the U.S. in 2019. That was up from 183 in 2018.

Counting wholesalers and manufacturers along with retailers, 900 U.S. jewelry businesses closed their doors in 2019. That’s compared with 1,013 in 2017.

The total number of jewelry retailers listed in the U.S. is now 18,613, compared with 19,198 at the end of 2018, according to the Jewelers Board of Trade.

The total number of jewelry businesses, including wholesalers and retailers, is 25,565, compared with 25,400 at the end 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.”