| Type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 1906 |
| Founder(s) | Henry Shaw |
| Headquarters | Akron, Ohio, U.S. |
| Key people | Mark Light (President and CEO) |
| Products | Jewelry |
| Parent | Signet Jewelers Limited |
| Website | SterlingJewelers.com |
Sterling Jewelers, Inc. is a specialty jewelry company headquartered in Akron, Ohio, United States. The company was first founded in 1906 by Henry Shaw (the father of Jerry Shaw, the chairman emeritus of Sterling today), from LeRoy's Jewelers in Lorain, Ohio. Sterling Jewelers is a wholly owned subsidiary of Signet Jewelers Limited (listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol SIG), having been acquired in 1987.[1] Sterling is the largest specialty fine jewelry company in the United States by sales and number of stores. The company operates chains of fine jewelry stores in the United States, with 1,414 stores in all 50 states as of 5 August 2008. Mark Light is the President and Chief Executive of Sterling Inc.
Signet Jewelers, based in the U.K. is the world's largest specialty retail jeweler by sales, with stores in the US, UK, Republic of Ireland and Channel Islands. Approximately 78% of company sales are derived from the 12 different store brands operating in the U.S. They include Kay's, Jared's, JB Robinson, Marks & Morgan, Belden Jewelers among others (all of which operate as Sterling divisions). Nearly all of these stores are located in malls where there is also a Kay store and target a similar customer. In many cases there are 3 or more Sterling stores competing under different names within a 300 yard radius of each other.
Sterling's main competitor is Zale Corporation, which operates the #2 US specialty retail jewelry chain. According to the company's 2 February 2008 Annual Report & Accounts, Sterling has the #2 position in the US with a 4.2% market share of all jewelry purchases (compared to Wal-Mart at 4.5%, a substantial amount of that being types of jewelry which Sterling does not sell). Sterling has a leading 8.8% market share in the speciality jeweler market share (highest in the sector), compared to Zale Corporation at 6.4% (#2 position).
Sterling has been one of the largest corporate sponsors of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and holds many fundraisers for the hospital, always donating all profits made from the fundraiser. Since 1999 $10.5 million dollars has been raised, with $2.4 million in 2006 alone. The company also sponsors many other charities and causes, such as the West Side Relay for Life benefitting cancer organizations.
Manning v. Sterling Jewelers is a civil court case filed in April, 2006 of which appears in the official Palm Beach County Civil Court Codex. The case was essentially a dispute filed by a Mr. Manning of Delray Beach with regard to an incident involving fraud and misrepresentation of merchandise he purchased in a Jared store located in Boynton Beach, Florida. Manning won the case and was awarded $57,500.[2] Local Palm Beach County Newspapers, The Palm Beach Post and The Sun-Sentinel, published his story in 2007 after his case was briefly mentioned on local television stations WSVN and WPEC.
EEOC v. Sterling Jewelers Inc. On September 24, 2008, Federal officials charged Sterling Jewelers with discriminating against female employees by paying them less than their male counterparts and denying promotions to them. Sterling Jewelers permitted or encouraged managers to deny female employees equal pay compared with men in similar positions and equal access to promotions, the EEOC said. Sterling denies the claim and has vowed to "defend ourselves vigorously against whatever legal action arises." The lawsuit seeks monetary relief and an order requiring the company to implement new policies and practices to prevent discrimination.[3][4][5]