My favorite AD just updated their showroom.

[HiDive]

Originally Posted by Olive Drab

Henne?

Yes, I was not sure if I should mention the name, but they are an exceptional dealer.

[Olive Drab]

Originally Posted by HiDive

Yes, I was not sure if I should mention the name, but they are an exceptional dealer.

They are. Kyle took care of me last year and I make sure to stop by when Im up that way which hasnt been since the remodel was complete.

[HiDive]

The trouble I have seen with both Omega and Breitling in my last 2 purchases from each of them is that they have some models that only sell in their boutiques and are not given to any AD's. I hope that Rolex does not go this route, although the more I think about it this may be the end of watch buying for me, so who cares.

[xwalker4]

2 things:

When I began my watch journey in earnest, the aforementioned store did not give me the time of day. I'm assuming it was just bad luck/off day/whatever, but a competitor did the exact opposite and as a result has received a good deal of business from me in the following years.

The Wiliam Penn Tavern, which Henne bought, was my go to spot in grad school! I haven't been to their new location since they moved, though.

I'm sure Henne does a nice job, so I don't mean to disaparage them; I was just disappointed with a couple of interactions I had with them. Glad to have this in Pittsburgh!

[HiDive]

Originally Posted by Fleetlord

Billion % right

This is a very simple concept in luxury good. Why Omega AD can't understand that...IDK

It's probably because there are sooooo many Omega references they feel they have to show everything in order have any chance of selling it.

There is an Omega place in the Ala Moana mall in Honolulu, which is very nice. There used to be an Omega Boutique in Pittsburgh but it went away. The dealer I showed in my original post dropped Omega.

[HiDive]

Originally Posted by Olive Drab

They are. Kyle took care of me last year and I make sure to stop by when Im up that way which hasnt been since the remodel was complete.

They are not finished, however I think the main watch are is complete for Rolex, Grand Seiko, TAG, Mont Blanc, etc. is done. Now they are moving on the remodel the jewelry area I think. It is quite an expansion, they bought they restaurant next door and have also expanded up to a second floor. The second floor is the Bridal jewelry area I believe (I did not go up there).

[HiDive]

Originally Posted by xwalker4

2 things:

When I began my watch journey in earnest, the aforementioned store did not give me the time of day. I'm assuming it was just bad luck/off day/whatever, but a competitor did the exact opposite and as a result has received a good deal of business from me in the following years.

The Wiliam Penn Tavern, which Henne bought, was my go to spot in grad school! I haven't been to their new location since they moved, though.

I'm sure Henne does a nice job, so I don't mean to disaparage them; I was just disappointed with a couple of interactions I had with them. Glad to have this in Pittsburgh!

There are a couple of pretty good dealers around the Burgh and I have dealt with the two big ones on many occasions. Mainly because the other main dealer carries some different brands from Henne I have bought Breitling and Girard Perregaux from them. But Henne has always been good to me; even when I moved to Hawaii they were my go to dealer.

[jlovda]

Originally Posted by Chris_512

Mine did the same thing. Moved to a new location and there’s an entire wing devoted to Rolex. It’s beautiful but why devote so much space to something you have no inventory to sell?

Remember, you are buying an experience. The watch is an accessory. LOL

[messikens]

Originally Posted by HiDive

My Rolex AD has upgraded and renewed their Rolex dealership. They have been a relatively small physically, but well established dealer here in Pittsburgh for a long time. But they have always been a favorite for me and I love to visit them and really like the people that work there. Last year I moved back here after 6 years living in Hawaii, and when I visited them for the first time after returning they had purchased the restaurant next door and were in the process of expanding into the new space. So, a couple of months ago I bought my wife a two tone ladies datejust 31mm. I returned today to see the new area of the store. In addition to Rolex they also have an area in the store for each of the major brands that they are carrying; Tudor, Grand Seiko, Nomos, Longines, Mont Blanc, Tissot, Tag and Luminox as well as a pre-owned section. It is a beautiful store and they are still expanding. The pictures show just a part of the Rolex area which has additional showcases, a private showing room and a view into the certified Rolex watchmaker's work area. They had a fair selection of models but many were marked for display only. I was the nicest Rolex display that I have seen. My wife and I used a gift certificate they had sent me to buy her a bracelet, since they did not have a Rolex that I am waiting on.

Went there over the holidays on the 24th. Beautiful store and I was amazed how much space they devoted to Rolex.

That said, it was a little odd... There are so few watches to display and almost no one went to try anything on (not sure if they were intimidated) - it's almost like an entire FU from Rolex to the dealer and the customer where they just point out "we can make you do anything to your store and you're gonna be happy that we don't pull your license in any case, even if you have much less product than you should"... I would assume what they spent on the Rolex showroom was easily at least 40% of the entire Reno cost

[Chaucer1787]

Apparently (and this is from the mouth of my AD), Rolex never paid for these kind of things but this time around they offered the AD a credit on watches for the cost of the renovation. Not sure if this was for the cost of the Rolex portion of the renovation or the entire cost including their jewelry displays and other construction costs.

It is not just Rolex. The local jewelry store on which I provided interior millwork was told by Breitling they had to redo their entire store or Breitling was pulling out. Now, Breitling is providing their own cases, etc. but they had to update the entire store, hence my portion of work. We did all other cases, main desk, paneling, etc.

