Great AD in NC is gone!

[Old Geezer]

Losing another AD is a shame for those in the area.
All my watches have come from small, family owned ADs. If my current AD loses their status as an AD, my Rolex journey effectively ends. The next closest ADs are in other cities or states effectively ruling me out as a "local". I'm not keen on being at best, the 3rd owner of a watch of dubious origins from the secondary market.

[thatswhatshesaid]

Originally Posted by cascadez71

Are there any Rolex dealers left in Raleigh area?

Finks is still in Raleigh and Durham as well as about 8 other locations including two in the Charlotte market which means they will probably retain their AD status.

[Hodog16]

Yup I remember when Bailey's and Reed's had AD status decades ago. Now just Fink's is left.

[5Stack]

With so many ADs losing their license to sell Rolex, I feel like they are not going to allocate the hot models they receive in the interim, even to the VIPs. They will just sell them out the backdoor once all is said and done.

[MSchott]

It wa their own financial decision right? Current Rolex policy is dealers have to expand stores to have their own in store Rolex boutique. Where I live one of the major players with 3 locations has completely redone one high end mall store and closed another mall store in favor of building a huge free standing store with a Rolex boutique. It’s understandable that a smaller operation may not have the same resources.

[norcalgt3]

https://www.google.com/maps/uv?pb=!1...06134&ictx=111

At least there's a cool blue GT3 in front

[Amadd]

Honestly yes it’s said to see them go but it wasn’t the design Rolex wanted. It was very small the store and the Rolex section.

Rolex wants to be in its own area not mixed in with other brands. Plus with Finks doing a build 20 min down the road. I’m sure it was play ball or leave.

I see lots of stores who loose there AD status closing or slimming down massively. When you loose an attraction that gets people in the store it’s a problem.


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[MRBolton]

Originally Posted by GreatScott

What Rolex is forgetting is that availability leads to long term customers. The harder to get, the fewer customers who will care in 5-10 years which will lead to the ultimate failing of the brand. Customers cannot establish relationships with brands that are hours away from their home.

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100% agree with this.

[GST15]

Originally Posted by Amadd

Honestly yes it’s said to see them go but it wasn’t the design Rolex wanted. It was very small the store and the Rolex section.

Rolex wants to be in its own area not mixed in with other brands. Plus with Finks doing a build 20 min down the road. I’m sure it was play ball or leave.

I see lots of stores who loose there AD status closing or slimming down massively. When you loose an attraction that gets people in the store it’s a problem.


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JME was a one watch store...Rolex

Wonderful staff that I hope will continue to prosper selling their beautiful Jewlery.

[ChuMpion3]

Was sad to learn about JME. They offered me two watches over the years and were great to deal with. Very local feel to the store

[StocksnBlondes]

Originally Posted by GreatScott

What Rolex is forgetting is that availability leads to long term customers. The harder to get, the fewer customers who will care in 5-10 years which will lead to the ultimate failing of the brand. Customers cannot establish relationships with brands that are hours away from their home.

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Rolex isn’t forgetting this at all. They have Finks cater to the Raleigh market. Rolex is still present in Raleigh.

[77T]

RTP has seen its better days and the tech sector they once embraced has moved onward. I would imagine that leaves Finks as the sole surviving AD in the RTP area (with 2 stores)


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[casadecamporolex]

Originally Posted by rohada

From earlier in the thread:

All small family owned ADs, no matter what or where, know which way the wind blows. In many cases, the family has been an AD fifty plus years and are friends with other high end quality stores. One by one, each sees another get the ax. Just the big boys or boutiques will be left.
For the record:


RolexUSA doesn’t ask if you’d like to continue a ”relationship".
They will do all the talking; they dictate all directions.
1. The AD is sent their annual vendor agreement. If you don’t receive, the letter of termination follows within 90-120 days.
2. If you get the vendor agreement, it dictates what the ADs full responsibility is, including inventory levels, turnover and merchandising. The commitment then means RolexUSA designs, bids out and builds the spec to 100% compliance. AD is responsible for $.
The AD, like this Raleigh store, sees the direction the relationship is heading.
For them and many before and many after, it’s not a question of ”if", it’s a question of when.

[racerx]

Nice store, sad to see them gone.

[maximus1]

Sorry to hear another small family business has been axed. Seems all too common and not many care.

[lowmandfl]

I went in there quite a few times, Christian was quite a nice guy. Disappointed to hear they’re no longer an AD.