Pandora is following its strategy to increase control of its retail footprint with a brand-new European acquisition. The Danish company has now made an agreement with Gielen Trading, a Belgian company that holds Pandora’s distribution rights in Belgium and Luxembourg. This deal will allow Pandora to acquire its store network in those two countries.
In this agreement, which will become effective on June 30, 2017, Pandora will pay Gielen USD $14.6 million, $2 million of which is connected to inventory.
Pandora plans to open 13 Pandora-owned concept stores and three shop-in-shops across Luxembourg and Belgium. Currently, the two countries hold 25 concept stores, 29 shop-in-shops, and 100 multibranded stores.
“Gaining control of the distribution of Pandora jewelry in already established markets is an integrated part of our strategy to increase control of our brand,” says David Allen, Pandora’s president for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. “Gielen Trading has done a tremendous job in building the Pandora brand as well as a sustainable branded network in Belgium and Luxembourg, and we will now continue the journey to establish Pandora as the most loved jewelry brand in these countries.”
