ICE Raids Affecting Pandora’s Sales, CEO Says

Increased activity by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has hurt Pandora’s sales in certain malls, CEO Alexander Lacik said on the company’s third-quarter earnings call.

“With all these ICE agents running around, we can see that a lot of the Latinos—which is a significant part of our audience in the U.S.—they are less, let’s say, present in the shopping malls in the southern parts of the U.S.,” said Lacik. “That has some impact.”

The charm company isn’t alone: According to The Wall Street Journal, a variety of brands, including Coca-Cola and Colgate-Palmolive, have reported a drop in Hispanic spending and attributed it to the ICE raids.

Overall, Pandora’s third-quarter U.S. results were strong, with sales rising 6% on an annual basis. Global sales also grew 6%.

On the call, Lacik described U.S. tariffs as a “headwind” and said the company will “eventually want to offset [them]…through different pricing or assortment mechanics.

“Who knows?” he added. “Maybe the Supreme Court in the U.S. decides that tariffs aren’t such a great idea, and then we have a different conversation that would be welcome.”

In other news, Pandora announced it is setting up a regional headquarters in Singapore to support business in key Asian markets like Japan, South Korea, and India.

(Photo courtesy of Pandora)