Pandora Signs Indian Distribution Deal, Announces Plan to Open 50 Stores
Denmark-based Pandora has signed an agreement to distribute the company’s jewelry in India for the first time, and also announced a plan to open 50 Pandora stores in the country by 2020.
According to multiple news sources, Pandora signed an agreement with Pan Indian Charms & Jewellery Private, a New Delhi-based corporation, which grants the company exclusive distribution rights for Pandora products in the Indian market. India is one of the largest markets for jewelry in the world, worth around $43 billion in 2015. This figure is expected to grow by 7 percent annually through 2021 according to Euromonitor.
Pandora says that their first five Indian stores will open in 2017. JCK reported that the first stores are expected to open in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.
"Jewelry as a fashion statement is increasingly popular among consumers and with India already being one of the largest jewelry markets in the world, the country holds a great potential for Pandora," Pandora Chief Executive Anders Colding Friis said in an announcement.
An analysis by Reuters noted that silver jewelry, Pandora’s specialty, accounts for only around 5 percent of jewelry sales in India, but that the growing popularity of western brands and styles among Indian consumers suggests that Pandora products could sell well in the country.
Founded in 1982, Pandora has grown from a niche producer of charm jewelry to a major industry player. In 2010, the company raised $2.1 billion in an IPO; since then it has weathered ups and downs but remains extremely popular with consumers.
The company is expected to open both concept stores and ‘shop-in-shop’ boutiques in India as part of their push into the country.
Pandora is also taking more of its North American retail operations in-house. In January 2017, the company bought 18 franchise stores that had been operated by a Massachusetts-based management company. The stores are located in New England and Northern California and will remain open during the ownership transition.
Last October, Pandora eliminated 450 retailers from its U.S. distribution network and cut another 130 in Canada. The cuts focused mainly on retailers who hadn’t expanded their Pandora offerings to a fully-integrated “shop-in-shop” model.
Nathan Munn | Polygon.net
