Jeweller Michael Hill has reported a 13.4% decline in same store sales growth in the US.
While total global store sales increased 6% for the 12 months to June 30, the retailer admitted difficulties in the US.
The Easton Centre store in Columbus, Ohio, was closed in June because of sustained poor performance.
Costs to exit this site early amounted to US$650,000, a combination of one year’s rent plus the write-off of the store fitout.
In September 2016, the US was put under the leadership of Brett Halliday.
Halliday delivered strong results for the chain in Canada, with the board and executive now closely monitoring the US business.
In Canada, Michael Hill achieved same store sales growth of 8.8% for the year and total sales growth of 19.2%.
Michael Hill is now the second largest jewellery retail chain in the Canadian market.
Nine stores were opened during the period, giving it a total of 76 at the end of June.
The Australian segment achieved same store sales growth of 1.2% for the twelve months, up from 0.2% at the half.
Three new stores opened in Australia and closed five underperforming locations during the year, giving a total of 166 open at June 30.
The New Zealand segment same stores finished 0.8% down for the twelve months, against strong performance in 2015-16 of 7.2%.
Two new stores were opened and one closed during the period, giving 53 stores trading at June 30.