Less US jewelers closed or went bankrupt in the third quarter of the year, according to data released by the Jewelers Board of Trade (JBT) and quoted by Rough & Polished.
About 192 firms in the US ceased operations in the three months ended September 30 – a decline of 51% year-on-year. Retail closures fell 53% to 146, and terminations of wholesalers was down 45% to 31. The number of jewelry manufacturers shutting down declined by 35% to 15, and bankruptcies in the industry went from 10 companies in Q3 2016 to nine in q3 2017.
Despite these encouraging figures, the number of companies listed by the JBT declined 4.5% to 26,246 in the third quarter.
