In developed markets, multiple business models exist
within diamond jewellery retail, ranging from luxury
chains to small, independent, family-owned stores.
Many of the large listed retailers across the US, Japan
and Europe have failed to meet their cost of capital,
resulting in negative returns4 (see Fig. 9). Leading US
speciality jewellery chains closed over 2,000 doors in
the last five years, with several traditional large chains
such as Whitehall, Friedman’s and Finlay no longer
trading5 (see Fig. 10). No new jewellery retail chains
of scale have emerged to replace the doors lost when
these stores ceased to trade.