So I got off the phone recently with this store where I was trying to order a 1171/1 bracelet for my Speedmaster. They said it's something I could order but told me not through their store because on the 14th July they would be closing down.

I phoned my nearest Omega AD and they too said the Stratford store was closing down.

It's kind of sad, they only opened in 2011 and I never got the chance to visit. Do you think it was lack of sales?

 

I would have to imagine the cost of keeping a store open eclipsed the benefit. That would be a typical business decision made by a company.

The other thing that can happen is they lose their lease, or cannot negotiation a satisfactory lease renewal.

Please note I have no clue about the particular store you are asking about, but those factors are 'it' 99% of the time.

 

It was an absolutely massive store from what I heard. I think it had multiple floors to it and was of course, only Omega. I've heard people say they went there and looked a lot but don't see much in the way of purchases. Maybe the general public are different but us on here tend to either buy grey or buy from an AD and expect discount. They're relying totally on full priced retail sales on watches costing like £7000 odd. It might work for other brands but it seems like not so much for Omega.

 

Well if it opened in 2011 and you never felt the need to visit that may have something to do with why they closed down.

 

Well it opened in time for all the hullabaloo surrounding the Olympics actually on the Olympic park and has soldiered on for a further 5 years after. Stratford was a pretty run down area before the games (for our non UK members, not the one where Shakespeare supposedly came from) so it isn't a total surprise that it wasn't in the best spot going forward.

 

Possibly haha. I only bought my first Omega in 2012 (second-hand) and at that time had never even heard of the likes of OB's and AD's. I thought you just walked into any jewelers to buy them new. I got my Speedmaster (my first new Omega) in 2016 and went with the AD since it was about an hour and a half closer to me than the Stratford boutique.

 

It is a pain when a shop shuts leaving an area without an Omega dealer. I appreciate that Central London is not too far away. I was in Chester the other week and their sole AD David M Robinson has shut down this year leaving the city with no AD. Mappin & Webb have a shop, but don't sell Omega from it.

 

This... very much this.

Stratford pre-Olympics is not a place that most Londoners would chose to go to... and even post Olympics to be honest

 

Only one floor. They did have an in house technician for a while as well. I got on very well with the staff in that store and will be sad to see them go. Tag had a store opposite and they shut not long ago.

 

Stratford is a s**t hole.

Amazed there was an Omega store there to begin with!

 

Olympics fam. brap brap, yeah blood. etc.

 

It's location is far from ideal. It's outside, away from the main Westfield shopping area. The staff there told me they seldom sold anything.

 

Ive been there three times and been the only one in there each time. It is a bit of a s**thole over there - security guard on the door which I haven't seen in the Bluewater and Bond Street stores.

 

All the stores have security on the door...

 

Only been to the Bond Street store once and no security. Been to the Bluewater boutique at least ten times and never seen security there.

 

Weird about Bluewater... All the central London stores have locked doors and the security guard has to let you in.

 

True for our nearest Botique here in Los Angeles, also. The funny thing is, staffing at this store has been pretty much a revolving door for the past two years -- except for the security guard (who may not even be a Swatchco employee). The security guy greets my wife and I like long lost friends each time we enter the store

 

Same at the OB at Short Hills in NJ. The Short Hills Mall is a very shi-shi shopping Mecca with stores like Fendi, LVMH, Nieman Marcus, etc. the security guard at the OB is as much a doorman as a guard. Impeccably dressed, 1000-watt smile, and attentive. He greets everyone like a long lost friend.

 

The AD at Lakeside near Bluewater which is a semi-OB has security that watch you like a hawk. Usually when you've been browsing a bit and showing genuine interest whoever is serving you signals to the guard to relax and step down a bit.

 

Shame, it's a beautiful store, but I've never been able to understand the economic benefit of one-brand stores, and while Omega watches are kind of comparable in price to Breitling etc., the price of accessories are (imo) extortionate. I can only imagine how much they have to sell on a daily basis to break even. In the 90s whilst a student, I worked in a climbing supplies / outdoor store, very small and not in London, and we needed to take £350 a day to break even.