You'll want to visit the new boutique after reading this report and looking at the photos.
Our member who posts here as Taubi is a marine consultant who lives in Beijing as an expat. He recently visited the new Hong Kong flagship boutique and sent me the report linked below.
A word of caution --it's almost a 5 Mb PDF file, and downloading can take some time.
Enjoy,
Michael
Simply incredible! Thank you Tom!
What a great retail experience. Like a theme park for IWC brand enthusiasts.
Wow -- great report!
Cool!
Thanks for posting these pictures, Tom...and thank you Michael for bringing them to us!!!!
Best regards,
Jim
Good to be living in HKG
pass by the boutique all the time :D
Now that's kicking it up a notch!
I think I visited Hong Kong 4 months too soon! nt
A Flagship Boutique, Indeed!!!...Thanks......nt.
Need one like this in NYC. Fat chance, eh. nt
I agree Bill, why not in NYC???? nt
Thank you, Tom for the insights (nt)
Oh WOW book me on the next flight!
That place looks amazing. Brings out the kid in you :-)
Thanks! An ultra-Flagship Boutique I'd say! nt
Thank you Taubi and Michael
Thanks for posting, you took us there.
Rergards,
Roberto
Wow what a store, thanks for the report Tom !
Regards,
[i]Stefan
I'd guess for a few reasons...
While an IWC theme park seems like fun to IWC collectors, to me the real question is (a) how much money will it make, directly or indirectly, relative to (b) how much will it cost.
Frankly, I have doubts about the cost-benefits of the concept --although of course I'm not IWC nor do I have any inside knowledge. It has a large cost, and I'm not sure that the concept will sell enough additional watches to justify the cost. I would guess off the top of my head that the store would have to sell a lot more watches to cover its cost. Depending on the numbers, that's possible except (a) how many still would be sold with a less ambitious store and (b) what stops the customer from looking at the boutique and walking down the street to another (independent) dealer?
To me, one of the advantages of such a store may be that the benefits are public relations. This boutique might be more of a communications strategy. Likewise, I've heard that some of the watch boutiques on Madison Ave, in New York don't make any money, but are there for publicity. Their rent and staff costs are "justified" by the presence of the store. I'm not sure, if I were CEO, I'd buy that logic, but I think it might apply more so, if at all, in an area with a concentrated watch buying population --like Hong Kong.
But I think that direct experience doesn't translate as well to one city in a country like the U.S. that is quite spread out. Publicity on the streets of NY doesn't translate well to other parts of the same market, at least compared to Hong Kong.
I really like the store, at least from what I've seen on the Internet, and I hope the concept proves fruitful. But I also think it doesn't translate easily to many other markets.
But then again, perhaps that's why I'm not CEO :)
Regards,
Michael
I agree with most of your points, but
I would like to see any kind of IWC boutique in NYC. It seems to me that you need to cover both coasts in the US if public relations and marketing is the goal. I can certainly understand why a boutique in the current economic climate would not make sense. But especially in the US, I am always surprised when people ask me about my watch and when I tell them it is an IWC I am met with a blank stare.
Granted, this is not the customer who will frequent an IWC boutique. But it usually is the customer who will buy a Rolex simply because of the name.
Addendum....
It seems right now might be a good time to negotiate retail space in NYC. The economy is in the tank as are renal rates. I see the Boutique as a 70-80% marketing / PR and 20% sales volume equation. IWC can benefit from having its presence seen and products displayed in America's largest city. NYC is not just for domestic consumption either...NYC is international just like HK. Further, NYC certainly is not demographically and economically certainly inferior to LV or BH. The total amount of disposable income in NYC is huge. IWC should not be conspicuous by its absence in NYC.
I hope someday to be able to visit a Boutique in NYC. Let's hope.
Bill