Another AD bites the dust

[sherrill]

Brown & Co. in Atlanta,GA will cease being a Rolex AD starting in January. Salesperson notified me when I was following up on a watch I had requested.

[cdmorenot]

That is nuts. The BV store is sick! Full, separate and beautiful buildout. There is 0 chance that any small AD will survive.

[brandrea]

Bummer, another one bites the dust. Seems to be weekly updates these days.

[Easy E]

Whoa....didn't see that one coming.

[ronricks]

Originally Posted by sherrill

Brown & Co. in Atlanta,GA will cease being a Rolex AD starting in January. Salesperson notified me when I was following up on a watch I had requested.

Pretty sure its just the Roswell store. The Buckhead store will still be an AD. At least that is what someone posted on here a few weeks ago.

[cincytri]

I am at a complete loss on how to be a Rolex customer. I just lost my modest purchase history (3 watches and some jewelry) at an AD that got Rolexed. I have history at another AD, but haven't been able to purchase anything for 2 years. No boutique nearby and the next closest AD is 2 hours away and I'm hearing they aren't exactly welcoming new customers from the first AD. Is Rolex really pushing customers to the grey market or away from the brand? It is what it is, but I don't love how this is playing out.

[Calatrava r]

Sad for the many fine loyal customers of the store.

[Smp89]

Originally Posted by cincytri

I am at a complete loss on how to be a Rolex customer………but I don't love how this is playing out.

All these threads about loyal customers losing their built up reputations is unfortunate to read about. The gut reaction to the brand itself comes off as distasteful.

Someone purchasing one or many of your products is treated like dirt.
That’s doesn’t fair well for the brand’s image nor help future sales.
It turns people off.

Now, I understand that Rolex is restructuring (their recent acquisition of Bucherer) and I guess we (as the watch collecting community as a whole) will have to wait and see what comes of it.
To me, this seems like a massive revamp of the distribution network.
Trimming off the fat (ADs who may not help the brand’s image)

Proof you may say? Well - I don’t have any besides all these posts and threads I read.
It’s all speculation and opinion.
I’m curious to hear what comes of it.

I just imagine that Rolex is trying to “do right” and we’re all hoping they speed it up so this wait list game is a thing of the past, or at least short-lived.

[Old Geezer]

One thing is certain, Rolex has a strategy and whatever it may be is being implemented.

For me, I'm in a position where I will have access to Rolex at retail as long as my AD retains their Rolex AD status. I'm not interested in acquiring via the secondary market.
I've been a customer almost 10 years and they have sourced me incredible pieces. I'm not a whale by ANY stretch of the imagination but I purchase jewelry for my wife and daughter that I would purchase somewhere anyways for birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas, etc.

My AD is a local small town jewelry store. The next closest ADs are 75 miles away. One in a larger city in the same state and the other in a medium sized city in another state. I've stopped in those stores to browse while in the city. I'm pretty sure if I ever inquired about actually trying to acquire a watch, they would laugh at me or take my information and throw it in the trash can as soon as I turned around to walk out of the store.

[GRabens]

Unfortunate, but the way of the new world. Consolidation is happening in most industries. I used to be a die-hard Rolex fan, but the new business model that emerged around Covid let me explore, add, and enjoy other watch brands. I still have my few Rolex, but would likely go Gray market for any future purchases as I refuse to be treated poorly like some of the ADs have treated customers over the last few years.

[Henrimontgomery]

Excellent. Many of the small AD are places I would not want to set foot in, nor interact with its people. I’ve had so many bad experiences in some ADs that I hope this consolidation will force a minimum level of quality and savoir-être that was severely lacking.

[Old Geezer]

Originally Posted by Henrimontgomery

Excellent. Many of the small AD are places I would not want to set foot in, nor interact with its people. I’ve had so many bad experiences in some ADs that I hope this consolidation will force a minimum level of quality and savoir-être that was severely lacking.

I have had good and bad experiences at small ADs, chains like Tourneau and boutiques. I'm fortunate with my present situation at a small family owned AD.

One thing I do know, my odds of getting something allocated are much better for me at my small local AD than showing up in major city at a large chain AD or boutique as an outsider and asking for an allocation where they have literally hundreds, if not thousands of people asking for the same thing.

