Small ADs

[MRBolton]

With so many smaller ADs out there, what's the current outlook for the future?

Is it likely the smaller family-owned ADs in cities without a large name like Bucherer, WoS, etc... are to become a thing of the past before long? Or is most of the "fat trimming" done for a while?

In my relatively small market, there's just one AD nearby at this point, and there's no chance of a big house coming anywhere to my state. I worry that if Rolex starts to "turn the screws" more, they could be gone.

[ArtNouveau]

That’s a good question. When I started buying Rolex in the 80’s, every town in Texas with a jeweler and at least 10000 people had a Rolex dealer. Even 10 years ago, markets above 25000 or so still had ADs. Nowadays just the big cities and a handful of 100K towns.
Today I live in NW Arkansas, we have one AD in our region of around 500K but only three others in the entire state.
I can’t imagine RolexUSA going exclusively to big cities but I think they probably expect a store to move a certain amount of merchandise to stay a dealer. The days of a mom and pop that sells 100 Rolex a year is probably done.

[MRBolton]

Originally Posted by ArtNouveau

That’s a good question. When I started buying Rolex in the 80’s, every town in Texas with a jeweler and at least 10000 people had a Rolex dealer. Even 10 years ago, markets above 25000 or so still had ADs. Nowadays just the big cities and a handful of 100K towns.
Today I live in NW Arkansas, we have one AD in our region of around 500K but only three others in the entire state.
I can’t imagine RolexUSA going exclusively to big cities but I think they probably expect a store to move a certain amount of merchandise to stay a dealer. The days of a mom and pop that sells 100 Rolex a year is probably done.

I'm in a similar type of market as you are now with two ADs in the state. I'm a 6 hour drive in any direction from any major market AD. It's all smaller family owned in between, and really not that many at that. What sparked my thinking about these ADs' fate was a recent visit to one in a neighboring state. Its Rolex section was quite small, and the rest of the store didn't fit a vibe of any other Rolex AD I've been in. I was surprised they were able to make it through the culls, but then again--they're in the highest net worth area of the state, and there's little-to-no prospect of a big name like Tourneau or whoever coming in.

Regarding the "days of mom and pops selling a 100 Rolex watches" comment, any AD in the current environment will sell every watch that Rolex sends them. At this point, it's a matter of whom Rolex wants to work with. And if they don't want to work with the smaller stores, what do we in more rural areas do?

One other observation I'll add is how often ADs when I travel seem to try to push people to go to their local AD instead. I think Rolex wants people to buy locally with their own jeweler. Perhaps that's a means to keep track of how an area performs, but when everything is selling, then that's probably not of much use!

It just makes me nervous to build a "relationship" (i.e. purchase stuff) with someone who is likely on the chopping block in the near future.