Jewelers Ltd., replacing Mark Light, who had served as CEO since October 2014. A month later it was announced that Signet Jewelers Ltd. agreed to buy R2Net, owner of online jewellery retailer James Allen, for $328 million. The company announced the sale of its revolving credit portfolio to Alliance Data Systems and Genesis Financial Solutions that same year. During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, Signet Group announced it would not reopen 80 of its UK stores after the shutdown. In the United States, following mandatory temporary closures of stores due to the pandemic, online sales rose 58 percent to $1.2 billion during the fiscal year ended on January 30, 2021, compared to the previous year. Total sales, however, fell 15 percent to $5.2 billion. To operate more efficiently, CFO Joan Hilson stated the company plans on reducing the hours of operation for stores outside of malls and adjusting staffing depending on foot traffic, as well as eliminating costs through its supply chain. The company planned to close around 100 of its bricks-and-mortar stores in 2021 in an ongoing effort to reduce their reliance on mall-based locations and focus more on online distribution. Operations As of February 2018, Signet operated 2,958 stores in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Republic of Ireland, and Channel Islands. Litigation In May 2017, one of Signet's subsidiaries, Sterling Jewelers, settled a federal civil lawsuit brought by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission accusing it of discriminating against female employees. Signet was also subject to at least two class actions through Sterling Jewelers and one of its subsidiaries, Jared—the Galleria of Jewelry. It was sued by 44,000 female employees and former employees for discrimination. The action was launched in 2008 and went to go to trial in 2018. In January 2019, Signet subsidiary Sterling Jewelers settled allegations that it had signed customers up for credit cards without their permission, paying $11 million to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and New York Attorney General's office. References External links Official Signet Jewelers Ltd. website Jewellery retailers of the United Kingdom Offshore companies of Bermuda British companies established in 1949 Retail companies established in 1949 Jewelry retailers of the United States Jewellery retailers of Canada Companies based in Akron, Ohio 1949 establishments in England Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange