verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . june 2011 learn how and when to remove this template message sterling jewelers inc. type subsidiary industry retail founded 1910 ; 106 years ago 1910 founder henry shaw headquarters akron ohio u.s. key people mark light president and ceo products jewelry parent signet jewelers website www.sterlingjewelers.com sterling jewelers inc. is an american specialty jewelry company headquartered in akron ohio . the company was founded in 1910 by henry shaw the father of jerry shaw the chairman emeritus of sterling today from leroy s jewelers in lorain ohio . sterling jewelers is a wholly owned subsidiary of uk based signet jewelers limited listed on the new york stock exchange under the symbol sig having been acquired in 1987 . 1 contents 1 history 2 ethics controversy and lawsuits 3 references 4 external links history edit signet jewelers based in the u.k. is a specialty retail jeweler with stores in the united states united kingdom canada republic of ireland and channel islands . approximately 78 % of company sales are derived from the 12 different store brands operating in the u.s. they include kay jewelers jared the galleria of jewelry j.b. robinson marks & morgan and belden jewelers among others all of which operate as sterling divisions . citation needed a jared branded store in hillsboro oregon in september 2012 . according to the company s 2 february 2008 annual report & accounts sterling has the number two position in the u.s. with a 4.2 % market share of all jewelry purchases . sterling has a leading 8.8 % market share in the specialty jeweler market share highest in the sector . sterling is a corporate sponsor of st. jude children s research hospital and holds many fund raisers for the hospital always donating all profits made from the fund raiser . since 1999 over 30 million has been raised with 2.4 million in 2006 alone and more than 4 million in 2011 . the company also sponsors many other charities and causes such as the relay for life of copley fairlawn supporting the american cancer society s lifesaving mission . citation needed in february 2014 signet jewelers ltd. agreed to buy zale corporation with zale shareholders receiving usd 21 a share in cash in usd 1.4 billion deal . this merger will create a 6.2 billion firm . 2 ethics controversy and lawsuits edit sterling jewelers and jared the galleria of jewelry are involved in major lawsuits . despite being a business providing products for women it is being sued by 44 000 female employees and former employees for discrimination . the action began in 2008 and sterling remains unsettled as of 2015 . 3 references edit sterling jewelers parent reports record first quarter results . crain s cleveland business . may 26 2011 . retrieved june 12 2011 . wahba phil 19 february 2014 . kay jewelers parent signet to buy rival zale for 690 million . reuters . retrieved 2016 02 12 . second circuit decision resuscitates eeoc s gender discrimination suit against sterling jewelers . national law review . 11 september 2015 . retrieved 2016 02 12 . external links edit official website retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title sterling jewelers & oldid 738263489 categories jewelry retailers of the united statescompanies based in akron ohioamerican companies established in 1910hidden categories articles needing additional references from june 2011all articles needing additional referencesall articles with unsourced statementsarticles with unsourced statements from november 2014 navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages simple english edit links this page was last modified on 7 september 2016 at 22 20 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view