According to the company, the 24 Australian and New Zealand stores would be closed by 30 June 2018. The remaining six will be repositioned to take on the demi-fine jewellery market in smaller, concentrated stores.
“In January, MHI announced it had undertaken a comprehensive review of Emma & Roe to help shape the future strategic direction of the brand,” a company statement said. “The findings of this review identified a major opportunity in the demi-fine jewellery segment [up-market fashion jewellery] and an emergence in customer preferences towards fine fashion.
“These remaining stores will be focused in a single market area, [as MHI] considers the six store footprint will provide the opportunity to iterate the new model at speed.”
The statement added MHI estimated it would cost between $5.8 and $7.9 million to exit the stores.
Additional reshuffling
As previously reported by Jeweller, MHI will also close all of its “loss-making” stores in the US. MHI CEO Phil Taylor noted the nine US stores had “struggled” with a reported $12 million loss over the last 12 months. He said a highly competitive market, costly advertising and “significant” industry pressure aided the decision.
The recent company statement added negotiations for exiting the US stores were “ongoing” and it would provide further information at a later date.
MHI’s Emma & Roe range was launched in April 2014. It specialises in a range of charms, bracelets, necklaces, earrings and stackable rings. Named after Michael Hill’s daughter Emma and his wife’s maiden name Roe, the range was launched to complement MHI’s offering.
MHI was founded in 1979 in Whangarei, New Zealand and relocated its headquarters to Brisbane, Australia, in 2005.
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