Pandora closes 105 ‘unbranded’ stores

Copenhagen, Denmark--Pandora has pulled its jewelry from 105 “underperforming, unbranded” stores in the Americas, almost all in the United States, as it continues to focus on opening more company-owned and -operated stores.

In the first quarter, the company closed 71 “silver” retailers, meaning multi-brand retailers carrying a medium-sized assortment of Pandora product and with less in-store branding than gold-level retailers, as well as 34 “white” retailers, which refers to dealers that carry a limited assortment, and travel retail locations.

The closures brought the total number of places in the Americas that are selling Pandora but are not entirely or heavily branded as such to 1,297, down from 1,468 a year ago.

Meanwhile, the number of Pandora-owned and -operated stores has increased from 21 a year ago to 61 today, mainly due to the acquisition of 22 stores that Hannoush Jewelers once owned and operated but were taken over by Pandora.

The Copenhagen-based bead and jewelry brand also now has an e-commerce store in the U.S. that’s independent of its retail partners.

“As part of the continued focus on the branded part of the network, underperforming, unbranded stores are being closed and during the quarter 105 unbranded stores, almost all located in the U.S., were closed in Americas,” Pandora said Tuesday in its interim report for the first quarter.

Sales in the Americas increased 34 percent (13 percent in local currency) year-over-year in the first quarter, including 38 percent growth in the U.S. market (13 percent in local currency). Pandora said demand for its Disney collection of charms and jewelry was strong.

Globally, total sales for Pandora reached $532.8 million in the first quarter 2015, an increase of 37 percent (22 percent in local currency) when compared with the first quarter 2014.

Gross margin rose slightly, from 69.1 percent to 71.1 percent, but net profit was down from $105.8 million to $57.5 million, impacted by additional tax expenses and finance costs.

The company said it plans to open more concept stores worldwide than originally projected this fiscal year--more than 325, up from more than 300.

Pandora also raised its revenue guidance for the fiscal year from more than 14 billion Danish krone ($2.10 billion) to more than 15 billion Danish krone ($2.25 billion).

New CEO Anders Colding Friis, the former tobacco company executive who succeeded Allan Leighton on March 1, said, “Once again, we are off to