Nashville, TN - ADs are gone

[SirPolarBear]

Does anyone know what's going on with Rolex in middle TN? In the last few months, the only 2 ADs here (King Jewelers & Bell Jewelers) lost their AD status. I heard rumors of a boutique opening up in the Green Hills area, but can't find any truth to that.

Does anyone have some insight?

[freddyfred89]

There is an article over on Hodinkee where the CEO of Patek says he's shutting ADs. They don't like shops sitting with empty display cases, it looks bad.

[SirPolarBear]

Originally Posted by freddyfred89

There is an article over on Hodinkee where the CEO of Patek says he's shutting ADs. They don't like shops sitting with empty display cases, it looks bad.

I was on the waitlist for a few models at Kings.. They had to stop taking names as they weren't able to supply the demand. And yes, their case looked pathetic being almost empty.

[JayHantz]

Well. Looks like I’ll have to tell my friend in the Nashville area to look elsewhere for his Sub. I thought Nashville would be a place at least one AD would still be at. Huge demographic.

[SirPolarBear]

Originally Posted by JayHantz

Well. Looks like I’ll have to tell my friend in the Nashville area to look elsewhere for his Sub. I thought Nashville would be a place at least one AD would still be at. Huge demographic.

That's why I'm confused about why they all disappeared. The neighboring county to Nashville is in the top 10 wealthiest in the nation. We have very wealthy demographics and King's had crazy waitlists for far too many models.

Hopefully, your buddy can source a sub. If rumors are true.. A boutique is supposed to open.

[Mystro]

This is easy to guess what is going on at struggling AD's. How do you stay in business with nothing to sell?

[Unclebuck]

The empty cases do look awful. But I think Omega used to have a lot more boutiques, and paired it down. (The one near Boston is gone). I'm guessing there just wasn't enough traffic. Sure Rolex is more popular, and sure Rolex can operate a location at a loss. They have plenty of money. But what good is a boutique with empty slots? It's just the same as a jeweler's cases.

[The Libertine]

Originally Posted by Unclebuck

The empty cases do look awful. But I think Omega used to have a lot more boutiques, and paired it down. (The one near Boston is gone). I'm guessing there just wasn't enough traffic. Sure Rolex is more popular, and sure Rolex can operate a location at a loss. They have plenty of money. But what good is a boutique with empty slots? It's just the same as a jeweler's cases.

I did not know Omega closed the boutique in the Natick Collection mall. That’s too bad. I only went there once, and had great service.

[TswaneNguni]

Rolex caught them .No AD simply loses status .

I have mentioned before that Rolex sends ghost buyers to grey's to trace the route of the stock .

[ArtNouveau]

Lots of dealers in the US closed this year but kind of surprised to hear what I would consider at least a middle market to be stripped of all its stores. That said we did lose the “smallest dealer” in Houston this year and a small market dealer I visit one or twice a year is running scared. They have a solid clientele but certainly not the numbers a big city can sell. They could also not justify a major build out if demanded.
Despite what is said here all the time, I firmly believe the bigger US dealers are selling more watches than ever.

[Big J]

I called King Jewelers a couple of weeks ago and was told they didn’t renew their contract with Rolex. The Bell Jewelers in Murfreesboro ending their relationship with Rolex is news to me. It’s a shame no authorized dealer in the middle Tennessee area. Only left in Knoxville, Chattanooga, Memphis.

[Rado63]

I'm guessing it's all part of the business plan, to decrease the number of AD's.

[The Libertine]

Originally Posted by ArtNouveau

Lots of dealers in the US closed this year They could also not justify a major build out if demanded.

Very true. An AD explained that Rolex requires a certain amount of floor/wall space to be considered as an AD (basically molding the display to the Rolex model). Not every jewelers shop is able to comply, or perhaps hesitant to make the investment in a brand for which there is not sufficient product to sell. That’s what happened to my local, family-run Rolex AD.

[1665fan]

Just call Chase!! Your welcome for the shout-out

[MCOSUB]

Not sure how true but a friend of mine that lives in Nashville said that both of those dealers were identified by Rolex as selling large amounts inventory to Gray dealers.

