Sterling Jewelers

Sterling Jewelers, Inc.
Subsidiary
Industry Retail
Founded 1910
Founder Henry Shaw
Headquarters Akron, Ohio, U.S.
Key people
 Mark Light (President and CEO)
Products Jewelry
Parent Signet Jewelers
Website www.SterlingJewelers.com

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.[1] Sterling is the largest specialty fine jewelry company in the United States by sales and number of stores. The company operates chains of fine jewelry stores in the United States, with 1,414 stores in all 50 states as of 5 August 2008. Mark Light is the President and Chief Executive of Sterling Inc.

History

Signet Jewelers, based in the U.K., is a specialty retail jeweler, with stores in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Republic of Ireland, and Channel Islands. Approximately 78% of company sales are derived from the 12 different store brands operating in the U.S. They include Kay Jewelers, Jared-The Galleria of Jewelry, J.B. Robinson, Marks & Morgan, and Belden Jewelers, among others (all of which operate as Sterling divisions).

A Jared-branded store in Hillsboro, Oregon in September 2012.

According to the company's 2 February 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).

Sterling is a corporate sponsor of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and holds many fund-raisers for the hospital, always donating all profits made from the fund-raiser. Since 1999, over $30 million has been raised, with $2.4 million in 2006 alone and more than $4 million in 2011. The company also sponsors many other charities and causes, such as the Relay For Life of Copley-Fairlawn, supporting the American Cancer Society's lifesaving mission.

In February 2014, Signet Jewelers Ltd. agreed to buy Zale Corporation, with Zale shareholders receiving USD$21 a share in cash in USD$1.4 billion deal. This merger will create a $6.2 billion firm.[2]

Ethics Controversy and Lawsuits

Sterling Jewelers and Jared The Galleria of Jewelry are involved in major lawsuits. Despite being a business providing products for women, it is being sued by 44,000 female employees and former employees for discrimination. The action began in 2008 and Sterling remains unsettled as of 2015.[3]

Sterling, through Jared The Galleria of Jewelry, is also respondent in another class action for misleading customers by failing to disclose the treatments applied to gemstones to make them appear to be of better quality and higher value. While it is not uncommon to treat gemstones, it is unethical and illegal to fail to disclose such treatments.[4]

Store brands

National

Regional

References

  1. ↑ "Sterling Jewelers' parent reports record first-quarter results". Crain's Cleveland Business. May 26, 2011. Retrieved June 12, 2011.
  2. ↑ Wahba, Phil (19 February 2014). "Kay Jewelers parent Signet to buy rival Zale for $690 million". Reuters. Retrieved 2016-02-12.
  3. ↑ "Second Circuit Decision Resuscitates EEOC’s Gender Discrimination Suit Against Sterling Jewelers". National Law Review. 11 September 2015. Retrieved 2016-02-12.
  4. ↑ Ferreira v Sterling Jewelers, Inc., d/b/a Jared The Galleria of Jewelry, Casetext 13-13165-DPW (D Mass 15 September 2015).

External links

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