Chow Tai Fook plans US wholesale unit

Hong Kong-based retailer saw net income slump as mainland tourists go elsewhere

Chow Tai Fook Jewelry Group Ltd plans to expand in the US market by selling diamonds to retailers there, as it seeks to offset effects of a slowdown in China that has hurt luxury sales and led profits to plunge.

The world's largest publicly traded jewelry chain plans to start the new US wholesale business within a year and has set up a team to conduct feasibility studies, Chow Tai Fook Managing Director Kent Wong said. Unlike the company's US unit Hearts on Fire, which mainly sells its own-branded diamond jewelry to franchisees, Chow Tai Fook will sell polished and rough diamonds to other retailers, he said.