Comments:
Someone mentioned this to me several months ago. Do Lange have AD owned and run “boutiques”? And if so, what would the status of such “boutique” be? Presumably second in line for allocations behind corporate owned.
Most (but not all) Lange boutiques are owned by the brand itself. This Boston boutique is one of those brand-owned boutiques.
From what I understand, the AD-owned boutiques aren't noticeably lower in the pecking order than the brand-owned boutiques, but that might not be true when talking about the occasional super difficult pieces.
Thanks.
I guess at some point, as you say, there may be some priorities given to the brand owned.
I think I'm beginning to understand the Rolex business model.
No watches to sell. High demand, not enough production capability. Need to fund CapEx to increase production.
Buy commercial real estate in high $/Sq foot locations in a down market. At a 40% discount when CHF is strong against the USD. And using Rolex Balance Sheet strength to borrow cheap,,,at negative rates.
Sit on real estate even and sell that occasional watch that makes it from Switzerland to the boutique.
Close the boutiques and sell when real estate market recovers. And FOMC raising interest rates and 2 yr trending towards 1.75. USD rallies.
Win on buying low, selling high, and FX gain.
Use cash profits to fund CapEx and production facilities. Sell watches through boutiques.
Rolex is not a watch manufacturer but a Real Estate Speculator.
It would be nice if each boutique had a permanent set of exhibition-only models, even with just 1 reference from every style.
I hope Lange will eventually do that.
That Rolex boutique is tough. Shortly after it opened I stopped by with my family (wife and two daughters).
All of us happened to be wearing Rolexes. I had a Platona, my wife a Day Date with factory diamonds and the kids had Datejusts. They turned us away because we had no appointment. It’s tough out there in Rolex world.
Lol, yes indeed! Rolex and other nearby stores did that temporarily, mainly to avoid crowding during the pandemic (plus huge numbers of people wanting to enter the new boutique).
The "appointment-only" restriction was pretty common last year. I encountered it at another local pre-owned dealer in Boston, and also at the Lange boutique in NYC (which was still appointment-only even a few months ago). I think you can just walk into the Rolex boutique now, though they changed their hours from being open 7 days/week to I think maybe being closed on Mondays.