Signet Sales Sink 40% Amid Pandemic-Induced Store Shutdowns

Akron, Ohio—Signet Jewelers Ltd. CEO Gina Drosos started the company’s earnings call Tuesday morning with a statement about the civil unrest sweeping the nation following the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.

“While these are truly unprecedented times, from the COVID-19 pandemic to economic uncertainty, nothing has matched the pain and heartache of yet another brutal murder of an unarmed person of color,” she said.

“This pattern of discrimination and violence must stop now. Racism has no place in our world, and certainly not in a country dedicated to protecting life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all.”

Drosos made her company’s stance public in a LinkedIn post last week, and Signet has made a $100,000 donation to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

Drosos said Tuesday she is hosting an open mic town hall-style meeting with Signet team members next week. Called Signet Speaks Out, it will be a “frank discussion on race” intended to give the retailer ideas for actions it can take within the company, in communities and in the jewelry industry.

“At Signet, our mission is to ‘Celebrate Life and Express Love,’ and we are committed to making this true for all people,” Drosos said.

Signet started the year with “strong momentum,” recording “solid” year-over-year comps at the end of February, with a low-single-digit increase in same-store sales.

Then COVID-19 hit and the retailer made the decision to close all its stores in North America, furloughing the majority of store and support center employees and cutting executive salaries, in late March.

Signet ended the first quarter, which ended May 2, with a 39 percent year-over-year decline in same-store sales, while total sales dropped 40 percent to $852.1 million compared with $1.43 billion last year.

E-commerce sales were up 7 percent to $164.7 million including the impact of the temporary closure of the James Allen distribution center in New York, the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Excluding the shutdown, Signet saw online sales climb 18 percent, including a 55 percent increase in April.

In North America, same-store sales were down 39 percent. Average transaction value declined 7 percent while the number of transactions was down 35 percent.

Payment plan participation rate, including both credit and leasing sales, for Q1 was 43 percent versus 50 percent in the first quarter last year, reflecting both the greater proportion of online sales and macroeconomic conditions.

Signet