Discussion
Dr.kol initiates a compelling discussion on the value and necessity of brand boutiques in the luxury watch market, sharing his varied personal experiences across several prestigious brands. His post questions whether boutiques truly offer added value compared to authorized dealers or grey market options, sparking a rich debate among collectors.
My experience with boutiques center mainly in Hong Kong and Tokyo. For the latter, the staff were very courteous. No refreshments were served but the guys in the boutiques stores always served with a smile. There was less chatter on watch features but that's understandable given the language barrier. I eventually settled on an IWC Aquatimer Chronograph in blue and orange. I find the service in Hong Kong slightly different. While they may not always serve you with an outward smile of the Japanese
99% of the stores of any kind I visit, someone asks me if they can help me. I just tell them "No, I'm just browsing right now, but thank you for asking. I'll come to you if necessary". Or something like that, depends on where I'm at at the moment. I don't want to offend you, but I feel it's rather rude to 'ignore' someone until they "get the clue". When someone keeps bothering me, I just tell them they need to leave me alone in a respectful way. Handling both types of salespeople these ways seem
Yea, I do tell them that I'm currently just browsing. Most of them get it right away. However, my point is that when I'm the only one in the store, I always feel their presence a few feet away from me or in some cases accompanying me. If I see that sales are occupied with other customers (esp a particular type of customer - not going to be mentioned since some may take it offensively) then I feel "safer" walking in. My wife and I have a running joke. We see sales as sharks and customers as fatty
And I know the feeling. It doesn't happen very often, but I understand what you mean now, you feel their eyes following you, taking mental notes of where you stop and watch for an extended amount of time etc. Although I must say, that only happens to me very rarely, or I just might not be noticing it :) There's also one particular thing that I truthfully hate, which is related to the sharks and tuna joke. That's when there are multiple staff members and no customers around, and they start 'helpi
Not talking about how good or bad they are. I tried a few and had some great experiences. 1 I will mention … Journe in Paris. Wass there about 2 months ago and it was as it should be. Nice staff and they new what they were talking about That aside. I know MY AM so many years that I don't see a reason to buy elsewhere. He knows what I want and we have a PERFECT relationship. If brand X makes a LE which I can't buy at my AD …. I even don't want it anymore
are a new way to attract people to Boutiques. I'm sure that does not make the AD happy. I had long discussions with a Boutique Manager outside the working hours. He explained that on the long run their Brand wants to sell everything from Boutiques because: * they get the profit the retailers might make today * goods are sold with full price. Rebates and Boutiques are a rare combination. Let's see if the development goes to this direction. Best, Kari
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