Pandora: We've Paid All Staff in Full Throughout Pandemic
November 09, 20
(IDEX Online) - Pandora says it has no plans to permanently close any of its stores worldwide, despite coronavirus.
The Danish jewelry retail giant, best known for its charm bracelets, also said been paying all its 28,000 staff in full throughout the pandemic, and would carry on doing so.
Chief executive Alexander Lacik (pictured) told the BBC his stores were "incredibly profitable" and could "withstand a big drop in sales" before he'd even start considering store closures.
Retaining all staff on the payroll was the "ethical thing to do", he said and that loyalty was being rewarded.
He said almost one in five (18 per cent) stores would be closed during November, in the run-up to the holiday season, as a second wave of coronavirus gripped Europe.
The company has seen online sales almost double, up 89 per cent in the three months to the end of September. They now accounting for 21 per cent of the company's $648m sales.
Mr Lacik said: "I could lose half the sales and I'd still be profitable in most of my stores."
Sales fell just two per cent year-on-year in the first nine months of this year, at almost $1.8bn.