De Beers Plans More Retail Stores
De Beers is making big moves into the retail market. The diamond company which was once more on the back end of diamond transactions, providing diamonds to jewelers, is now planning to have around 50 stores by the end of the year. In an interview in the Wall Street Journal, De Beers Group Managing Director Gareth Penny said that the company's retail business is still in its "start-up phase and is rapidly expanding, seeking to be in one of the top five jewelry retailers in the world. De Beers currently has seven stores open in the U.S. in San Francisco, Beverly Hills, Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, New York and Washington D.C.
This is part of a big shift in De Beers over the past few years. Recently De Beers created their Forevermark diamond brand. They are putting their substantial marketing muscle behind Forevermark and planning to build into one of the world's leading diamond brands.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
User Jul 9th 2008 3:13AM
"Slavery is just oh so profitable as is artificially holding back the supply of our God-made rocks. How could we NOT open retail stores?" - De Beers CEO
Brian Jul 9th 2008 1:21PM
The DeBeers store is not actually the same DeBeers from overseas.
LVMH (Louis Vitton) purchased the right to use the name here in the United States. Under current US law, the actual DeBeers company is still a monopoly and is forbidden to be sold directly on US Soil.
sandrina Aug 4th 2008 1:51PM
Forget those blood diamonds! We have the most beautiful rings imaginable by the popular jewelry designer Todd Reed. We bought them a Altered Space Gallery in Venice, California - so here is the plug for them: http://www.AlteredSpaceGallery.com/toddreed. Todd Reed's diamonds are ethically mined or recycled, his 18K gold is recycled and his work is stunning. check it out!
Clinton CImring Jul 14th 2008 1:51PM
I think there is an article about this on Fire and Ice's home page: www.fireandicediamond.com