Satisfaction at Tous with the business performance at the start of its second century of life. After celebrating its centenary in 2020, a very difficult year due to the pandemic, the Catalan family company breathes easy thanks to the rapid recovery of the jewelry market and the result of several strategic decisions adopted to boost its growth and improve its competitiveness and adaptation to the new global context.
Thus, Tous closed the 2021 fiscal year with a 37% increase in turnover, recovering pre-pandemic levels a year earlier than expected. Specifically, the jewelry firm earned 384 million euros, more than one hundred million euros more than in 2020, a year in which sales fell to 280 million as its stores were closed 35% of the year. "Even more important than the growth in turnover in 2021 is the strategic review and transformation exercise we have undertaken in the last two years," explains the company's CEO, Carlos Soler-Duffo. According to the executive, who took the reins of the group three years ago, "the impact of this transformation" has allowed for a rapid recovery of lost ground and "will be felt very positively in the results of the coming years."
The company based in Manresa, an international exponent of made in Barcelona design, currently has a network of 703 stores located in 46 countries and employs more than 4,000 people. During the health crisis, the brand has chosen to abandon certain markets and focus its efforts on countries "that project good growth."
The president of Tous, Alba Tous, defines 2021 "as a truly exceptional year" that has allowed "to lay the foundations for solid long-term growth." The Tous family controls 75% of the capital of the jewelry chain and the remaining 25% has belonged to the Swiss fund Partners Group since 2015.
As has happened in most sectors, one of the keys to the increase in turnover is the growth of online sales. According to the company, in 2021 digital business grew at a rate of 30%, consolidating a trend already started in 2020 (+72%) that has allowed online sales to more than double compared to 2019. Thus, e-commerce now accounts for 20% of the group's total business, which sells online in 26 countries. To boost this source of growth, Tous launched a digital hub in Barcelona three years ago where a transversal team works developing innovative projects for the group based on new technologies.
The Catalan brand, which operates in the so-called affordable luxury segment, has also recently concentrated all its logistics in a warehouse located in Manresa that until now was dedicated solely to its accessories line. Thus, the dispatch of jewelry, which was carried out from its headquarters, has been moved to the other building to unify the management of all stock and gain efficiency. According to Tous, the logistics center can dispatch more than seven million products per year, of all categories and for all stores in its network in Spain and abroad.
Another project undertaken in the last year is the renovation of the corporate headquarters in Manresa, which has been updated to adapt work spaces to new trends and to enhance talent attraction and retention. The renovation has been carried out with "neuroarchitecture" criteria and has also applied the Feng Shui technique to "foster creativity, inspiration, innovation, health and vitality of people."
All these changes are part of the so-called Tous Next strategy, a roadmap to ensure the group's growth in the coming years and which focuses on issues such as improving customer service, digitalization, omnichannel retail, sustainability, and the continuous review of processes to gain efficiency and agility.
Tous, whose main icon is jewelry in the shape of a bear, has strengthened its collaboration with celebrities such as Eugenia Martínez de Irujo or Tamara Falcó, and also with Mexican singer Belinda or actress Elizaveta Boïarskaïa in Russia. Another of its future projects is Suot Studio, an experimental jewelry division led by Marta Tous, the youngest of the four Tous sisters who make up the third generation, daughters of Salvador Tous and Rosa Oriol. According to the firm, Suot Studio aims to "foster creative freedom and explore new paths in the world of jewelry."
Tous School to promote the jeweler's craft
Finally, another of Tous's challenges is to contribute to the training of future jewelers and ensure that there is skilled labor in the sector. Thus, in 2018, the Tous School of Jewelry and Artisan Trades was created, which already has 200 students thanks to collaboration with 10 educational centers located in Barcelona (JORGC Jewelry School), La Palma, Madrid, Valencia, Vilafranca del Penedès, Vigo, Córdoba and in cities in Mexico and Portugal.To commemorate its centenary, Tous premiered the documentary OSO at the 68th edition of the San Sebastián International Film Festival, which has been seen worldwide through Amazon Prime and is now also available on Movistar+. Filmed in Spain, Mexico, India, and Japan, OSO tells the story of the jewelry firm born in Manresa and includes testimonies from various family members and unreleased archive images.