[SirPolarBear]

Originally Posted by Big J

I called King Jewelers a couple of weeks ago and was told they didn’t renew their contract with Rolex. The Bell Jewelers in Murfreesboro ending their relationship with Rolex is news to me. It’s a shame no authorized dealer in the middle Tennessee area. Only left in Knoxville, Chattanooga, Memphis.

My rep from King's said they didn't want to renew their contract / didn't want to keep working with Rolex. He did mention he's heard rumors of one opening in Green Hills mall.

Originally Posted by MCOSUB

Not sure how true but a friend of mine that lives in Nashville said that both of those dealers were identified by Rolex as selling large amounts inventory to Gray dealers.

This wouldn't surprise me at all. I got lucky and only waited 3 months from Kings late last year for my LVc. I was on their Daytona list for over a year and the first guy in line never got his during that entire time.

I'm sure they moved stuff out the backdoor. Who knows

[Ravager135]

Rolex AD status has pretty strict requirements. Many dealers lost their status with Rolex over the past 10 years or so. I'd imagine it is even more difficult with empty cases.

As far as Omega, they have only been selling out of boutiques for awhile now. I've never seen a busy Omega boutique. I would think Omega would be thriving if they were sold in ADs alongside Rolex wherein there are no stainless steel models available. Omega doesn't have that diverse of a lineup and they tend to overbloat the Speedmaster and Seamaster as it stands. Last Omega boutique I was in in Houston they didn't even have the standard hesalite Speedmaster Pro Moonwatch in stock. They had everything else that no one really wanted.

[SirPolarBear]

Originally Posted by Ravager135

Rolex AD status has pretty strict requirements. Many dealers lost their status with Rolex over the past 10 years or so. I'd imagine it is even more difficult with empty cases.

As far as Omega, they have only been selling out of boutiques for awhile now. I've never seen a busy Omega boutique. I would think Omega would be thriving if they were sold in ADs alongside Rolex wherein there are no stainless steel models available. Omega doesn't have that diverse of a lineup and they tend to overbloat the Speedmaster and Seamaster as it stands. Last Omega boutique I was in in Houston they didn't even have the standard hesalite Speedmaster Pro Moonwatch in stock. They had everything else that no one really wanted.

Funny you say that. I have a good relationship with the local Omega boutique that's in a mall that may get a Rolex boutique. The manager is more than happy to have Rolex nearby because several customers come from Rolex to Omega since there's no stock available other than ugly DJs.

[tyler1980]

Originally Posted by ArtNouveau

Lots of dealers in the US closed this year but kind of surprised to hear what I would consider at least a middle market to be stripped of all its stores. That said we did lose the “smallest dealer” in Houston this year and a small market dealer I visit one or twice a year is running scared. They have a solid clientele but certainly not the numbers a big city can sell. They could also not justify a major build out if demanded.
Despite what is said here all the time, I firmly believe the bigger US dealers are selling more watches than ever.

the Rolex mandated store remodels is certainly an issue for many AD's and Rolex is pushing hard to have their brand featured more heavily. At my AD in London you would think Rolex and Patek are on the same level after the remodel

When the market is hot its smart for Rolex to use their leverage to get this done. Not everyone wants to play ball, but no one would do it in a down market

Moving out of mall AD's is good too and they have done quite bit of this. Looks bad as mall jewelry stores dont look that upmarket for the most part

[Mr.Rolex1]

Originally Posted by TswaneNguni

Rolex caught them .No AD simply loses status .

I have mentioned before that Rolex sends ghost buyers to grey's to trace the route of the stock .

This

[tyler1980]

Originally Posted by TswaneNguni

Rolex caught them .No AD simply loses status .

I have mentioned before that Rolex sends ghost buyers to grey's to trace the route of the stock .

why would they care?

3 years ago they were all going to grey dealers too except at a discount. Thats worse for brand image than inflated prices. Rolex on sale vs Rolex as a coveted and "rare" item

if they didn't care then it makes no sense to care now as its making the brand even hotter and strengthens the image of the brand, which is the point in luxury

I do think Rolex might act like they dont like it, and might make it look like they are doing something, but i doubt they are, as its not in their best interests to do so.

