Dannygovberg watchbox founder e1513764102437
Danny Govberg.

Aurum’s American expansion could be an act of genius or a colossal failure warns US retailer

Aurum Holdings should not expect its expansion into the United States to be plain sailing, a leading American retailer has warned.

Danny Govberg, chief executive of Govberg watch showrooms in Philadelphia and Cleveland and founder of pre-owned luxury watch trading app Watchbox, says the US market behaves very differently to Aurum’s stronghold of London.

Mr Govberg also suggests that growth will be limited by Aurum’s ability to secure sufficient Rolex inventory for the 23 showrooms it will operate next year in New York, Las Vegas and Florida where the British group owns 17 Mayors boutiques.

“Personally, I think it is good for the industry that Aurum is coming. I think that Brian Duffy is a great guy who knows his stuff. He will bring energy to the US watch market,” Mr Govberg tells WatchPro in our Big Interview for the January edition of the magazine.

“We do not know now whether he is going to look like a genius or a colossal failure,” he continues. “Don’t forget, there are no more Rolexes around. It is not like he is in a position to go and get a lot more watches because Rolex will treat him differently.  He is going to wake up one day in the middle of December with shops in all these malls, and he is not going to have any steel Rolexes.”

The greater challenge is for Aurum Holdings to stimulate demand in a country that, according to Mr Govberg, assigns a great deal less importance to owning prestige watches. “Americans think differently to people in London. In London, the majority of the people, whether we are talking about cab drivers, waiters, people who work in hotels, they love watches. When I go to London the people that clean my room are wearing a nice watch. In the States it is so far from that. The people working here do not have a nice watch because it is not so important to them,” he suggests.

 

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2 Comments

  1. Mr Govberg’s perspective, while to be welcomed, is misguided in both understanding and logic. Mr. Govberg seems to assume that London authorised retailers are flush with Rolex steel professional models, when this is clearly not the case. The assumption that a successful Rolex business in the US could only thrive with a plentiful supply of steel professional models, and that Aurum would have expanded into the US on such an assumption, demonstrates a lack of understanding of both. Mr. Govberg also suggests that the “greater challenge” is that “it is not so important” for Americans to own a luxury watch. Aside from the well publicised GFK data which suggests otherwise, it is an illogical observation for a gentleman, who has established multiple luxury watch showrooms and has created a luxury watch trading app, to suggest that market demand for luxury watches needs to be stimulated.

  2. Danny Govberg is 100% correct about the difference between Europe and America. Resultco markets our branded watches in Europe and we see a major difference in the marketplace. Many European brands have tried to market successfully in USA yet failed to achieve the results in their home market. Retailers from Europe need to accept the diversity of the American consumer. I hope Aurum finds success in the US however the present major retailers will not make it easy for a new comer.

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