It seems like an obvious step to take for a jewelry retailer to promote its brands to appeal to as wide an audience as possible.
And that’s what North America’s biggest jewelry selling company Signet Jewelers plans to do as one of the first steps by its new CEO.
Having been led for seven years by Gina Drosos, the new head is J.K. Symancyk, who formerly was CEO of PetSmart with 1,700 pet stores, including 200 in-store PetsHotels boarding facilities as well as many pet services. He is now leading widespread changes at Signet, the world’s largest retailer of diamond jewelry with some 2,700 stores under 11 brand banners.
On the one hand, bringing in a new head with no connection to the diamond and jewelry sector might seem strange. However, with consumer tastes and expectations changing so rapidly and creating a need to think out of the box, recruiting someone from a different sector provides the firm with an extra approach.
The Gina Drosos legacy
Signet Jewelers changed significantly under the stewardship of Drosos:
· Revenues jumped from $6.1 billion in fiscal 2020 to $7.2 billion in 2024
· Market share in U.S. jewelry retail is at 9.9% from 6.6%
· Signet provided its shareholders with more than $2 billion via dividends, share repurchases and other means
· The firm’s stock price grew from around $19 at the beginning of 2020 to almost $95 per share on October 2.
· Drosos guided the firm through the COVID period and saw e-commerce sales quadruple to almost a quarter of revenue while moving many physical stores to off-mall destinations.
· Through strategic acquisitions of Blue Nile, Diamonds Direct, and Rocksbox, Signet Jewelers broadened its client reach. The company has also sharpened the focus of its existing brands to better serve distinct customer segments.
· Signet removed consumer credit from its financial statements by establishing partnerships with third-party financing providers, thereby increasing the range of payment options available to customers.
Symancyk’s Plans for the Future
Signet will implement a “relentless focus” on its “big three brands” – Kay, Zales, and Jared – Symancyk says.
The new corporate strategy is called “Grow Brand Love”, and involves a comprehensive change in marketing with a bigger emphasis on fashion jewelry. In addition, Signet’s senior executive numbers will be slashed by approximately 30%, and up to 150 stores closed while 200 are refurbished. Furthermore, additional stores will be shifted to non-mall locations. Meanwhile, there will be a more distinct clearer delineation between natural and lab-grown diamonds.
Signet is facing a challenging period, and the company will be hoping the changes bear fruit quickly. The retailer announced a 6% year-over-year decrease in revenue to $2.35 billion for its fiscal fourth quarter ending February 1, 2025, a period encompassing the crucial holiday shopping season. It also reported a 1.1% decline in same-store sales (sales at locations open for at least one year) and a significant 84% drop in net profit to $100.6 million.
Symancyk has decided the company Signet will be reorganized into “four distinct customer families” of brands:
· Core milestone and romantic gifting (Kay and Canadian chain Peoples):
· Style and trend (Zales and Banter)
· Inspired luxury (Jared and Diamonds Direct)
· Digital pure play (Blue Nile, James Allen, and Rocksbox.)
For now, there is no word on any possible changes at Signet’s overseas chains, U.K.-based H. Samuel and Ernest Jones.
Symancyk, who took over the helm of the jewelry giant last November, said that Signet’s divisions will be called “brands,” not “banners.”
“Brands build loyalty with customers through emotional and engaging connections, while banners are transactional, literally a static nameplate on the door,” he said, according to media reports. “However, growth has been elusive [at Kay, Zales, and Jared] in recent years.… We’re creating a clearer distinction between brands to attract new and loyal consumers that see themselves reflected in the DNA of each brand.”
The reason that Signet is now going to increase its focus on fashion is clear, the new CEO said. The US bridal jewelry market sees about $10 billion of sales annually, of which Signet enjoys an almost 30% share. However, the American fashion jewelry market is five times bigger at more than over $50 billion, but signet only enjoys around a 5% share, while its sales of jewelry that is worn every day is even lower at a low-single-digit share.
In other words, increasing the company's fashion jewelry sales will have a much bigger impact then concentrating on the relatively smaller bridal market. Symancyk believes that milestone gifting, self-buying and everyday jewelry purchasing will be the fastest-growing sectors going forward.”
Distinctive Roles for Natural and Lab-Grown Diamonds
Symancyk also aims to create distinct roles for natural and lab-grown diamonds. He sees a role for both among the company’s customers because that, he says, is what they are telling the firm. “We will work to protect the allure and value of natural stones in engagement rings while pursuing the significant opportunity lab diamonds provide to grow fashion, particularly within self-purchase and gifting.”
On the natural diamond side, Signet aims for collaboration with De Beers and other industry leaders to create strong marketing, greater traceability, and providing forceful consumer education.
Meanwhile, lab-grown diamond fashion sales have shown strong rises at the firm’s three main brands. Since Signet expects this to continue, it will give customers new styles and trends, encouraging customers to trade up from lower priced items.
The Changes Continue
In an update, Signet Jewelers announced in March that it is considering closing as many as 150 underperforming store locations over the next two years.
Additionally, the company plans to relocate up to 200 high-performing stores situated in less successful shopping centers to off-mall locations within the next two to three years.
Furthermore, Signet's aims to completely centralize its sourcing practices to capitalize on its huge purchasing power and extensive market knowledge. The firm’s newly created diamond-sourcing team will negotiate prices across all it brands, thus strengthening its flexibility as a major buyer of both loose diamonds and finished diamond jewelry in the market.
Final words...
As we have written on many occasions, change is permanent, as is finding different approaches and niche markets.
Waiting to see what customers want is a sure way of losing market share, that’s why it’s critical to think outside of the box and provide a wide range of options.
Signet will be hoping this approach pays off – and we can be sure the diamond industry will be watching closely to see the results.
Philip Carter for Rough&Polished from London