[1665fan]

Then how does DavidSW sell a 100 watches a month??? He would have destroyed about 50 dealers at least

[42itus]

Originally Posted by tyler1980

why would they care?

3 years ago they were all going to grey dealers too except at a discount. Thats worse for brand image than inflated prices. Rolex on sale vs Rolex as a coveted and "rare" item

if they didn't care then it makes no sense to care now as its making the brand even hotter and strengthens the image of the brand, which is the point in luxury

I do think Rolex might act like they dont like it, and might make it look like they are doing something, but i doubt they are, as its not in their best interests to do so.

I'm with you. On the surface they may say they don't sell to flippers to protect their customer's feelings. But this current situation with empty display cases and greys selling for 2 X MSRP is working out really well for Rolex and their ADs.

This past Saturday I stopped in an AD to say Hi and to ask for a parking validation and the manager (who is awesome and has freaky good memory) greeted me. I asked him why he hasn't been calling me and he said he has nothing to offer me. And I pointed to the half empty display case and said, "yeah, but your shipments aren't even making it to the case. I imagine business has never been better." And he smiled and winked and he said "we're doing OK..."

[Tavli3]

Originally Posted by Ravager135

Rolex AD status has pretty strict requirements. Many dealers lost their status with Rolex over the past 10 years or so. I'd imagine it is even more difficult with empty cases.

As far as Omega, they have only been selling out of boutiques for awhile now. I've never seen a busy Omega boutique. I would think Omega would be thriving if they were sold in ADs alongside Rolex wherein there are no stainless steel models available. Omega doesn't have that diverse of a lineup and they tend to overbloat the Speedmaster and Seamaster as it stands. Last Omega boutique I was in in Houston they didn't even have the standard hesalite Speedmaster Pro Moonwatch in stock. They had everything else that no one really wanted.

If Kings got caught selling out the back door then they got what they deserve, it should happen more often!

As far as Omega goes I concur as the Boutique in my local mall is always very quiet. Last week I was in there inquiring when my 50th Speedmaster was due in and I was the only person in the store. My SR showed me the Limited Edition Tarantulum Sea Master for 13K. I said I don't like the color and she replied that you buy this not to wear but to put away. Only 2500 pieces made and this is the last one. So I said lets take a look on C24 and sure enough there it was for 11K brand new with stickers! Well she was red in the face with embarrassment.

I said some investment! I'm already down 2K before I get out of the store.
I said to her I have no idea what the top brass at Omega are thinking. There's no way you guys can survive with this type of business model. I told her unless you have a Boutique model only don't call me!

That's a 13K loss for Omega and 13K win for Rolex. Gee, wonder why Rolex is such demand. No competition except for AP and PP which are in different categories.

Another quick watch story, was at my bank talking to my account exec and noticed a huge Hublot on his wrist so I asked him what it was and he told me it was the Big Bang and I quote" Worst investment I ever made, bought it for 15K not too long ago and now I want to sell it and it's only worth 4K!"

I said it's certainly not like Rolex. He just nodded and said indeed.

[Finslayer83]

Whoa when did King's lose theirs?

(Brentwood/Franklin here).

[Finslayer83]

Originally Posted by MCOSUB

Not sure how true but a friend of mine that lives in Nashville said that both of those dealers were identified by Rolex as selling large amounts inventory to Gray dealers.

Yup.

I'm not going into detail but yes - there is a grey who I know dealt with Kings.

There is also a FL grey who dealt with the FL Kings location.

[Investr]

No AD needed! they've got Chase with Nashville Watch. Great trusted seller!

[DTap]

Originally Posted by The Libertine

I did not know Omega closed the boutique in the Natick Collection mall. That’s too bad. I only went there once, and had great service.

Also just noticed Tourneau in Burlington closed also. No Rolex, but nice to stop in after a chick-fil-a run at the food court.

[Rollie Gent]

IF they were flipping to greys...cant say Im sorry. Just strange not to have an AD in Nashville.

[The Libertine]

Originally Posted by DTap

Also just noticed Tourneau in Burlington closed also. No Rolex, but nice to stop in after a chick-fil-a run at the food court.

Eh, between the two, rather the chick-fil-a be the one to remain open!