Stores close as jewellery giant Pandora accused of low-balling franchisees over takeover bids

Global jewellery chain Pandora has been accused of squeezing out Aussie franchisees, with the resulting tensions seeing stores closed, jobs lost and family businesses hurt.

Pandora has moved to take over franchisee stores, with the tensions leading some to close.

Global jewellery chain Pandora has been accused of squeezing out Aussie franchisees in their bid to take over the store network and run it themselves.

Tensions between the Denmark-based company and franchisees - boiling for a decade - have now seen a swag of stores close and dozens of people lose their jobs.

Pandora stores at Mackay, Rockhampton, Toowoomba and Browns Plains in Queensland have closed in the past month while others at North Sydney and at Melbourne’s Forest Hill are also permanently closed.

Others have been taken over by Pandora, which has refused to renew franchise agreements as it looks to expand its network of company-owned stores.

Many of the pushed-out franchisees were family-owned businesses and some claim Pandora offered them “unreasonable” payouts to leave their stores early.

Despite the allegedly unfair offers, many took the deals anyway as it was “better than nothing”, meant the stores could continue to trade and most staff could keep their jobs.

Those who declined found themselves turfed out anyway, with franchise agreements not renewed.

One long-time former franchisee said the way Pandora handled the buyout of his stores was “a disappointing end to a 20-year relationship which has mostly been positive”.

Some of Pandora’s Australian stores have closed.

Pandora reached global popularity with its modern take on charm bracelets, and has expanded to become one of the world’s best-known jewellery brands.

The company went public on the Nasdaq Copenhagen Stock Exchange in 2010.

In the following years, the brand pivoted to selling franchises as much as it sold jewellery, building its Australian network to more 100 stores and partnering with hundreds of independent jewellery store stockists.

But a change in strategy has seen many original franchisees squeezed out.

Staff from some of the Queensland stores published “closing down sale” posts from their personal social media pages in the days before they shut down, reportedly because Pandora would not allow the use of official social media channels to offload stock.

Pandora maintains it has treated franchisees “fairly and respectfully” and rejected claims it low-balled franchisees.

“Any offer we make for an end of term franchise arrangement is above and beyond our obligations,’ a statement from the company said.

“We remain committed to treating our franchisee partners fairly and respectfully during any transition process.”

The franchisee disagreed, saying “if the offers had been fair and reasonable, we would have accepted them”.

Pandora staff posted about the closures to their personal Facebook pages.

Four Qld stores have closed.

Pandora said it had taken ownership of about 30 franchised stores in the past five years, but had also renewed or extended agreements with about 50 existing franchises.

“Franchised stores continue to represent a significant and valued part of our store network in Australia,” the company said.

Speaking to industry publication Jeweller Magazine in January, Pandora’s former Australia and New Zealand CEO Travis Liddle acknowledged the pain the company’s shift in strategy had caused.

“We recognise that some of the businesses that helped us get to where we are now may have felt overlooked along the way, and that’s something we truly regret,” he said.

Mr Liddle resigned the following month and was replaced by former Aje and Sephora boss Beth Glancey, who started in the role this month.

Pandora’s new Australian boss Beth Glancey. Picture: Gaye Gerard

Pandora said it had treated franchisees fairly.

Pandora’s statement said some of the current store closures were temporary and that it would “work with the landlords to reach an appropriate deal to recommerce operations”.

“Our total Pandora store count in Australia has grown from 120 in 2023 to 132 in 2025,” it said.

“We continue to grow our store network in Australia, adding eight new stores over the past year as part of our expansion strategy.

“We remain focused on identifying and pursuing opportunities for further growth in this market.”

In its first-quarter financial report for this year, Pandora said it expected its 2026 earnings to be down by 25 per cent due to commodity price headwinds and foreign exchange rates, but expected to return around $1.3bn to shareholders in 2025.

Originally published as Stores close as jewellery giant Pandora accused of low-balling franchisees over takeover bids