Signet, parent company of Zales, Kay, and Jared, to close almost 400 stores

Shoppers walk by a Kay Jewelers and Zales.
(Image credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Signet — the parent company of several mall-based jewelry stores, including Kay, Zales, Jared, and Piercing Pagoda — will permanently shutter nearly 400 of its locations in the U.S., Canada, and Britain.

While sales were strong around Valentine's Day, the coronavirus pandemic hit Signet hard; with its stores forced to closed, the company had a first-quarter loss of $291 million and a 40.5 percent sales decline to $852.1 million, The Dallas Morning News reports.

Signet has 3,200 stores worldwide, and initially, 150 stores in the U.S. and Canada and 80 in the United Kingdom will close; an additional 150 locations will shutter after their leases are reviewed. A company spokesperson said all brands will be affected, but did not say which stores will close. Last year, Signet closed 200 stores, and in 2018, the company shut down 150.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

In a statement, Signet CEO Gina Drosos said the company is "gathering valuable insights on customer behaviors and plan to use these leanings to enhance our competitive advantage and emerge stronger from the crisis."

Continue reading for free

We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.

Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.

Catherine Garcia

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.