Zale will evaluate business plan after New Year

* Zale says will evaluate business after New Year's

* Shares rise 2.1 percent

NEW YORK Dec 24 (Reuters) - Zale Corp's (ZLC.N) treasurer said on Thursday that the jewelry store chain has not hired a restructuring firm but would evaluate its business after the holiday season.

Bloomberg news reported earlier that Zale was working with investment bank Rothschild to evaluate various restructuring possibilities in 2010, citing three unnamed sources.

"As is our custom, after the New Year, we will evaluate the business and determine what changes, if any, need to be made," Treasurer David Sternblitz told Reuters in an e-mail message.

A outside spokesman for Rothschild declined to comment.

Zale, which has faced steep sales declines for more than a year and mounting debt, said last week that it had canceled some orders with suppliers and delayed payments.

The retailer operates Zales Jewelers in the United States and Peoples Jewellers in Canada and has reported losses in seven of the last eight quarters as consumers have eschewed luxury purchases in favor of essentials during the economic slowdown.

Zale's sales at stores open at least a year, a measure known as same-store sales, fell 18.6 percent in November, compared to the year-earlier period.

The Dallas-based chain has also liquidated inventory in the past year to combat sharply weaker sales. Its long-term debt rose 20.8 percent in the first quarter to $465.5 million from a year earlier when it was $368.5 million.

Zale's shares have fallen about 71 percent since mid-September, when they hit a year high of $8.50. Shares were closed up 2.7 percent, or 5 cents, at $2.47 on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday. (Reporting by Phil Wahba; additional reporting Paritosh Bansal, editing by Leslie Gevirtz)