Visiting AD in NW Arkansas, wish me luck

[Nairn1980]

Originally Posted by Moondoggy

So you are going to walk into Sissy's Log Cabin naked?

There isn't enough popcorn in the world for that.

[fskywalker]

Originally Posted by TheVTCGuy

I usually walk in naked…. That gets their attention

Originally Posted by Moondoggy

So you are going to walk into Sissy's Log Cabin naked?

There isn't enough popcorn in the world for that.

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[ZC94]

18 yr old won’t be much help, now if you have a 18 months old… bring him or her!!!

[amh]

At the airport on the way home, a few minutes to burn. Reflections :
- I'm about the furthest from the coasts and large metro areas as one can get. The geographic center of the USA, "flyover country." Even here the drought is real.
- The common advice is to shop local. I've bought $13k at one AD and 20k at another. Even this spend is only about 30% of the required amount per the local SAs.
- Diamonds suggested everywhere, even here. Can't bring myself to do it given there are ways to obtain the exact same item for at least 60 % less through other channels (eg. 2x 1ct stud earrings)
- Reality : there is still massive demand for the SS sports models. ADs are fully aware of the Grey prices and know there is still 50% profit.

I'll keep visiting ADs during travel since it's entertaining. My wife is totally done all the local stores due to the attitude, she's not comfortable there. I also think I'm beating a dead horse so plans to even stop by (familiarity breeds contempt.) I'm a One-and-done shopper and thus at the back of the line.

Must wait and see how the massive tech layoffs affect things.

[Finslayer83]

Originally Posted by Moondoggy

So you are going to walk into Sissy's Log Cabin naked?

There isn't enough popcorn in the world for that.

Wouldn't be the first time in Arkansas.

[Cleveland Rocks]

Originally Posted by amh

At the airport on the way home, a few minutes to burn. Reflections :
- I'm about the furthest from the coasts and large metro areas as one can get. The geographic center of the USA, "flyover country." Even here the drought is real.
- The common advice is to shop local. I've bought $13k at one AD and 20k at another. Even this spend is only about 30% of the required amount per the local SAs.
- Diamonds suggested everywhere, even here. Can't bring myself to do it given there are ways to obtain the exact same item for at least 60 % less through other channels (eg. 2x 1ct stud earrings)
- Reality : there is still massive demand for the SS sports models. ADs are fully aware of the Grey prices and know there is still 50% profit.

I'll keep visiting ADs during travel since it's entertaining. My wife is totally done all the local stores due to the attitude, she's not comfortable there. I also think I'm beating a dead horse so plans to even stop by (familiarity breeds contempt.) I'm a One-and-done shopper and thus at the back of the line.

Must wait and see how the massive tech layoffs affect things.

Sorry to hear your AD requires such spending on things you don't want. My AD is not this way, and has not pushed me to spend a single penny to allocate to me pieces I wanted. There are good ADs out there!

[Calatrava r]

ADs I know say demand has actually increased across the board and no one turns down a watch they were on the list for. I doubt we will see much availability improvements at ADs this year without some severe downturns in the economy which hopefully we will not see. I would rather see a robust economy that works for everybody than get a watch I can easily live without.

[Cleveland Rocks]

Originally Posted by Calatrava r

ADs I know say demand has actually increased across the board and no one turns down a watch they were on the list for. I doubt we will see much availability improvements at ADs this year without some severe downturns in the economy which hopefully we will not see. I would rather see a robust economy that works for everybody than get a watch I can easily live without.

I wouldn't expect an AD to say anything different, regardless if demand has increased or decreased. And I don't mean that negatively either...if I were an AD, I wouldn't say to potential clients, "Yeah, the demand for the product I'm selling seems to be going down." I'd want the desirability (or perception thereof) to remain as high as possible for as long as possible.

[ArtNouveau]

Originally Posted by amh

At the airport on the way home, a few minutes to burn. Reflections :
- I'm about the furthest from the coasts and large metro areas as one can get. The geographic center of the USA, "flyover country." Even here the drought is real.
- The common advice is to shop local. I've bought $13k at one AD and 20k at another. Even this spend is only about 30% of the required amount per the local SAs.
- Diamonds suggested everywhere, even here. Can't bring myself to do it given there are ways to obtain the exact same item for at least 60 % less through other channels (eg. 2x 1ct stud earrings)
- Reality : there is still massive demand for the SS sports models. ADs are fully aware of the Grey prices and know there is still 50% profit.

I'll keep visiting ADs during travel since it's entertaining. My wife is totally done all the local stores due to the attitude, she's not comfortable there. I also think I'm beating a dead horse so plans to even stop by (familiarity breeds contempt.) I'm a One-and-done shopper and thus at the back of the line.

Must wait and see how the massive tech layoffs affect things.

Hope you enjoyed your visit, including the nicest small airport in the US. Your AD visit went exactly as I expected, nice friendly folk but still one that has more demand than they get inventory to cover. Not sure who you talked to, there is the older “Rolex Specialist” and the younger watchmaker/salesman, but they have both been great to chat with. Whether or not you made a connection remains to be seen but if your son ends up going to UA, you should stop by every time you’re up here.
PS: as I said in an earlier reply there’s certainly plenty of wealth here but at least in my newfound social circles I’ve only met two fellow watch enthusiasts. Someone is buying them though.

[Oystersteel92]

Originally Posted by ArtNouveau

Hope you enjoyed your visit, including the nicest small airport in the US. Your AD visit went exactly as I expected, nice friendly folk but still one that has more demand than they get inventory to cover. Not sure who you talked to, there is the older “Rolex Specialist” and the younger watchmaker/salesman, but they have both been great to chat with. Whether or not you made a connection remains to be seen but if your son ends up going to UA, you should stop by every time you’re up here.
PS: as I said in an earlier reply there’s certainly plenty of wealth here but at least in my newfound social circles I’ve only met two fellow watch enthusiasts. Someone is buying them though.

Well, we watch enthusiasts tend to buy more than one.

I definitely work with several fellow Rolex owners, but smart watches seem to be pretty big, especially among the younger set. There is simply a lot of money here, and it's not necessarily concentrated in the hands of just a few billionaires. Tons of upper middle class professionals, and with our diversified economy a lot of small business owners around here are very well-to-do.

My colleagues that aren't into watches are into other expensive things...sports/muscle/collector cars being a very popular choice.

XNA is definitely the easiest airport I've ever flown in-and-out of. They used to have one direct flight to LA early each morning on American. You could fly into LAX and land before 8 am local time. So awesome.

[amh]

I really _liked_ the NW AR area, yes. I could totally retire there.
- The Bentonville/Rogers/Sprindale/Fayetteville region seemed to have every store under the sun, no need to visit a Big City
- Houses for all budgets, tons of open space
- All roads in excellent condition, little traffic
- Plenty of nice restaurants
- Lots of water (lakes, creeks, rivers), apparently it also rains!
- Mountain biking!

Pleasantly surprised. I'd never been to Arkansas before.