Reports & Statistics | Diamond | America

Research showed less US jewelry firm closures in H1, 2010

According to the International Diamond Exchange online research, for the first six months of 2010, the U.S. jewelry industry lost only 48 retail jewelry firms versus a loss of 300 firms for the first six months of 2009, according to newly released data from the Jewelers Board of Trade (JBT). We view this as good news: the recession-driven exodus of American jewelers has finally tapered to a dribble.

The news is similarly positive at the wholesale and supplier leve. For the first six months of 2010, the number of U.S. jewelry wholesalers exiting the business dropped by half: a net of 44 firms closed this year versus 88 closings in the same period last year. Among U.S. jewelry manufacturers, a net of 32 firms have closed this year through June, down from last year’s 45 closings for the same six-month period.

New Store Openings Improve

For the first six months of 2010, the number of new jewelry firm openings in the U.S. market increased compared to the same period a year ago. This year, 103 new jewelry firms opened, up from 91 in the first six months of 2009. While this year’s openings are still well below the 180 jewelers who opened in the first six months of 2004, the trend has finally reversed from the decline in new store openings that characterized the past six years.

Jewelry wholesalers and suppliers were much more cautious: fewer merchants opted to enter the U.S. jewelry industry this year than last year. There were 17 new jewelry wholesalers during the first six months of 2010 versus 20 new firms last year. The manufacturers experienced a similar ratio: 12 new supplier firms opened during the first six months of 2010 versus 15 new firms last year in the same period.

These statistics do not surprise us: retailers typically drive the need for more suppliers – both wholesalers and manufacturers. Now that the number of jewelry retail closings has slowed, and the number of new firms risen, we would expect a rise in the number of suppliers to begin to show a turn-around in the next twelve to twenty-four months.

U.S. Jewelry Bankruptcies Slow Dramatically

The number of retail jewelers in the U.S. market who filed for bankruptcy in the first half of 2010 fell to 26 firms versus 45 firms for the same period a year ago, according to the JBT.

Jewelry suppliers – both wholesalers and manufacturers – showed similar trends. Only one jewelry wholesaler filed for bankruptcy in the first six months of 2010 versus eight in the first half of last year. Among jewelry manufacturers, eight filed for bankruptcy versus ten a year ago in the first six months.