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It became a national joke in the UK. Nobody would be seen dead going into one of their stores or giving their jewellery as a gift. It basically put them out of
by spzb 7y ago
It became a national joke in the UK. Nobody would be seen dead going into one of their stores or giving their jewellery as a gift. It basically put them out of business : https://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/aug/22/gerald-ratner-jewellery-total-crap-1992-archive https://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/aug/22/gerald-ratn...
- Axsuul 7y agoBut did it really put them out of business? They did a re-org as Signet Jewelers and is now the world's largest retailer of diamonds.
- spzb 7y agoAs a brand it put Ratners out of business. Your average man in the street isn't aware of the corporate structures behind the high street brands.
- SomeOtherThrow 7y agoThat's way less of an exciting headline, though. The company is the only way to realize the value of a brand, and if the company is still doing fine today, it considerably weakens the lessons here: it's apparently not even that bad in the worst case scenario.
- TheCoelacanth 7y agoThey did manage to salvage the company, but they lost hundreds of millions of dollars in the process. It was an absolute disaster for them.