Pandora closes all stores in the US, Italy and Spain

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Mar 19, 2020

Jewellery maker Pandora has closed all owned and operated stores in the US, Italy, Germany, France and Spain in response to the public health emergency.

Its manufacturing facilities in Thailand continue to operate “without notable impact”, the company said on Thursday.

All employees in the markets stated above will continue to receive their full salaries for “at least” eight weeks, with the company prepared to make further adjustments if needed.

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“As the world is fighting the coronavirus, it continues to be our top priority to keep our employees and customers safe,” said CEO Alexander Lacik in a statement. 

“In these difficult times, Pandora is committed to support our employees as much as we can. When stores close, we will continue normal scheduled base pay for at least eight weeks from when staff are sent home. By then we hope the situation will have improved, but we will adjust our approach, if necessary. Where available, we will seek support from relevant government relief programmes to help fund salary payment during closures.”

The business has seen some degree of disruption across most European markets. Earlier this week, it revealed that trading in Italy has come to a halt and Australia is suffering due to a decline in tourism. Like-for-like sales in China have slumped by more than 70% and health fears across most other markets have caused a general dampening of consumer sentiment.

As a result, Pandora has withdrawn its full-year guidance and halted a planned treasury share buyback.