Signet Once Again Moves Up NRF ‘Top 100’ Retailers List

New York—Signet Jewelers has once again made the National Retail Federation’s Top 100 Retailers list, moving up 10 spots to No. 56.

The jewelry company was No. 66 last year, and No. 78 in 2021.

The list, compiled by market research firm Kantar Group, ranks the largest retail companies in the United States, based on 2022 annual U.S. retail sales.

The NRF says it uses “a variety of estimation techniques” to calculate its figures, so the sales figures on its list may differ from the companies’ official public filing reports.

The NRF’s calculations have Signet’s total retail sales at $7.5 billion in 2022, up 8 percent year-over-year.

Signet reported full-year sales in North America of $7.29 billion, up 0.3 percent year-over-year.

The NRF reported store growth of 5 percent year-over-year, with a total of 2,351 stores in 2022, reflecting the acquisitions of Diamonds Direct and Blue Nile.

Signet Jewelers was considered one of the list’s “anomalies,” according to David Marcotte, senior vice president of Kantar, alongside Kohl’s (No.30) and Dell Technologies (No.39).

While Kohl’s and Dell stood out because of their significant drops in sales, Signet was a standout based on its growth trajectory, due in part to its recent acquisitions.

“But it also speaks to supply chain: The size and portability of jewelry means it’s significantly less likely to be impacted by these issues than, say, furniture,” said Marcotte.

Like last year, Signet was the only specialty jeweler on the list, with Amazon and big-box stores claiming the top spots.

Notably, this year’s list excluded restaurant chains, which were included in prior years.

The top three spots mirrored last year’s list, with Walmart at No.1 with U.S. sales of $499.65 billion and growth of 8 percent.

Amazon was No.2 at $232.46 billion and 7 percent growth, while Costco was at No.3 with $217.53 billion and 17 percent growth.

Growth in the big-box and mass merchandise sectors isn’t just taking place in the U.S., but internationally as well, said Marcotte.

“People are comfortable putting out the membership fee to buy into the value proposition,” he said, noting that while this category is well-established in the U.S., there is “a great deal more room for expansion” worldwide.

According to the report, labor shortages are hurting drug store chains like CVS, Walgreens Boots Alliance, and Rite Aid.

“You cannot run a drug store without a pharmacist and there’s been a severe shortage of pharmacists in all three chains,” said Marcotte.

The shortage has led to shortened hours and closed stores, which is reflected in their sales, he said.

An issue affecting retailers across the board has been organized retail crime (ORC).

“Retailers have increasingly been tying ORC to weak sales,” he noted.

The industry average for shrink, or loss of inventory, fell from its five-year average of 1.5 percent to 1.4 percent, but that still amounts to an estimated loss of $95 billion in 2021, as per the NRF’s 2022 National Retail Security Survey.

“The real impact is harder to measure,” he said, noting the broader effects of store damage, employee turnover, shopper fear, “and, too often, intimidation and violence.”

Swarming attacks, where a large group of people rob a store at the same time, became a popular tactic again in 2022, but with greater organization than in prior years, he noted.

Marcotte also pointed out retailers are leaving markets where they no longer feel safe.

The 2022 National Retail Security Survey found 80 percent of retail organizations had reported a rise of violence within their stores.

ORC is a “very old problem,” said Marcotte, that has been growing in complexity.

The NRF, as well as other retail organizations, is in support of the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act.

The legislation, introduced in the House and Senate, would set up a national coordination center that would gather and share info on ORC and provide training and assistance.

The NRF also advocated for the Inform Consumers Act, which recently went into effect. The legislation requires online marketplaces to verify the identities of high-volume third-party sellers in the hopes of combatting the selling of stolen as well as counterfeit goods.

To read the full Top 100 list, visit the NRF’s website.