[996marty]

It seems to be the norm these days

[southcarolina1801]

Holy smokes this is a blow for us in Atlanta! Tbh I was happy to see Tara get the Rolex chop after how they acted the past few years but Brown & Co has always been wonderful to deal with.

[ltmgeller]

Sorry to hear

[MRBolton]

Any indication as to why?

Wonder if Patek is next to cut them.

[L_S_SHOE]

I would like to know what Rolex’s endgame is with all this…


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[JMGoodnight369]

Originally Posted by MRBolton

Any indication as to why?

Wonder if Patek is next to cut them.

No way. Brown is about to open the Patek salon in the Buckhead Village either this year or early next. I’m really surprised by this news as Brown is my main AD and I’m pretty friendly with all of the employees there. I’ll ask and see if I can get some details. If anything I’m sure the mothership is quite happy with the boutique at the Buckhead store. It is beautiful and quite the shrine to the coronet.

[Rolexatlast]

Wonder how many of these ADs are being dropped for feeding greys rather than consumers

[Smp89]

Originally Posted by Rolexatlast

Wonder how many of these ADs are being dropped for feeding greys rather than consumers

That’s an interesting thought…
Maybe they’ll be dropped for now… stew for a bit, then be offered to sell Rolex at a later date as punishment.
Missing out on “easier” sales and the foot traffic it brings to their store.

[GolfJunkie]

Originally Posted by Rolexatlast

Wonder how many of these ADs are being dropped for feeding greys rather than consumers

I'm wondering if this is the reason for all the AD cuts as well.

[MRBolton]

Originally Posted by Rolexatlast

Wonder how many of these ADs are being dropped for feeding greys rather than consumers

I'd love to know how they're catching it--whether Rolex is actually buying pieces back from the grey market (and what they do with it then) or if they just scour the internet for visible serial numbers on fresh watches on the grey market to look up who sold the watch.

[Edwardfry3]

Oh no, that's disappointing news about Brown & Co. in Atlanta! It's always a bummer when something changes like that.

[mpkRolex]

Originally Posted by sherrill

Brown & Co. in Atlanta,GA will cease being a Rolex AD starting in January. Salesperson notified me when I was following up on a watch I had requested.

Only reason is they are getting greedy getting caught playing the gray game and treating their customers like

[athens7]

Mayor’s (Watches of Switzerland) is in the process of building a huge Rolex monobrand boutique in Lennox Mall, which is less than 2 miles from Brown’s Buckhead location. Both companies will have a Rolex compliant facility in Buckhead. If Brown’s in Roswell is losing Rolex, it isn’t due to proximity, as Roswell is a ways away from Buckhead. Additionally, Roswell is part of the very affluent Northern arc of Atlanta. It is hard to fathom, for sure.

[Cassian739]

Originally Posted by L_S_SHOE

I would like to know what Rolex’s endgame is with all this…

My $0.02, but only Rolex knows for sure: More control over their brand, including limiting the ability to purchase a Rolex to only wealthy/high-end shopping areas (metro or suburbs). This is very similar to what other luxury brands are doing. Seeing a Rolex sign in a mall, or lumped in to a few cases next to other watch brands degrades the Rolex brand.

Closing smaller / non-monobrand AD locations allows them to shift inventory to mainstream monobrand boutiques. Concurrently, they are also shifting more inventory to Bucherer locations. Creates a better buying experience for those of us in metro areas, and more inventory.

[sss205]

Confirmed from a rep there that they are most definitely not losing their status. The OP is incorrect.

[sherrill]

I’m simply relaying what the salesperson at the Roswell location texted to me. “‘Hi, sorry I don’t have any available and you will have to reach out to another Authorized Jeweler because we will not have new Rolex starting January.” I’ve bought watches from the Roswell location, and have never had any issues with them. No worries, I’ve got other alternatives available to me.

[Rebel]

More to follow.

[set]

Originally Posted by sss205

Confirmed from a rep there that they are most definitely not losing their status. The OP is incorrect.

I reached out to my SA there and she said the same - not losing their AD status.