Berry's Jewellers / Nottingham, 12th November 2024
I recently spent a day in Nottingham and was very much looking forward to visiting the TAG Heuer boutique there. Last time I visited the town I had a nice chat with a guy called Brad and I got to try on a 160th Anniversary 'Montreal' Carrera that was still (rather unexpectedly) knocking about. I couldn't quite remember where the store was (Clumber Street it transpired) but when I eventually stumbled on its location it turned out that it had been closed down two months ago.
I found this quite surprising at the time, but then again we know the watch market has softened considerably lately and so I guess when the lease comes up on these boutiques perhaps WOS/Goldsmiths have to think twice before recommitting to another long lease. I've always thought perhaps they got a bit carried away with all these single brand stores, was there really enough additional business to justify opening all these boutiques?
Maybe a few here and there, but they seem to have been opening them willy-nilly over the last few years. I can see the logic of opening them in places like Meadowhall in Sheffield, a place with huge footfall, but I struggle to see the viability of opening one in Solihull (for example). I mean, yes there's probably lots of rich doctor types living nearby, but I'm sure they could have been served equally well by an AD.
