U.S. customs agents in El Paso, Texas, intercepted the package, which would have been worth $9 million if the jewelry was genuine.
Signet Says Two-Stone Ring a ‘Grand Slam’
Signet Jewelers Ltd. reported a 5 percent increase in same-store holiday sales, driven by bridal and fashion diamond jewelry, particularly “Ever Us.”
Akron, Ohio--Signet Jewelers Ltd. reported a 5 percent year-over-year increase in same-store sales over the holiday season, driven by bridal and fashion diamond jewelry, particularly “Ever Us.”
It is marketed as being the perfect gift for the individual who is both the purchaser’s best friend and true love, and was supported by a massive television advertising campaign this past Christmas. Signet worked with De Beers/Forevermark to promote it and allowed Forevermark to sell Ever Us through its retail partners.
On a Thursday morning conference call announcing the retailer’s holiday results, Signet CEO Mark Light said the collection was “nothing short of a grand slam for Signet.”
He added that some stores were unable to keep up with demand--which, interestingly, was stronger for the larger sizes--and actually ran out of rings; one Pennsylvania retailer National Jeweler interviewed during the course of the holiday season noted that he had customers come in asking for two-stone rings because they couldn’t find them at the chain stores.
“We just couldn’t keep up with it, it was doing so well,” Light said on the conference call.
Signet’s 5 percent comp increase for November and December comes on the heels of a 4 percent same-store sales increase for the same period last year.
Kay Jewelers and Piercing Pagoda posted the strongest gain at 7 percent. Comps for Zales Jewelers’ U.S. stores rose 6 percent while same-store sales for Jared were up 3 percent. The company’s U.K. division (H. Samuel and Ernest Jones) saw same-store sales increase 4 percent.
Total sales for Signet in November-December reached $1.95 billion, a 5 percent increase over the prior year. At constant exchange rates, total sales were up 6 percent.
Online sales increased 11 percent, from $126 million to $139.7 million, though they did not increase greatly as a percentage of overall sales. E-commerce sales in November-December 2015 represented 7.2 percent of total sales, as compared with 6.8 percent last year.
Signet is set to announce its full fourth quarter results March 24.
Based on its holiday results and January sales to date, the retailer increased
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