Group

Our showrooms are located in prominent, high-profile shopping areas within the UK and US and feature a spacious, contemporary, inviting, welcoming, high-end luxury feel, further enhancing the prestigious brands which they showcase. Our estate includes multi-brand showrooms and mono-brand boutiques in both the UK and the US, supported by a leading-edge ecommerce platform.

In the UK, the portfolio covers the breadth of the market, with representation in most major cities nationwide. In the US, the Group is primarily represented in Florida and Georgia with Mayors showrooms and in Las Vegas, New York and Boston with Watches of Switzerland showrooms.

In late 2020, we entered new markets with our mono-brand boutique format, including Santa Clara, California; King of Prussia, Pennsylvania; and Nashville, Tennessee.

In 2021 Watches of Switzerland expanded further with new showrooms in Plano, Texas; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Cincinnati, Ohio. In the same year, we also acquired three Betteridge showrooms.

As at May 2022, the Group operated 171 showrooms.

Located in the most prestigious locations, flagship showrooms typically feature a more extensive product offering in a larger footprint relative to other showrooms in the portfolio, as well as dedicated spaces to host special client events. In the UK, this channel is represented by the ‘Golden Triangle’ Watches of Switzerland showrooms in central London; Regent Street, Oxford Street and Knightsbridge and in regional locations with Goldsmiths in Meadowhall, Sheffield, Trafford Centre, Manchester and Bullring in Birmingham. In the US, there are two Watches of Switzerland flagship showrooms located in New York; Soho and Hudson Yards, and one in the Wynn Resort in Las Vegas as well as three Mayors flagship showrooms in the Aventura Mall in Florida, Lenox Square in Atlanta and Dadeland Mall in Miami.

Showrooms in our US portfolio are predominantly shopped by the domestic client. The Mayors network is located in Florida and Georgia, with an ongoing showroom elevation programme. We operate two Watches of Switzerland flagship showrooms in New York, a market with similar demographics to London but with less investment and higher fragmentation. We are also present in the highly lucrative Las Vegas market with showrooms located within the Wynn Resort, including a multi-brand showroom and Rolex, OMEGA and Breitling mono-brand boutiques. Watches of Switzerland expanded in 2021 with new showrooms in Texas, Minnesota and Ohio. We also acquired three Betteridge showrooms in Aspen and Vail, Colorado and Greenwich, Connecticut.

Outside London, a well-situated network of premium regional showrooms in the UK provides scale and national coverage and caters to a more local, domestic client base. Multi-brand showrooms across all three brands (Watches of Switzerland, Mappin & Webb, Goldsmiths) are located in high profile, prominent locations, primarily shopping centres, in cities such as Manchester, Birmingham and Liverpool. 2021 saw the launch of a new luxury Goldsmiths concept to elevate the brand and provide exceptional client experience.

The mono-brand boutique format allows for a more tailored and brand-specific environment and has contributed to further strengthening and enhancing our brand partnerships. The Watches of Switzerland Group operates mono-brand boutiques on behalf of Rolex, OMEGA, TAG Heuer, Breitling and TUDOR in both the UK and the US, FOPE in the UK and Audemars Piguet, Grand Seiko and BVLGARI in the US.

In FY22, we opened 16 mono-brand boutiques across the US and UK. As at 1 May 2022, we operated a global network of 55 mono-brand boutiques, including 38 in the UK and 17 in the US.

Travel retail provides high visibility in a prominent setting to a discerning international client base. The Group maintains a strong presence in Heathrow Airport in Terminals 2, 3, 4 and 5 with Watches of Switzerland showrooms and Rolex mono-brand boutiques and is present in Gatwick North Terminal with a Watches of Switzerland showroom.

Through our seven transactional websites across the UK and the US, we have established an industry-leading ecommerce platform, a key component of our multi-channel strategy. We continue to invest in enhancing the sites and improving the client experience, through initiatives such as next day delivery, the ‘By Personal Appointment’ booking service, both in-showroom and virtual, and the Luxury Watch and Jewellery Virtual Boutique. The ecommerce platform is built on SAP Commerce, which offers the benefit of a common ERP and ecommerce technology vendor.