After working rather quickly to get this done for the owner we found out the Breitling cases and other Swatch group watch cases (Longines, etc) will not be delivered to the store for 6 months… lol









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[rick lee]

If I weren't a watch nut, just a regular person, walking into an AD or any other business retail space like where so much real estate is devoted to so little inventory, I'd think it's either a front for something else or their stuff must be ridiculously overpriced. I can't think either of those is a great marketing strategy.

[Fleetlord]

I feel that Breitling is too soft these days to support the expense of an extensive remodel.

[Fleetlord]

Originally Posted by rick lee

If I weren't a watch nut, just a regular person, walking into an AD or any other business retail space like where so much real estate is devoted to so little inventory, I'd think it's either a front for something else or their stuff must be ridiculously overpriced. I can't think either of those is a great marketing strategy.

It's THE only way to market high end luxury goods (that Rolex is aspiring to be at this point).

[Zahnarzt]

Henne is just one of several ADs in Pittsburgh. Orrs is one of the others ha wing two locations ,one in Sewickley and one closer to downtown. Henne gs e up their Omega dealer status as I was told by one of their sales associates this fall.
Orrs has been great to me having purchased two Rolexes as well as a couple of Tudors over the years since 2018.
Henne may look nice now with the addition,but I will direct my future purchases from Orrs.

[Rollieo]

Originally Posted by Fleetlord

Billion % right

This is a very simple concept in luxury good. Why Omega AD can't understand that...IDK

It's probably because there are sooooo many Omega references they feel they have to show everything in order have any chance of selling it.

Originally Posted by Notepad12

Tudor displays on the other hand....

Rolex is definitely taking a step away from its original roots by slimming down the amount of stock displayed in your average AD by reducing case sizes/amount of watches they can hold.

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Originally Posted by HiDive

There is an Omega place in the Ala Moana mall in Honolulu, which is very nice. There used to be an Omega Boutique in Pittsburgh but it went away. The dealer I showed in my original post dropped Omega.

Omega boutiques are pretty good about this. I’ve been to a few when I was previously interested in Omega. It’s the ADs thst are really bad about it. I’ve seen one AD that literally was exactly how I described. There must have been more than 100 Omegas in a 4 ft case. That Tudor display is not bad at all. I’m talking about one watch holder touching the next watch holder (both horizontally and vertically) across the whole case. It looked like a yard sale.

I can see why Rolex drives better control of how their watches are displayed and marketed. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s Rolex employees that randomly visit ADs to see how the store is setup and how their watches are being sold.

[Calatrava r]

Beautiful upgrade. Hopefully, many watches for immediate sale will be on display there soon.

[HiDive]

Originally Posted by Fleetlord

Then they have a chance of keeping their status for the long term.

Jared jewelers here used to carry Rolex and Omega but it has been years since that ended. They had a very short term clueless staff and still do. I think there are just 3 dealers here that carry Rolex and I think they are all either family owned or relatively small; Henne, Louis Anthony and Orr's.

[prk154]

Henne has been great to me over the last couple years, especially Kyle (sales) and Paul (watchmaker).

I've also had very good experiences at Orr's. I guess having two reputable ADs in one mid-sized city is a good problem to have.

[ShamRockNRoll]

Walked by the Philly AD the other day and there was a sign up saying "Closed January 4 for renovations." So is this a brand-wide refresh?

[HiDive]

I don't know if every dealer will have to comply in order to remain a dealer. It sounds like this is what some of you guys are saying. So, one dealer in my are has done the remodel. It will be interesting to see if the other two follow suit. Henne was able to do it because they bought out the rest of the building that they were in, that was previously a restaurant. Orr's location in Squirrel Hill and Louis Anthony, might have the room but will have to do a lot of juggling of existing displays.

[Zahnarzt]

I was at Louis Anthony in November,and they were in the process of a renovation which would create a new area for Rolex. Orrs location in Sewickley has a very nice updated Rolex area,and when I received my new watch,I was directed to a private room with the typical Rolex updated decor.
I still have to stop by Henne to check out the new layout. They also validate your parking if you use the parking deck around the corner from their store.

[tedo]

Rolex is “requiring” this of their ADs if they want to stay on. Also, male salespersons also required to wear a tie when in the Rolex room — no joke. ����

[Giovannibravo]

They better get a large allocation each year for that in-store boutique.

[HiDive]

Originally Posted by rick lee

If I weren't a watch nut, just a regular person, walking into an AD or any other business retail space like where so much real estate is devoted to so little inventory, I'd think it's either a front for something else or their stuff must be ridiculously overpriced. I can't think either of those is a great marketing strategy.

If you consider the retail price of the goods to the square footage; the Rolex display may be pretty high up there. I would say that the diamond jewelry area might be higher $$$/square foot. But that is a product that is inflated more than any watch; diamonds should not cost 1/10 of what they do.

Think of a car dealer where one car will occupy the space the size of the Rolex display and each car might cost what 1 or 2 Rolex watches cost where this Rolex display has about 30 watches.

On the other end of the spectrum how much real estate does a dollar store take up compared to the low retail cost products in it. They need to do some incredible volume to even come close to the Rolex store.

[vesnyder]

The one Cleveland AD is in the process of expanding their store and I am sure a large portion of that will be dedicated to ROlex - with a rooftop event space! They have some serious constraints in the meantime!

[Equity]

Originally Posted by johnk

I stopped in Wednesday afternoon.

They have a certified Rolex watchmaker? That’s ...interesting...

.

Same with mine in RI. Watchmaker has a viewing window too for clients to watch.


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