The decrease in jewelry store closings around the country — 318 compared with 380 during the same period in 2016 — broke the trend of consistent decline in the industry’s size over the previous year, data from the JBT showed last week.
In 2016, the number of US jewelry businesses ceasing operations leapt 54% to 1,669 — mainly in the retail category.
Most of this year’s discontinued businesses were still in the retail sector, which nonetheless saw closings drop 13% to 250. Wholesale closures decreased 14% to 44, while manufacturing companies had 44% fewer closures at 24.
The improvement came amid a 0.2% year-on-year increase in sales at US jewelry stores during January and February, which amounted to $4.41 billion, according to separate data from the nation’s Census Bureau.
In the broader US retail sector, some 2,880 brick-and-mortar stores have closed so far this year, compared with 1,153 in the same period of 2016, according to a Credit Suisse report.