Gerald Online was an online jewellery retail store run in collaboration with Gerald Ratner and a Mumbai-based jewellery export company, SB&T International Ltd.[1][2] Ratner partnered with an Indian jewellery manufacturer to import their jewellery into the UK.
| Industry | Retail |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2003  |
| Defunct | 2014 |
| Headquarters | London, United Kingdom (operational) |
Key people | Gerald Ratner (CEO) |
| Products | Jewellery |
| Website | Geraldonline.com |
History
editIn 1984, founder Gerald Ratner inherited his family business, Ratners. About 10 years later, Ratners was one of the biggest jewellers in the world.[3] However, due to several ill-advised jokes from Ratner during his 1991 speech to the Institute of Directors at the Royal Albert Hall, Ratners went into bankruptcy.[4]
In 2003, after re-establishing Ratners under the new name of Signet Jewelers, Gerald Ratner founded online business Gerald Online[5] in collaboration with SB&T, a Mumbai-based jewellery Export Company.[6]
Gerald Online ceased trading in approximately 2014.[citation needed]
Operation
editGerald Online presented itself as selling jewellery directly from its factory, claiming that this resulted in lower prices.
Gerald Ratner and SB&T entered the Indian market under the name Gerald Online India.[7]
References
edit- ^ "SB&T-Ratner JV has designs on UK jewellery market". The Times Of India. Jul 8, 2003. Archived from the original on April 21, 2013.
- ^ "SB&T Sets Up JV With UK's Gerald Ratner". 18 Apr 2013.
- ^ Hattenstone, Simon (7 March 2009). "Ratner Effect". The Guardian. London.
- ^ "'Doing a Ratner' and other famous gaffes". The Daily Telegraph. London. 22 December 2007. Retrieved 14 April 2010.
- ^ "Watch out Ratners back".
- ^ "A diamond geezer - again". The Guardian. London. 9 April 2006.
- ^ "Gerald Ratner All set to enter India". Archived from the original on 2013-05-17.