Slane to quit selling wholesale

New York--Slane, the jewelry company started by sisters Landon and Heath Slane 18 years ago, announced Wednesday afternoon that it is discontinuing its wholesale operations while the brand “considers a new direction for the future.” 

The company said it will continue to take production orders until Jan. 30 and sell its current stock of jewelry but won’t be opening any new wholesale accounts. In addition, Slane will not be participating in trade shows this year. 

In an interview with National Jeweler on Wednesday, Landon Slane said she and her sister’s decision to wind down their wholesale business stems from a desire to slow down and step back from the frenetic post-recession pace of the jewelry industry. 

“The industry has changed so much … I feel like it’s more crowded and it’s more competitive and there are a lot of people who have deeper pockets than we do that we are trying to play on the same field with,”  she said. 

“After 18 years we are ready to pull back, re-group and decide what we want to do with the brand.” 

She added that the company is going to conduct a “thoughtful” sell-down of the merchandise it currently has; they are not looking to “have a fire sale.” 

The e-commerce site, Slane.com, will remain live for the foreseeable future, and the brand will continue to do collaborations with partners, like De Beers’ diamond brand Forevermark. Actress Kate Hudson just wore a 22.04-carat pair of Forevermark by Slane diamond drop earrings to the Golden Globes.  

Beyond that, however, Slane said they don’t really know exactly what’s next, though she can’t picture ever returning to wholesale. She said that while she loves creating jewelry, she didn’t love running a wholesale operation. 

“I can’t imagine doing it in the way we are doing it now,” she said. “Like I said, I don’t want to run a business. And you can’t really be in a big wholesale business (and avoid that) unless you are going to grow it really big and get someone to run it for you.”

Landon Slane and her sister Heath started their jewelry company in 1997. While they were sold in department stores including Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue for a time, the company primarily has been sold by independent retailers for the past few years. 

Landon Slane said they have between 35 and 40