Opening
Openings—whether of new stores, concessions, pop-up spaces, or showrooms—serve as vital signals for growth, retail strategy, and market confidence within the UK jewellery trade. These events reflect investment trends, consumer demand, and brand expansion across high streets, shopping centres, luxury precincts, and online platforms. Jewellery Focus delivers immersive coverage of jewellery-related openings—highlighting launch strategies, merchandising layouts, location selection rationale, promotional activity, footfall outcomes, and post-launch performance. Our trade-centric reporting provides retailers, brand managers, developers, and suppliers with actionable insights into best practices for retail activation, partnership models, inventory planning, and measuring commercial success tied to new entry points in the sector.
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Aug- 2020 -7 AugustCoronavirus
Poor July sales rock high street recovery
Poor in-store sales through the month of July have “dampened hopes of a recovery” across UK high streets, according to the latest High Street Sales Tracker from BDO. In-store like-for-like sales decreased by 39.4% last month, down from a marginal base of 0.1% that was reported the year before. According…
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4 AugustEvents
BAJ announces Alighieri competition winners
The British Academy of Jewellery (BAJ) has announced the winners of its design competition in collaboration with London-based jewellery brand Alighieri. The competition’s brief challenged students to design pieces inspired by the opening lines of Dante Alighieri’s epic poem, The Divine Comedy. According to Alighieri, the quality of submissions was…
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Jul- 2020 -30 JulyInternational
De Beers jobs at risk following poor sales
De Beers has announced that total revenue plummeted 54% to $1.2bn (£920m) in its half-year results, with rough diamond sales falling to $1bn (£767m), down from the $2.3bn (£1.76bn) reported the year prior. In light of the damaged performance, CEO Bruce Cleaver told Reuters that the group would “likely” proceed…
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24 JulyTips
Jewellery businesses after lockdown -approaching communication
Following the announcement of the re-opening of non-essential shops around London, business owners must adopt a regular, clear, and succinct line of communication with returning staff. Beyond keeping business afloat, shop owners need to ensure that staff is well-informed regarding new protocols and that they can minimise the risk of…
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17 JulyCoronavirus
Beaverbrooks welcomes mandatory face coverings
Beaverbrooks has embraced the latest government announcement that requires all customers to wear face masks in jewellers from 24 July. While the requirement for shoppers in Wales and Northern Ireland is kept under review, the jewellers said the move was a “really positive step”. The requirement was announced the week…
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17 JulyTips
Going online – John Lewis closes down eight stores as Covid progresses
Following the havoc caused by COVID-19, the John Lewis Partnership has shocked the world with a difficult decision—permanently closing down eight stores, where 1,300 workers are now at risk of losing employment. “Closing a shop is always incredibly difficult and today’s announcement will come as very sad news to customers…
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15 JulyRetailers
Watches of Switzerland launches ‘by personal appointment’ service
The Watches of Switzerland group has announced the launch of its ‘by personal appointment’ service following the re-opening of its stores. From this week forward, customers can now access a real-time booking system online through either the Goldsmiths, Mappin and Webb or Watches of Switzerland websites, and arrange an appointment…
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13 JulyRetailers
Watches of Switzerland opens Third Tag Heuer boutique
Watches of Switzerland has announced the opening of its third Tag Heuer boutique in the Harlequin Centre, Watford. The 37 square metre space was opened in partnership with Tag Heuer, and its interior features grey and red themes and furnishings, reflective of the brand’s motoring heritage. The boutique now features…
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13 JulyCoronavirus
Footfall suffers despite June reopening
Footfall in June saw a “significant improvement” against the 73.3% decline reported in May, but was still less than half the level of last year, with an annual decline of 56.6%. According to the latest figures from Springboard, footfall fell by 65.1% in high streets and 62.3% in shopping centres,…
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10 JulyCoronavirus
Footfall decline eases amid ‘sluggish’ recovery
Footfall across the UK rose by 19% in June against the month prior, but was still down by 62.6% year-on-year, according to the latest figures from the BRC. In the first two weeks of the month, footfall decline averaged 77.1%, but this improved to 53.3% in the remaining three weeks…
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