![]() ![]() Where other certified pre-owned dealers will send watches away to authorized service centers for any repairs or renovations, his team does all the work themselves. This means stock turns fast, but it is also the most competitive part of the pre-owned market, which means margins are tight.Īgain, Mr Tutunikov refers to the way his tight family approach helps in this regard. The sheer volume of watches means there is something for every taste, but SWE deliberately focuses on the most desirable pieces from the likes of Rolex, Omega, Cartier, Breitling and Patek Philippe. Mr Tutunikov calls it a “hip, industrial design”. It is a modern space with bright lighting but dark cabinets. ![]() On any day, a customer is likely to be able to browse around 2,500 timepieces, all authenticated and serviced before being put on display, and virtually all owned by SWE because the business does not really believe in consignment. Mr Tutunikov is proud of the brick and mortar store, which is possibly has a greater density of watches per square foot than any other retailer in the country. The vast majority of sales are made online, but serving the local Atlanta community is an important part of the SWE story, particularly as it brings a sense of community to the family-run business. “It was a gradual process, but everybody who came into the store was delighted to see us all still there and happy to talk to them about their watches,” says Mr Tutunikov. “Not only did we keep things going, but actually added to our fulltime headcount in 2020,” he tells WATCHPRO.īusiness confidence was not helped in Atlanta by a political spat between Georgia’s Republican governor Brian Kemp who took a pro-economy position to keep stores open and the city’s Democratic mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms who wanted to bear down on covid cases with harder restrictions and mask mandates.īy July, Swiss Watch Expo (SWE) was open and has not closed again since, but it took time for customers to return. In those early days of the pandemic, we knew we would find a way to keep the company going, even when we were forced to close the store,” Mr Tutunikov recalls.Īs the year progressed, the bounce was higher than even he predicted. “We are proud to be a family business and we all pull together. This keeps overheads lower than wealthier rivals, and ensures that when things were getting tough, they simply work harder to make up for any shortfalls. It came from his business model, which is to take maximum advantage of the tight knit teamwork that comes from operating as a lean family-owned and run firm. Mr Tutunikov’s confidence was not simply the positivity of a born entrepreneur. Within weeks of that call, a number of other pre-owned specialists, all of which have built their businesses around ecommerce, were reporting that an initial freeze of around a fortnight had not only thawed, it was turning into a melt water flood of buying and selling. ![]()
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