If you’re going to put a ring on it, you’ve got to feel the love.
And it turns out that what’s true for couples tying the knot is true for the jeweler selling the ring.
At least, that’s according to J.K. Symancyk, chief executive officer of Signet Jewelers, the world’s largest diamond jewelry retailer.
Symancyk — whose résumé includes the top job at PetSmart and Academy Sports + Outdoors as well as stops at supercenter firm Meijer and Walmart — joined Signet in November and laid out his plans for the jeweler on Wednesday.
The strategy has several moving parts.
- Symancyk is transforming the company’s chains — including Kay Jewelers, Zales and Jared — so they operate like brands and not retail banners.
- The company will look to gain share in its core business and grow in adjacent categories. Already, Signet has a nearly 30 percent dollar share of the $10 billion U.S. bridal jewelry market. And Symancyk wants to expand that while also branching out more in the everyday jewelry market.
- Finally, the 2,642-door retailer is going to optimize its real estate, transitioning over 10 percent of its mall stores to off-mall locations over the next three years.
But none of that works without the love, a concept that has powered other corporate transformations, including Neiman Marcus under Geoffroy van Raemdonck.
In an interview with WWD, Symancyk said the company’s purpose was to “inspire love.”
“When your mission, purpose, and values are aligned with your customers and the category you represent, that’s where you can tell the best stories,” he said. “It’s also something that I think we lose sight of often when we get caught up in running the business.”
J.K. Symancyk
Courtesy
That seems to be at least part of what happened to Signet, where, as the CEO told analysts on a conference call, “growth has been elusive in recent years, reflecting lower consideration.”
During the interview, Symancyk explained: “What I saw is really a missed opportunity for our businesses. We were mired or have maybe been historically more mired in the transactional side of what we do, and that often manifests itself promotionally.”
And a price cut is a long way off from a deep connection with a customer.
The CEO said he just received an email from a couple that was celebrating 60 years together and had upgraded a ring.
“What you saw was, at our best, we were entwined in those stories,” he said. “We were a character in their stories and vice versa, and that’s what got missed. Leaning into that and leveraging that connection to the customer is so, so important for us to be as relevant and credible as we can be in our space.”
Investors gave the plan, which came alongside fourth-quarter results, their approval, sending shares of Signet up 17.5 percent on Wednesday to $56.65, giving the company a market capitalization of $2.5 billion.
Sales for the 13-week quarter ended Feb. 1 fell 5.8 percent to $2.4 billion from $2.5 billion during the 14-week quarter a year earlier. Same-store sales fell 1.1 percent.
Net income totaled $100.6 million, pulled down by $200.7 million in asset impairment charges. That compared with earnings of $617.6 million a year earlier, when results were bolstered by $263.3 million related to a tax change in Bermuda.
Adjusted earnings per share slipped to $6.62 from $6.73 a year earlier.
But Symancyk doesn’t seem to lead with the numbers when he’s thinking about the business.
“The benefit of working in just about every retail category over my career, particularly as a merchant and marketer, is I’ve learned how to listen to customers,” he said. “It really is that simple. The answers are right there and the customers give them to you. As long as you listen and, in particular, talk to your teams, then I think the ability to be inspired and deliver supreme delight to customers — it is right there in front of you.”
For the full year, Signet saw adjusted earnings fall 13.8 percent to $8.94 a share on a 3.4 percent same-store sales decline.
This year, Signet’s forecast calls for adjusted earnings of $7.31 to $9.10 a share while same-store sales range from down 2.5 percent to up 1.5 percent.
If Symancyk can find the love, the company can then start aiming higher.
