New AD Opening in Orange County, CA

[BatteryVoltas]

Originally Posted by macrowatch

And then what happened?

Also super curious, what were the demographics like of those in line? Hype beasts or lots of serious collectors?

Now that the sting has worn off a bit, I would say the line was full of would be collectors. All in all good people and I had some genuinely nice conversations with several of them.

Originally Posted by macrowatch

Was the store literally empty or were there still Codes for sale?

They had lots of Codes to try on and purchase. I think they even had multiples of the same model because I saw one was purchased in the morning and I was able to try on the same model later that afternoon.

It was a really poor experience. I can't believe an AP owned boutique would play the same games as their co-owned stores and ADs.

"Buy a Code to show us you're serious about starting a relationship with us and then we might consider you for a RO" is essentially what they were saying.

It was just a ploy for them to sell all their Codes while dangling the RO carrot.
I showed my wife this thread on Friday night and told her I was going to go wait in line Sat morning but she was being a negative Nancy, saying how it'll probably be like all the other AP stores we've visited (empty shelves and the Code game). I thought I might get lucky like the gents when the Boston AP opened. After leaving the store and giving my wife the rundown of what happened, she theorized that AP saw what happened in Boston and decided they could double/triple their sales by selling only Codes initially. Nevermind the enthusiasts who were willing to wait hours in line. "No one skips the Code Game™!" -AP probably

Someone said that they allowed nearby AP stores to purchase watches the day before. This is hearsay but given the circus that I experienced, it sounds believable.

Originally Posted by yOyOYoo

I’m glad I didn’t try to visit during the opening. Will see if I can schedule an appointment some time. Does anyone know if they had any exhibition pieces to try on in the boutique?

They had quite a few pieces to try on and there were exhibition pieces as well. 34, 37, and 41mm RO/ROC. Lots of ROO. None for sale.