Jewelry Business Continues to Consolidate, JBT Finds

Jewelry business discontinuances rose again in the first quarter, according to the latest statistics from the Jewelers Board of Trade (JBT), the Providence, R.I.–based credit rating group.

JBT said that for the first three months of 2025, jewelry business discontinuances in the U.S. and Canada jumped 16.7% over the same period last year, to 217. Of those, 178 businesses ceased operations, 35 merged or were acquired, and four filed for bankruptcy. All but five of the companies were in the United States.

In this year’s first quarter, the number of businesses entering the jewelry industry fell slightly year-over-year—a reversal from the final quarter of 2024. JBT registered 92 new jewelry companies in the first quarter, down from 97 in last year’s first quarter. The total breaks down to 69 retailers, 16 wholesalers, and seven manufacturers. Two of the newcomers were in Canada.

Of the 90 new U.S. businesses, 28 were located in the Northeast, 20 in the Southeast, 16 in the South Central region, 15 in North Central, nine in the Southwest, and two in the Northwest.

Overall, JBT listed 23,610 North American jewelry businesses on its rolls at the end the first quarter of 2025, down 3.4% from one year earlier. They include 17,906 retailers (U.S. number: 16,959), 3,463 wholesalers (3,252 of them in the U.S.), and 2,241 manufacturers (U.S. total: 2,119).