The Jewelers Board of Trade reports that 817 U.S. jewelry retailers stopped doing business in 2017.
That’s significantly fewer than the 1,269 businesses that closed in 2016.
Of those, 678 fell into the category of “ceased operations,” while 120 were listed as “consolidations (sale/merger)” and 19 were classified as “bankruptcies.”
Meanwhile, 131 jewelry retail businesses opened their doors in the U.S. in 2017. That was down from 214 in 2016.
Counting wholesalers and manufacturers along with retailers, 1,022 U.S. jewelry businesses closed their doors in 2017. That’s compared with 1,669 in 2016.
The total number of jewelry retailers listed in the U.S. is now 19,652, compared with 20,379 at the end of 2016, according to the Jewelers Board of Trade. The total number of jewelry businesses, including wholesalers and retailers, is 26,031, compared with 27,059 at the end of 2016.