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Pandora continues with concept expansion
Pandora announced Monday that it is aiming to acquire as many as 78 store leases in Germany and convert them all into company-owned and -operated concept stores.
Copenhagen, Denmark--Pandora announced Monday that it is aiming to acquire as many as 78 store leases in Germany and convert them all into company-owned and -operated concept stores.
The Danish bead-maker said it has entered into an agreement with DHG Gmbh to acquire the leases currently held by BiBa, a chain of women’s clothing boutiques. Pandora will pay a service fee to DHG for making the leases available, with the amount of the fee dependent upon the number of leases successfully assigned.
With the approval of the landlords, Pandora said it will open concept stores in these new locations, some of which will be relocations of already existing Pandora-owned stores. A number of the stores could become franchise stores in the future.
Landlord negotiations are expected to be finalized by Jan. 31.
If all 78 stores are successfully converted, it would more than double the number of company-owned and -operated concept stores in Germany. Pandora currently operates 61 of the 83 concept stores in the country.
“We have carefully mapped the German market, in terms of how an ideal concept store network would look in the country,” Pandora CEO Allan Leighton said. “With this agreement, we have now in one strategic move gained immediate access to a very large proportion of desired locations.”
RELATED CONTENT: At Pandora, focus continues to shift inward
In reporting its third quarter results in November, Pandora executives said the company would focus more on company-owned and -operated concept stores, and less on franchise stores operated by jewelers or other retailers.
In the Northeast U.S., Pandora paid $28 million this past summer to buy back the 27 concept stores operated by Hannoush Jewelers, with plans to operate 22 of those stores itself. It sold the remaining five stores to Ben Bridge Jeweler.
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