Fred Meyer Jewelers is closing a number of its mall stores, confirms group vice president Kirsten Darrow.
She declines to provide an exact number.
“We are closing underperforming mall stores (under both Fred Meyer Jewelers and Littman Jewelers brands) whose leases are ending,” she adds. “It’s never an easy decision to close a location but we must adapt to the changing retail environment. However, we are not exiting our mall format entirely. We will continue to operate in four formats: malls, Fred Meyer Box stores, Kroger Marketplace, and online.”
She says there have been slightly more closings on the East Coast, since it has predominantly mall stores.
Even before these closings, Fred Meyer Jewelers had been slimming down its store count. In the third quarter of 2016, it numbered 324 stores. At the end of the third quarter of 2017, it only had 306.
Fred Meyer Jewelers is generally considered the number two jeweler, as far as the number of stores operating. The jewelry chain is owned by grocery giant Kroeger.
In 2016, president Peter Engel said the company was now focused on shopping centers rather than malls.
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