Archive for June 13th, 2006
Jeweller Signet ends preliminary talks with Zale
Reuters via Yahoo! News
By Marc Jones Mon Jun 12, 1:49 PM ET
LONDON (Reuters) - British-based jewelry retailer Signet Group said on Monday talks about a possible merger with U.S. rival Zale Corp had ended, having first announced just a few hours earlier that it was having talks.
“Signet confirms that discussions regarding a possible merger with Zale Corp have been terminated,” the company said in a statement after the close of trading in London where its shares ended 2.9 percent higher at 98.75 pence.
Zale shares were 12.3 percent higher at $26.80 by 1730 GMT.
Signet, which runs H. Samuel and Ernest Jones shops in Britain had said in a statement earlier it had held “preliminary discussions with Zale Corp regarding a possible merger,” adding “at this early stage, there is considerable uncertainty as to whether any transaction will be forthcoming.”
The Mail on Sunday newspaper had said that Zale had approached Signet about a deal and that a takeover by Signet of its smaller rival was the most likely outcome.
The United States accounts for three quarters of Signet’s sales. It has more than 1,200 U.S. stores under the names Kay Jewelers and Jared the Galleria of Jewelry, with 8 percent of the U.S. market. In Britain it has just under 600 stores.
Zale, which operates about 2,300 stores in the United States, has suffered a series of recent setbacks, including the January departure of Chief Executive Mary Forte, a probe by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission into its accounting policies, and a decision last month to place its chief financial officer on administrative leave.
Signet changed its name from Ratners in 1993 after its then boss, Gerald Ratner, made one of most famous gaffes in British corporate history by describing one of the company’s products as “total crap.”
The Daily Telegraph newspaper said on Monday that Ratner was interested in buying back H. Samuel if it became available. Ratner was not immediately available for comment.
Last week Signet shares hit a three-year low at 91 pence. Based on Monday’s 98.75 pence close, Signet was worth 1.7 billion pounds ($3.13 billion).
(Additional reporting by Dan Lalor in London and Martinne Geller in New York)
June 13th, 2006
Adler’s Celebrates New Orleans with Fleur de Lys Collection of Fine Jewelry and Gifts - Opens New Baton Rouge Location
[Press Release] PR Web
Adler’s Jewelry New Orleans celebrates New Orleans with the Fleur de Lys collection of fine jewelry and gifts. Adler’s looks forward to the future as Coleman E. Adler & Sons opens its New Baton Rouge location.
New Orleans, LA (PRWEB) June 12, 2006 — http://www.adlersjewelry.com – Adler’s Jewelry, a leading purveyor of fine jewelry and gifts in the New Orleans and Gulf South Region, today announced the opening of their new Baton Rouge location.
Adler’s Jewelry lost one New Orleans location to fire, and recently resumed operations in the newly renovated Historic Canal Street location, which suffered damage during Hurricane Katrina.
“Hurricane Katrina certainly interrupted our efforts to open in Baton Rouge,†says Mildred Adler, a member of the fourth generation of the Adler Family.
While re-building, Adler’s sought a fresh new array of Fleur De Lys Fine Jewelry & Gifts combining their findings with the most popular Adler’s Exclusive Fleur de Lys favorites to create the Fleur de Lys Collection.
The Fleur de Lys is a popular symbol of New Orleans, Louisiana commonly seen in New Orleans art & architecture, and is a centerpiece of the official New Orleans flag. The Fleur de Lys collection is comprised of Fine Jewelry, Silver, Ceramics, Glassware, Picture Frames, Notepaper, Pens and More.
As well as offering a comprehensive array of the world’s finest luxury items, Adler’s also offers a completely unique selection of exclusive items designed and manufactured by Adler’s.
“We are thrilled, after years of planning and hard work, to be opening Adler’s Baton Rouge,†said Adler. “We have long maintained a large customer base in Baton Rouge whom we want to accommodate. The recent influx of New Orleaninans in Baton Rouge, is serendipitousâ€.
The new Baton Rouge store located at 7445 Corporate Blvd Baton Rouge, LA 70809 will officially open this June.
To celebrate the opening of their new Baton Rouge location, Adler’s will be offering a free gift with every website purchase in the month of June and each customer will be automatically entered to win a $250 Adler’s gift card.
To view Adler’s Jewelry’s “Fleur de Lys†collection, please visit: http://www.adlersjewelry.com/shop.aspx?cid=6&scid=77
About Adler’s Jewelry
Adler’s Jewelry has been a leading provider of fine jewelry in New Orleans the Gulf South for over 100 years. Adler’s Jewelry specializes Exclusive Luxury Fine Jewelry and Gifts, designing and creating unique New Orleans Gifts, Mardi Gras Jewelry and Ornaments, and many other Gifts and Christmas Ornaments as well as the “Fleur de Lys†collection.
http://www.adlersjewelry.com
June 13th, 2006
Brazil’s Jewelry Exports +41% in First Quarter ‘06
Diamonds.net, NY
(Rapaport…BNamericas) Exports from Brazil’s jewelry industry are expected to reach $1 billion in 2006, Natália Salomão, marketing and communications manager of the country’s gems and jewelry trade association IBGM told BNamericas.
Exports include uncut and cut gems. “By comparison exports last year came in at $834 million,” Salomão said.
In the first four months of 2006 jewelry exports came in at $335 million, up 41 percent year-over-year, Salomão said
“The increase is the result of work developed with Brazil’s export promotion agency Apex since 1999 to increase exports,” she said. Additional boosting efforts involved more participation in international trades fairs plus publishing magazine advertisements and performing marketing
initiatives in the trade press.
IBGM is a non-profit organization founded in 1977 and represents the entire production chain of Brazil’s gems and jewelry industry.
Copyright ©2006 BNamericas.com
c 2006 Dialog, a Thomson business. All rights reserved.
June 13th, 2006
Shop at Home to Jewelry Box?
Multichannel News (subscription), NY
Jewelry Television is finalizing a deal to purchase some assets of Shop at Home, the home-shopping network that The E.W. Scripps Co. is pulling the plug on June 22, officials from both channels confirmed Monday.
Jewelry, based in Knoxville, Tenn., is most interested in Shop at Home assets such as satellite-uplink facilities, computer systems and Internet platforms. Nashville, Tenn.-based Shop at Home also owns TV stations with four broadcast studios that Jewelry is interested in as locations for promotional-video production.
The negotiations between Jewelry and Scripps were first reported by the local press in Knoxville. A final deal is reportedly imminent, with Jewelry saying it had already agreed to purchase the assets.
“It will be business as usual at Jewelry Television,” chief operating officer Joe Fields said in a prepared statement. “We have no plans to move staff to Nashville or interrupt Jewelry Television operations in any way. The acquisition of Shop at Home’s assets simply fits our growth strategy.â€
Scripps spokesman Tim Stautberg said Monday that his company was finalizing an agreement to sell “certain assets†to Jewelry.
Scripps — which acquired Shop at Home in two transactions valued at $285 million — had hoped to use the electronic retailing service in part, to sell products related to its cable networks, such as Food Network and Home & Garden Television.
But Shop at Home never secured adequate distribution to maximize that goal or to profitably push the sale of other merchandise on the channel. So Scripps put the network on the block, but the company said in May that it could not find a buyer and it was closing down the network.
Shop at Home lost $84 million during the past four years, according to Scripps.
National Jeweler magazine just released its “$100 Million Superseller†issue and Jewelry moved up five places from the No. 20 retailer of fine jewelry in the country to No. 15.
June 13th, 2006
