Small Market ADs, Anyone here from Tyler?

[ArtNouveau]

When I bought my first Rolex in 1984 there were ADs all over the place. My big city Houston probably had a dozen or more and literally every small town of 5000 or more probably had a small jeweler that sold them. As recently as 10 years ago any city with a population of at least 25K still had a store. And then the purge silently started. In the last 3-5 years I watched longtime ADs in Huntsville and Lufkin lose their franchises.
20 years ago a friend of mine with a regional sales route picked up a couple of Rolex from Susan Robinson Jewelers in Tyler, TX. I dropped in to chat once around 5 years ago when the cases were still pretty full. I was in the area for a bike race, wasn’t looking to buy a watch, but I did impulse buy a David Yurman bracelet that day. Stopped in once more a couple years later and like everywhere the stock was very low.
I liked them enough that I kept watching to see how long they would hold onto their Rolex status. Tyler is around 100K plus and a regional hub for oil and gas and the timber industry. There’s some money there for sure but it still doesn’t seem to fit the new paradigm.
Well, Monday I got an email that the remaining family owners are retiring and the business is closing for good. I believe this week is their final blowout sales on jewelry. They are closing as a Rolex dealer still so any conspiracy theorists are wrong if they don’t believe that they are simply closing their store. I ponder if RolexUSA will seek someone else in the area to pick them up, my guess is no. The nearest dealers will now be in Dallas or Shreveport.
Anyone here that shopped there? I believe they had a very long run.

[amh]

Same story everywhere. I contacted a local AD that was closing and asked if I could have one of their exhibition models... sorry no those were already sold! (Fully working watches)

[ArtNouveau]

Originally Posted by amh

Same story everywhere. I contacted a local AD that was closing and asked if I could have one of their exhibition models... sorry no those were already sold! (Fully working watches)

I wasn’t expecting to buy anything there, just curious if anyone on the forum used them regularly. I’m sure if they have any Rolex left, they have already called their longtime clients, no way they would put them out “on sale.”