Tiffany & Co. said that its  comps for the 2019 holiday period rose 1%–3%, with a slight increase in the Americas region and strong sales in China.

The preliminary sales announcement for the holiday—which was defined as Nov. 1 through Dec. 24—came in an 8-K filed Dec. 26 with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Comps in the Americas region, which includes the United States, rose 2%–4%, while comps shot up an impressive 7%-9% in the Asia-Pacific region. Comps in Europe increased a healthy 4%–6%, while they plummeted 11%–13% in Japan.

“During this period, we continued to see the Chinese mainland drive our overall sales growth with a strong double-digit increase, offset by the persisting declines in the Hong Kong market and, to a lesser degree, Japan—which we believe continues to be negatively impacted by the recent increase in the consumption tax,” said Alessandro Bogliolo, chief executive officer, in a statement. “We are happy to see sales growth in the Americas, a momentum shift in the region.”

In the last quarter, Tiffany opened a new store at the Hudson Yards shopping complex, its fifth store in New York City.

Beginning in January 2020, the company’s Fifth Avenue flagship will close, as it undergoes a major overhaul. During that time, its operations will temporarily move to 6 E. 57th St.

Bogliolo said that it had seen an “enthusiastic reaction” to its new men’s pop-up concept store, which is located next to its flagship, and stocks offbeat items (including a robin’s-egg blue motorcycle) from its Very, Very Tiffany Holiday collection.

In November, Tiffany reached a deal to be acquired by luxury conglomerate LVMH for $16.2 billion. That deal should be completed by the middle of 2020. It expected its financial results to be negatively affected by the process of completing that merger.

(Top image courtesy of Tiffany & Co.)

Rob Bates

JCK News Director