The Change Mariner

Austria-based Swarovski To Change How Its Sells In America

Projo.com:

Austria-based Swarovski, known for its crystal accessories and gifts, is drastically changing how it sells in America. The company is significantly reducing U.S. production of its crystal jewelry and will stop selling it through major department stores.

Over the past five years, the company's crystal jewelry business globally has tripled, while its North American jewelry business has increased by just 25 percent, said Cohen. Swarovski has attributed the difference in sales to its retail model in the US.

In America, the company sells its jewelry, as well as its home decor and gift items, through department stores. But those stores pushed Swarovski to introduce new products more often than the company releases products in other ares of the world, said Cohen. The department stores were counting on new products to drive consumer traffic, he said. Sales at U.S. department stores open at least a year dropped by 3.87 percent from February 2003 to June 2003, compared with the same period the year before, according to the Bloomberg Same-Store Index.

"In the U.S., we got ourselves into a situation where we had too many new items," said Cohen.

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