Sterling Jewelers facts for kids
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| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | August 14, 1910 |
| Founder | Henry Shaw |
| Headquarters | , |
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Number of locations
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1,586 stores (Feb. 2018) |
| Products | Jewelry |
| Revenue | US$3.82 billion (2017) |
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Number of employees
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13,901 (Feb. 2018) |
| Parent | Signet Jewelers |
| Divisions |
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Sterling Jewelers, Inc. is an American specialty jewelry company headquartered in Akron, Ohio. The company was founded in 1910 by Henry Shaw (the father of Jerry Shaw, the chairman emeritus of Sterling today), from LeRoy's Jewelers in Lorain, Ohio. Sterling Jewelers is a wholly owned subsidiary of UK-based Signet Jewelers Limited (listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol SIG), having been acquired in 1987.
History
Signet Jewelers, based in the UK, is a specialty retail jeweler, with stores in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Republic of Ireland, Puerto Rico, and Channel Islands. Approximately 78% of company sales are derived from the 12 different store brands operating in the U.S. They include Belden Jewelers, Ernest Jones, Goodman Jewelers, H.Samuel, JB Robinson Jewelers, JamesAllen.com, Jared, Kay Jewelers, Le Roy's Jewelers, Marks & Morgan Jewelers, Osterman Jewelers, Peoples, Piercing Pagoda, Rogers Jewelers, Shaw's Jewelers, Weisfield Jewelers, Zales, and Mappins.
According to the company's February 2, 2008, Annual Report & Accounts, Sterling has the number-two position in the U.S. with a 4.2% market share of all jewelry purchases. Sterling has a leading 8.8% market share in the specialty jeweler market share (highest in the sector).
Since 2009, Sterling Jewelers has been a corporate sponsor of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, making a number of donations to many of the hospital's building, clinical, and research projects. In February 2015, the company's senior vice president of field operations estimated that the company's past commitments to the St. Jude amounted to more than $90 million.
In February 2014, Signet Jewelers Ltd. agreed to buy Zale Corporation, with Zale shareholders receiving US$21 per share in cash in a US$1.4 billion deal. This merger created a $6.2 billion firm.
In August 2017, it was announced that Signet Jewelers Ltd. agreed to buy R2Net, owner of online jewelry retailer JamesAllen.com, for $328 million.
Credit card practices case
On January 16, 2019, Sterling Jewelers paid $11 million under a settlement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The Bureau's investigations concluded that Sterling violated the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 by signing customers up for store credit without their knowledge or consent and enrolling them in payment-protection insurance. The investigations also found that the company violated the Truth in Lending Act when customers were signed-up for credit-card accounts without receiving an application from them. Sterling's parent company, Signet Jewelers Ltd, refuted the allegations but then accepted the settlement.
Store closings
In April 2019, Sterling Jewelers announced the closure of 150 stores, mostly in mall locations that see poor foot traffic or with duplicate stores in the Sterling chain (such as a Kay and a Zales).
