Whats up With Zales Diamonds?
I’ve been reading lately about all of the new initiatives in the works for the Zales Diamond and jewelry chain; North America’s largest diamond and jewelry retailer. The company has opened almost 120 jewelry stores thus far, have 50 additional units slated to open by mid-2005, and an additional 50 for 2006. Eventually, they hope to have 300 jewelry stores nationwide. What I don’t understand is how and why they are doing this given their recent and much publicized declaration of a $10.9 Million dollar net loss for the fist quarter, up from $9.2 Million in the same period a year earlier? My guess is that they are losing alot of business to online diamond and jewelry merchants who are offering significantly higher quality jewelry at better prices. Also, many brick and mortar specialty retailers of fine jewelry are catering to the savvy shopper who wants better quality diamonds and jewelry. I would think that in order to stay competitive as a leader in the jewelry industry they (Zales) wou
