Alex and Ani is closing 20 stores as well as its longtime headquarters in Rhode Island.
Seven stores will remain open, the company said. At its height, Alex and Ani had over 100 stores. Prior to its 2021 Chapter 11 filing, it had 74.
“Alex and Ani has been reimagining various aspects of our company over the past few years,” said a statement from CEO Scott Burger. “From moving our assembly operation, relocating our warehouse, and updating our ERP [enterprise resource planning] system, we are collectively working towards a strategic omnichannel environment that supports shifts in retail and consumers’ wants and needs.”
He said that the charm company “has implemented a work-from-anywhere model that allows Alex and Ani to hire talent all across the country. The company will be exploring future alternatives for office space, offering our incredible team the balance of flexibility and collaboration that are here to stay.”
Alex and Ani has been located in Rhode Island since it began, in 2004.
On Instagram, Carolyn Rafaelian, the brand’s founder and former CEO, said she was “disappointed” in the decision to close the headquarters.
“Rhode Island was the reason for Alex and Ani’s success…. There’s a reason why they call this state ‘the jewelry capital of the world.’… It has decades of experience and craftsmanship and know-how in this industry, like no other.”
Rafaelian, who left the company in 2021, shortly before it emerged from Chapter 11, added: “I’m not sure what to say about the decline of something that I built, that is no longer mine. But it’s still heartbreaking to see something you love so much and worked so hard every single day of your adult life—and something that you named after your children [as] a legacy for them—turn into everything opposite that you’ve created it to be….
“I wish that they would reconsider and go back to the roots of what made that company so great.”
The company is currently 65% owned by Lion Capital and 35% owned by the Bathing Club, controlled by well-known attorney Mark Geragos. Burger took over as CEO in 2022.
(Photo courtesy of Alex and Ani)
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