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Old 8 November 2011, 10:35 PM   #1
kmleffler
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Rolex Boutiques Only

How long do you think it will be before Rolex starts pulling their watches from any store that discounts? Do you think Rolex is headed towards opening their own boutiques in major cities and no longer distributing their watches to retail stores in these cities? It appears that Omega is already headed in that direction in New York. I went into a major retail watch store in the Time Warner building yesterday to look at the new Omega's with the new movements and I was told that I had to go to the Omega boutique on 5th avenue. This surprised me.
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Old 8 November 2011, 11:07 PM   #2
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As long as it takes For Rolex to open as many stores as they need.
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Old 9 November 2011, 12:42 AM   #3
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The same thing happened here in Scottsdale with Omega. I was at a Rolex AD the other day and he was complaining that Rolex had told him that the New EXP II was going to boutiques first and then independent AD's.
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Old 9 November 2011, 01:17 AM   #4
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Even boutiques discount. They are not rolex owned but independent stores with a different agreement with rolex. The Toronto boutique, part of the Royal De Versailles store, was regularly offering 20-22% off of almost everything earlier this year. I think the amount of discounting tolerated by rolex must be regional. In Toronto's case likely due to the MSRP's out of whack with the higher Canadian dollar.
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Old 9 November 2011, 01:20 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by azguy View Post
The same thing happened here in Scottsdale with Omega. I was at a Rolex AD the other day and he was complaining that Rolex had told him that the New EXP II was going to boutiques first and then independent AD's.
This is no different than higher volume stores getting better inventory of hot selling watches. Btw it is not unique to watches. Happens all the time with cars, boats, etc. The more you can sell the more you will have available to sell. Makes perfect sense and isn't rocket science.
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Old 9 November 2011, 01:27 AM   #6
karolinec1
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Even boutiques discount. They are not rolex owned but independent stores with a different agreement with rolex. The Toronto boutique, part of the Royal De Versailles store, was regularly offering 20-22% off of almost everything earlier this year. I think the amount of discounting tolerated by rolex must be regional. In Toronto's case likely due to the MSRP's out of whack with the higher Canadian dollar.
La Difference, in Richmond Hill (just north of Toronto), is a Rolex only boutique, and they discount 15-22%. To Danand's point, our MSRP is @ 5% higher than the US', even though our dollar is at or above par. (And our sales tax is almost double the US'.)
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Old 9 November 2011, 02:44 AM   #7
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This is no different than higher volume stores getting better inventory of hot selling watches. Btw it is not unique to watches. Happens all the time with cars, boats, etc. The more you can sell the more you will have available to sell. Makes perfect sense and isn't rocket science.
I wasn't bitchin or complaining, I would never buy from an AD in the first place, our nearly 9% tax here is reason enough to buy via TRF or private sellers for me
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Old 9 November 2011, 03:07 AM   #8
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I wasn't bitchin or complaining, I would never buy from an AD in the first place, our nearly 9% tax here is reason enough to buy via TRF or private sellers for me
Sorry didn't mean to come across as snarky. Battling the flu and feeling like crap.
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Old 9 November 2011, 06:40 AM   #9
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This may be a dumb question- and maybe I am overthinking things----but how does Rolex actually know how much an AD is discounting. I mean if the AD pays X for it, do they have to disclose what they sell it for? I am assuming there must be some type of disclosure for all of the chat over discounting and ADs getting their hands slapped...
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Old 9 November 2011, 09:48 AM   #10
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This may be a dumb question- and maybe I am overthinking things----but how does Rolex actually know how much an AD is discounting. I mean if the AD pays X for it, do they have to disclose what they sell it for? I am assuming there must be some type of disclosure for all of the chat over discounting and ADs getting their hands slapped...
My understanding is that Rolex routinely audits their Ad's. The audit includes a review of the sales receipt for each piece that is sold.
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Old 9 November 2011, 10:37 AM   #11
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As far as I know Rolex has never operated a retail store . I can't imagine a reason why the company would want to enter the hassle of retail store operations when there are plenty of independent merchants willing to own and operate a Rolex boutique.

Quote:
Originally Posted by kmleffler View Post
How long do you think it will be before Rolex starts pulling their watches from any store that discounts? Do you think Rolex is headed towards opening their own boutiques in major cities and no longer distributing their watches to retail stores in these cities? It appears that Omega is already headed in that direction in New York. I went into a major retail watch store in the Time Warner building yesterday to look at the new Omega's with the new movements and I was told that I had to go to the Omega boutique on 5th avenue. This surprised me.
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Old 9 November 2011, 10:57 AM   #12
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My understanding is that Rolex routinely audits their Ad's. The audit includes a review of the sales receipt for each piece that is sold.
Sounds like an internet rumour to me.
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Old 9 November 2011, 11:23 AM   #13
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Sounds like an internet rumour to me.
I've heard this before about Rolex putting the hammer down on discounts we need some field intelligence
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Old 9 November 2011, 11:25 AM   #14
powerswag
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rolex on discounts? did this happen or was it a suggestion?
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Old 9 November 2011, 11:54 AM   #15
jefstathiou
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Sounds like an internet rumour to me.
Actually, it's not, at least with respect to Rolex, USA. Don't know about Canada.
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Old 9 November 2011, 11:59 AM   #16
MoBe
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Actually, it's not, at least with respect to Rolex, USA. Don't know about Canada.
If it`s not a rumour then what is your source?
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Old 9 November 2011, 12:21 PM   #17
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3 years 7 months and 4 days is my guess...
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Old 9 November 2011, 12:39 PM   #18
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I've heard this before about Rolex putting the hammer down on discounts we need some field intelligence
I don't know but it would be easy enough for Rolex to send mystery shoppers around to find ADs who discount too much. Likewise easy to buy some gray market watches and see which ADs they come from.
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