Pandora, the world’s largest jewelry company, has its headquarters in Denmark and has almost 500 stores in the United States, rather than in any of its other key markets. But in some way, its true home is Thailand, where the company has legs making its products for almost four decades.
Like many global corporations, Pandora has used a continent crossing chain to sell their products worldwide at a low cost. But last month, that supply chain became a serious weakness when President Trump said he would impose tariffs of 36 percent to the goods that enter the United States from Thailand, along with tariffs pronounced in the Dozen in other countries.
After Trump announced his “reciprocal” tariffs, Pandora’s actions were among the worst performances in Europe. A week later, Trump postponed those rates until early July, offering a postponement.
But the threat is coming, and Alexander Lacik, the executive director of Pandora, does not expect the uncertainty that paralyzes the companies to end. Unless the tariffs return to previous levels, next year it will be turbulent, he said in an interview. For now, he added, there is little to wait to see how investors, clients and competitors react.
“With information at hand today, I would be crazy for making great strategic decisions,” Lacik said.
Together with business leaders around the world, Lacik is dealing with how to respond to the unpredictable policies of Mr. Trump, who have generated an almost crazy uncertainty. The Trump administration has begun to show a will to reduce tariffs, but its first agreements, with Britain and China, have raised more questions than answers, and tariffs are still higher than a couple of months ago.
Altheghyh, some aspects of the commercial war have suspended, Pandora and other multinationals are in Limbo, waiting for more agreements to be completed.
Pandora, better known for her silver charm bracelets, has been doing jewelry in Thailand since 1989. In three factories, thousands of people handle the products. The company is building a fourth floor in Vietnam, but Trump has threatened tariffs or 46 percent in Vietnamese goods.
Last year, the company sold 113 million jewelry wells, approximately three articles every second, which makes it the largest jewelry brand per volume, with stores in more than 100 countries. A third of its sales, 9.7 billion Danish Kroner, or $ 1.4 billion, were generated in the United States, and Lacik said it had no intention of moving away from the company’s most profitable market.
But prices will increase, he said, and who will take the worst part of that is not clear.
“The big question is, will I transmit everything to the US consumer, or do I go to peanut butter and raise the entire Pandora price worldwide?” Lacik said.
But Pandora maintains several months of stock, giving him time to see how other jewels change their prices and then decide.
You can do some things immediately, such as rationalizing parts of the supply chain. The day after reciprocal tariffs were announced, Pandora said it would change their distribution so that the products sold in Canada and Latin America no longer move through the company’s distribution center to nine, a process.
Production of production to the United States is not being considered, in part due to the highest labor costs. Pandora uses almost 15,000 artisans in Thailand and hopes to hire 7,000 more in Vietnam.
In a profit report last week, the company estimated the cost of the commercial war. If the highest rates in Thai imports, 36 percent and Chinese imports, 145 percent, they will cost Pandora again, 500 million Danish Kroner will cost Pandora, or $ 74 million, this year, and then 900 million Danish Kroner, $ 135 million, $ 135 million.
But the jeweler is not panic. In fact, economic curves begin to feel normal, Lacik said. “We are ready for battle,” he added.
When the company joined as an executive director in 2019, Pandora was fighting. The price of its action had dropped more than 70 percent of its peak three years before. Mr. Lacik instituted a “complete review,” he said, with new brands and shops designs, an emphasis on his “affordable luxury” label and an exhibition of his full jewelry line, not only charms.
That prepared the company for the evidence that reached the global economy below. First, the Covid-19 pandemic, when 15,000 store employees were sent home and some factory workers slept in the cribs to maintain production. Then, an increase in inflation risked customers who retired.
Mr. Lacik’s strategy seemed to be working. In January, the price of Pandora’s shares reached a record. Since then, however, more than 20 percent has fallen.
The company has managed to protect ITELF from commercial agitation. After Trump raised tariffs on the duration of China in his first term, Pandora stopped obtaining all his furniture in the exhibition room and exhibition materials for his 3,000 stores in China.
“We had some preparation,” Lacik said, so they were not “trapped with our low pants.”
