Signet will permanently close about 380 stores, including Zales, Kay, and Jared locations

• Signet Jewelers said it would not reopen at least 150 of its stores in North America and 80 of its stores in the UK.
• Signet also said it would close an additional 150 stores by the end of the year.
• Signet operates Zales, Kay Jewelers, Jared, H.Samuel, Ernest Jones, Peoples, Piercing Pagoda, and JamesAllen.com.

Signet Jewelers, operator of Zales, Kay Jewelers, and Jared stores, said on Tuesday that it would not reopen at least 150 of the North American stores and 80 of the UK stores it had closed in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The company also said it would close an additional 150 stores by the end of the year, bringing the total closures to 380.

CEO Gina Drosos said in the company's earnings call on Tuesday that the closures would be concentrated in underperforming malls.

As of May 2, Signet had 3,172 stores, including 2,736 in North America. In addition to Zales, Kay, and Jared, Signet operates H.Samuel, Ernest Jones, Peoples, Piercing Pagoda, and JamesAllen.com.

Signet reported that same-store sales were down 38.9% in the most recent quarter, which includes both e-commerce and in-store sales. Digital sales grew 6.7% in the quarter.

More than 1,100 of Signet's stores have reopened since their temporary closures. The company also temporarily closed its James Allen distribution center in New York in response to the pandemic.

The company is in the third year of a turnaround plan that it calls "Path to Brilliance."

"Throughout the COVID-19 crisis, we have prioritized the health and safety of our team members and customers with every decision we make," Drosos said in the company's earnings release.

She continued: "We are gathering valuable insights on customer behaviors and plan to use these learnings to enhance our competitive advantage and emerge stronger from the crisis with optimized virtual and physical footprints to meet our customers where and how they choose to shop."