[espanol]

Originally Posted by MRBolton

Update: I went by the AD today to get some jewelry purchased there cleaned. The GM was not there today, but I was mainly on a fact finding mission anyway. There is still Rolex branding outside, and there is a very scant selection of exhibition pieces (literally 5) with most slots empty. I saw someone picking up a Deep Sea purchase while I was in there.
I remarked to my SA that the selection of exhibition pieces were really low, and I could tell he was a bit uncomfortable when he answered, "This is all we'll have until we move into the new store."
He went on to say that they're moving to a nearby temporary location around March, and they're going to be knocking out the wall where the Rolex section is now and building it out to have a full Rolex room and private pickup room, a larger space for the Rolex watchmaker, and on the other side of the store knocking that wall out to expand further into where the parking lot is now to make room to bring in more brands, mainly jewelry.

He said that he was told that this expansion not only means more exhibition pieces, but they are expecting a much larger allocation of watches once the build out is complete. They're expecting to be done and moved back in around Christmas this year.

I asked if they will have Rolex at the temporary location, and the rumor proved true. He said no--they will not have Rolex here until they move back into the remodeled store. It was a bit of an awkward interaction, but it did put my mind at ease that I should expect for them to have Rolex again. It is an odd situation with them being taken off the Rolex website, but I imagine whatever their temporary location is will not be up to snuff for Rolex's expectations since the AD is unlikely to make a lot of investment into a Rolex section at a facility they'll have for 8-9 months.

I talked to the same friend after who's very experienced in getting tough pieces, and his advice was to hold out. He agreed I should check in with a reminder about the Daytona a couple times this year to stay on their mind, and when October/November comes around, start trying to dial up the pressure with the GM and remind him of my situation.
His thoughts were that the approaching the GM or owner right now would almost certainly result in an "I'm sorry, but there's nothing we can do until Rolex comes back, and you're at the top of the list when it does." And that doing so would likely get on their nerves and make it less likely for them to want to call me.
I can kinda get that. They have a ton of customers that are now being delayed. If they pull a string at another store for me, it may set precedent for others. At the same time, I don't imagine many other customers have my story.

Now things are confirmed, would you guys just accept the year's wait, or would you try to make a case to an owner now to go through another store? Would you think it would likely sour the store here on me to do so?

I'm leaning towards my best path would be to reach out to the GM in a couple weeks as this settles down some for him and just say, "I was really hoping to keep to the February timeline. Here's how everything has played out from my perspective. Is there any way you could talk to an owner for me and see if he'd be willing to let me buy one from another store?" I think it wouldn't really hurt me a lot--more upside than downside.

Whole lot of mental gymnastics going on here OP. With this level of intent you could solve both climate change and the water shortage problems. Personally, I’d put this amount of time energy and effort into figuring out how to date Emily Ratajkowski.

Jokes aside, you’ve shared your interest. If it makes you happy, then keep in touch with them. Otherwise, just buy the watch today through readily-accessible channels and move on to more complex problems.