TIFFANY EARNINGS RISE 55%

Tiffany & Co.’s net earnings rose substantially in the second quarter of 1996, thanks to a 10% increase in worldwide sales and improved operating margins.

For the three months ended July 1, net earnings totaled $8.3 million on sales of $202.8 million, up 55% and 10%, respectively.

For the six months, net earnings totaled $13.3 million on sales of $383.5 million, up 78% and 15%, respectively.

All earnings-per-share figures were adjusted for a two-for-one split in the company’s common stock in July 1996.

The breakdown for Tiffany’s three channels of distribution follows:

• U.S. retail sales rose 13% to $92.5 million in the quarter and 20% to $172.9 million in the first half. Comparable-store sales rose 6% in the quarter and 12% in the first half.

• Direct marketing sales grew 9% to $22.1 million in the quarter and $412 million in the half because of strong catalog sales and renewed growth in Tiffany’s Corporate Division sales.

• International retail sales rose 7% to $88.2 million in the second quarter and 12% to $169.6 million in the first half because of geographically broad-based sales growth. In Japan, Tiffany’s largest international market, total retail sales rose 24% in the second quarter and 22% in the first half.

HSN VP DEPARTS

Barry Auenbraun, executive vice president, general counsel and secretary of the Home Shopping Network, left the company at the end of August.

When he joined HSN two years ago, his goals were to restore “financial stability to the company [and] to enable management to concentrate on growing the business,” he says. With that accomplished, he says, it was time to move on.

CARTIER RECEIVES AWARD FOR ARTS SUPPORT

Cartier Inc. received a 1996 Business in Arts Award for Commitment in recognition of its long-term support of the arts. The award was sponsored by the Business Committee for the Arts and Forbes magazine and presented by violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg and Jacques D’Ambroise, founder of the National Dance Institute.

In the past decade, Cartier has established extensive partnerships with a variety of visual and performing arts organizations in 21 of its operating communities throughout the U.S. Among its endeavors, Cartier:

• Underwrote a 1995 benefit auction and reception for The Studio in a School Association, which provides visual arts programs for New York City school children. The retailer commissioned crayon drawings by 32 artists. The drawings were sold for more than $100,000 at an auction in Cartier’s Fifth Avenue store.

• Sponsored a traveling exhibition featuring works from the Cartier Foundation for Contemporary Art based in Paris.

• Sponsored “Greek Gold: Jewelry of the Classical World” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the British Museum in London and The Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia.

• Underwrote fund-raising efforts for numerous arts organizations, including the Boston Ballet, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago and the San Francisco Symphony. Cartier employees develop marketing and public relations initiatives for each of these events.

• In collaboration with the Whitney Museum of Modern Art in New York City, created The Whitney American Art Award in 1992 to honor a business for its outstanding contributions to the arts in America. Cartier annually commissions an American artist to create an original work that is presented to the recipient of this award.

LUCKY DUCK WINS HANNOUSH DIAMOND

When Ernest Walter’s rubber duck crossed the finish line on Massachusetts’ Connecticut River in the Baystate Health System’s Lucky Duck Race, it left more than 25,000 other ducks bobbing in its wake. But its fourth-place finish also earned its owner a 1-ct. heart-shaped diamond pendant from Hannoush Jewelers, a 31-store chain based in West Springfield, Mass.

This is the second year Hannoush has been a major prize sponsor of the annual event, which raises money for the Children’s Miracle Network. Race participants pay $5 to take part and have a chance to win prizes ranging in value to up to $6,000. The first 14 ducks to cross the finish line win prizes.

“It’s gratifying to lend our support to a pediatric cause that directly benefits programs here in the Pioneer Valley [in Massachusetts], where Hannoush has its roots,” says store official Norman Hannoush.

MARK DIAMONDS MARKS 25 YEARS IN BUSINESS

Mark Diamond’s, in Albuquerque, N.M., celebrated its 25th year in business this year. The store is marking the occasion with a complete store remodel.

Mark and Ellen Diamond, second-generation jewelers, own and operate the business, which is geared to custom design, exceptional diamonds, gemstones and service.

E.W. PARKER INC. HONORED BY STATE ON 139th ANNIVERSARY

E.W. Parker Inc., Madison, Wis., celebrated its 139th anniversary July 6.

The store, now operated by John Hendrickson, great-grandson of founder Edward Worthington Parker, is the sixth oldest business in Madison and is one of two original businesses remaining of what was once a thriving retail community of more than 60 stores.

E.W. Parker is a charter member of what is now known as Jewelers of America and is a member of JA’s 100 Club. Its customers include city, state and federal workers from government offices in the neighborhood. It also has clients throughout the nation, thanks to a toll-free telephone number.

In recognition of the anniversary, the office of the governor of Wisconsin issued a certificate of commendation.

OPENINGS

Lee Michaels Fine Jewelry plans to open a new store in the Lakeside Mall in Metairie, La., by mid-October. The new location will be the chain’s seventh throughout Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi.

Rogers & Hollands plans to open its 47th store in mid-October in the Somerset Collection North Mall in Troy, Mich. The company has stores throughout Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana.