It was a year of contradictions in jewelry and jewelry-related retailing.
Two American retail titans that had been teetering precariously for years finally toppled: Lord & Taylor and Barneys New York declared bankruptcy and were sold off for their brand names. Mall chains including Signet-owned stores and fast-fashion company Forever 21 closed stores and cut staffers by the hundreds. And the pool of independent jewelry stores continued to shrink at a steady clip: 229 U.S. jewelry retailers closed in the third quarter of 2019, according to the Jewelers Board of Trade (compared with 193 closings in the third quarter of 2018).
Meanwhile, a narrow band of jewelry brands thrived: Millennial-focused direct-to-consumer companies AUrate and Mejuri raised multimillions in venture capital ($13 million and $23 million, respectively), positioning them for major growth both online and in brick-and-mortar.
And new retail monoliths were built. The glittering Hudson Yards shop-live development debuted in midtown Manhattan this spring, bringing with it New York City’s first-ever Neiman Marcus store. And in the fall, a long-awaited Nordstrom store featuring shop-in-shops from indie jewelry brands (again, many of them D2C) opened in New York City.
Finally, storied American jewelry house Tiffany & Co. sold itself to French fashion conglomerate LVMH last month, ending the jewelers decades-long independent streak and bulking up LVMH’s jewelry portfolio significantly.
Yes, retail in 2019 may have given us whiplash—and even wounded our hearts a little (R.I.P. Barneys and so many wonderful independent jewelers)—but it certainly kept us on our toes.
Here are the 10 biggest jewelry-related retail stories of 2019.
In late November, French fashion conglomerate LVMH announced it would pay $16.2 billion for Tiffany & Co. An LVMH presentation said the acquisition will make it a player in fine jewelry, increasing the size of its watches and jewelry division from 9% of sales to 16%.
Barneys New York Goes Bankrupt and Is Sold
Iconic department store retailer Barneys New York—instrumental in the careers of so many jewelry designers—declared bankruptcy in August and searched in vain for a buyer that would allow its major stores to remain open. With several groups scurrying around to secure financing, just one real offer materialized: Barneys was sold to Authentic Brands Group, which will fold the brand name into Saks Fifth Avenue stores.
Signet Selling Lab-Grown Across All Banners
Earlier this month, Signet Jewelers told JCK that all of its stores and its e-commerce sites are now selling lab-created diamonds, signaling to the industry that lab-growns have officially gone mainstream.
Lord & Taylor Closes Its NYC Flagship and Is Sold to Le Tote
Lord & Taylor closed its flagship store on Fifth Avenue in NYC on Jan. 2, after more than 100 years in business. Soon after, its owner, Hudson’s Bay Co., sold the department store to Le Tote, a seven-year-old clothing rental subscription website, in a $75 million deal. Le Tote opened a Lord & Taylor pop-up shop in Manhattan for the holidays.
Nordstrom Opens in New York City
Nordstrom finally opened its flagship in NYC in October, featuring seven floors that fan out over 320,000 square feet. Peppering its inventory are red-hot online and boutique brands including jeweler Maria Tash and fashion line Everlane.
Hudson Yards Opens in Manhattan
The roughly 18-million-square-foot development features the only Neiman Marcus in NYC and a heap of high-end jewelry and watch brands including Cartier, Rolex, Van Cleef & Arpels, and Watches of Switzerland.
Charming Charlie Declares Bankruptcy
After 15 years, low-priced fashion jewelry chain Charming Charlie—which once claimed close to 400 locations—liquidated and closed its entire 261-store fleet. “Onerous leases” and merchandising missteps were blamed.
Bailey Banks & Biddle Files for Bankruptcy
On Nov. 6, BBB Group, the parent company of Bailey Banks & Biddle—one of the industry’s oldest and most revered names—filed for Chapter 11 in U.S. bankruptcy court in the Southern District of Texas.
Watches of Switzerland Goes Pubic
Multichannel luxury watch retailer Watches of Switzerland Group, which is based in the U.K., went public and started trading on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange, under the ticker WOSG, in November.
Forevermark Opens Its First U.S. Store, in the Bay Area
Forevermark, the De Beers–owned diamond jewelry brand, opened its first U.S. boutique in Walnut Creek, Calif., an affluent suburb of San Francisco, in November. The boutique is a partnership with Bay Area–based Padis Jewelry, a four-store independent fine jewelry retailer owned by the Padis family.
JCK news director Rob Bates contributed to this report.
Top: Tiffany & Co. in New York City (photo courtesy of Tiffany & Co.)
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