RAPAPORT... Independent jewelers’ share of the U.S. diamond jewelry market has fallen, with chains and online grabbing a larger piece of the pie, according to the recently released De Beers’ Market Insight Report.
Single-store independents remain the biggest sales channel in the diamond jewelry market, but not by much, according to De Beers, which found that those independents accounted for 35% of diamond jewelry sales in 2014 and national chains ranked close behind with 31%. Before the recession of 2007, however, the industry saw a far greater spread, with independent jewelers claiming 56% of the market and national chains just 25%.
Meanwhile, small and medium-size chains — defined as chains with between two and 10 stores — saw their market share expand from 2% in 2007 to 11% last year.
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