Signet Lands on NRF’s Top 100 Retailers List

The jewelry giant took the No. 78 spot as its 2020 U.S. sales surged.

Lenore Fedow lenore.fedow@nationaljeweler.com

The National Retail Federation just published its Top 100 Retailers list. Signet Jewelers took the 78th spot.

New York—Signet Jewelers made the National Retail Federation’s Top 100 Retailers list, landing at No. 78.

The list, compiled by market research firm Kantar Group, ranks the fastest-growing retail companies in the United States, based on 2020 annual retail sales.

This year’s list excludes restaurant chains, which were eligible in previous years.

According to Kantar, the jewelry company’s 2020 U.S. retail sales totaled $4.65 billion, down 13 percent compared with 2019.

The U.S. market accounts for 89 percent of Signet’s worldwide sales, which totaled $5.23 billion in 2020.

Signet Jewelers, the parent company of Zales, Jared the Galleria of Jewelry, Kay Jewelers, and more, had 2,381 U.S. stores in 2020, a 9 percent drop compared with 2019.

The jewelry giant has been downsizing its store fleet in recent years, moving away from low-performing malls to off-mall locations. It also has plans to add kiosks in underserved markets.

In the No.1 spot on NRF’s list is Walmart, with U.S. sales of $430.82 billion, a 9 percent year-over-year increase.

“Walmart came up through the ecosystem of retail with winning combinations, such as putting stores where other stores aren’t and being the valued retailer for mass retail,” said David Marcotte, senior vice president for Kantar, in a press release.

Amazon came in second place with U.S. sales of $187.27 billion, a year-over-year increase of 34 percent.

Supermarket chain Kroger was next, followed by The Home Depot and Costco.

“Companies that invested heavily in buy online, pick up in store in 2018 and 2019 were losing money on it then,” said Marcotte. “In 2020, it all paid off. If you didn’t have that capability, you had to scramble to build it.”