Pandora has quietly pulled down the shutters on its entire Costa Rican operation. All five of the Danish jeweller's stores in the country are now closed, and the company has given no indication of whether they will reopen.
The affected locations sat in some of the busiest malls in and around San José: Multiplaza Escazú, Multiplaza Curridabat, Lincoln Plaza, City Mall in Alajuela and Oxígeno in Heredia. Shoppers first noticed something was off in late September, when doors stayed shut even though staff were reportedly still inside some locations. Since then, the situation has looked increasingly permanent — several stores have had their Pandora signs and branding stripped away, though the Lincoln Plaza storefront still carried its sign behind covered windows.
The silence from the company itself is the striking part. When pressed, Pandora's senior public relations manager Andrés Fasani declined to comment. There has been no explanation of whether this is a temporary pause, a dispute with the local franchise operator, or a full exit from the market. Possibilities floated include a restructure under a new local operator or a shift to other sales channels, but none has been confirmed.
Pandora had been a familiar name in the Greater San José shopping scene, with its most recent opening at Oxígeno back in 2019. The brand — founded in Copenhagen in 1982 and famous for its customisable charm bracelets, rings and necklaces — sells through thousands of outlets worldwide, which is why a complete withdrawal from a whole country stands out.
For locals and visitors alike, the practical worry is after-sales service. Anyone who recently bought a Pandora piece in Costa Rica may be wondering about exchanges, repairs and warranty claims, and there is currently no confirmed process for handling those in-country. The advice for now: hold on to your receipts and go through Pandora's official customer service channels rather than the darkened mall storefronts.
If you're travelling to Costa Rica and shopping was on your San José itinerary, it's worth knowing that these mall locations won't be an option for the foreseeable future. The malls themselves — Multiplaza Escazú, Oxígeno and the rest — remain open and busy as ever; it's just this one brand that has vanished without a trace. For jewellery gifts, other international and local retailers still trade in the same centres.
Whether Pandora returns to Costa Rica is, for the moment, anyone's guess.
