Pandora shifts direction to branded retail
pandora has closed around 100 wholesale accounts in australia and new zealand as part of a change in direction to focus more on fully branded concept stores.
this follows the cancellation of about 100 accounts in march 2011.
“after a period of careful consideration and reflection on our future strategies, we have decided to increase focus on a branded retail store environment and will increase our retail concept stores in 2012,” says pandora president karin adcock.
“as a result of this, we will no longer be selling pandora through some stores in australia and new zealand. the retailers impacted by this new strategy have been notified and they have favourable terms to close their pandora accounts.
“we have already made a substantial investment in our wholesale and retail operations, and are keen to support our new collections and constantly strive to enhance the customers’ experience of our ‘universe of jewellery’, in fully branded pandora environments.
“the key message here is we are taking this initiative to ensure that our brand keeps going in a positive direction and we maximise all of the opportunities that are currently out there in the market.”
the international company last year reported a drop in sales and a downgrade in revenue expectations for 2011.
in australia, sales for the third quarter of 2011 were down 19.3 per cent compared to the same period in 2010. the interim report identified overrepresentation of the brand as the main factor and outlined the introduction of kiosk type stores, optimising distribution and dealing with financial issues linked to opening new concept stores as a way to counteract the fall in revenue.
