Signet Jewelers will shut stores and centralize its diamond buying amid a strategic overhaul, executives said following the US retailer’s quarterly results.
The company is weighing the closure of up to 150 “low-performing” locations over the next two years, it announced Wednesday. It will also identify up to 200 “strong-performing” stores in “declining venues” and reposition them as off-mall formats — a plan that will take two to three years.
Seeking “benefits at scale,” the jeweler will bring sourcing under one roof, allowing brands to focus on creative design, product assortment and the consumer experience, Signet explained in a presentation to investors.
“We are fully centralizing our sourcing practices to leverage the scale of our buying power and deep market expertise,” said Signet chief financial and operating officer Joan Hilson. “The newly chartered Signet diamond-sourcing team will negotiate pricing across our portfolio and improve our agility as a large buyer in the marketplace for both loose diamonds and finished diamond jewelry.”
The team will handle natural and lab-grown diamonds, as well as “core essential” jewelry, such as solitaires, studs and pendants, Hilson added in a statement to Rapaport News.
The strategy will “provide greater transparency of true demand in the market,” Hilson added on the investor call. Combined with its De Beers sightholder status — including having a beneficiation factory in Botswana — it will help the company “bring the highest-quality, responsibly sourced diamonds at the most competitive pricing.”
The group will also revamp the leadership and operations of its store brands — which it previously called “banners” — into four categories: “Core milestone and romantic gifting jewelry,” which will encompass Kay Jewelers and Peoples; “style and trend,” which includes Zales and Banter; “inspired luxury,” containing Jared and Diamonds Direct; and “digital pure play,” covering Blue Nile, James Allen and Rocksbox.
The new strategy, titled “Grow Brand Love,” follows the appointment of J.K. Symancyk as CEO in November and comes amid a challenging period for Signet and the US jewelry market.
Signet’s revenue fell 6% year on year to $2.35 billion for the fiscal fourth quarter that ended February 1, 2025, and included the important holiday season, the company reported. Same-store sales — at branches open for at least a year — declined 1.1%. Net profit slumped 84% to $100.6 million.
However, the company’s share price soared 21% in early trading Wednesday as investors responded to the reorganization. Signet also forecast that same-store sales would range from no change to growth of 2% for the first fiscal quarter, which will end around the beginning of May. It increased its quarterly dividend by 10%.
Sales for the full fiscal year declined 7% to $6.7 billion, with profit down 92% at $61.2 million.
“Our overall [fourth-quarter] performance and lack of growth over the past several quarters informed our new strategy to grow our business,” Symancyk said in a statement. “We will infuse more style and design-led product into our assortment to accelerate our growth in self-purchase and gifting while expanding our leadership position in bridal.”
Jewelry by designer Monique Lhuillier at a Kay Jewelers launch event in October 2021. (Getty Images/Gonzalo Marroquin)
