Teddy Baldassarre is keen to build on the creation of his first brick and mortar showroom with additional openings in the future.
In an interview with WatchPro, he says the combination of his YouTube audience of 994,000 subscribers and his growing experience of retail, both online and at his physical store in Cleveland, means growing a network of stores is under consideration.
“It is possible, for sure,” he says. “Retail is not going away.”
Brands and retailers without the YouTube following of Teddy Baldassarre might fumble in the dark when it comes to opening in a new location. But Mr Baldassare not only has a following of almost one million watch enthusiasts, he can also mine analytics to pinpoint where they live.
For example, the first store in his home city of Cleveland benefits from engagement with 160,000 people from Ohio who watch his videos.
“Even in a city like Cleveland, which is not a Tier One location, and I can see from the analytics of the YouTube channel that we have engaged with 160,000 people from Ohio in just the past year. That is huge when you compare it to a new retailer that has to worry about getting anybody to know about them through expensive advertising, PR, etc.,” Mr Baldassarre describes.
This means that Teddy, the name of his retail brand, will already have a fan base when it arrives in a new city. “If we were to look at going into a new market, we would not be going in as a complete stranger. That makes it possible for us to open in more locations,” he suggests.
The biggest brands in watchmaking are increasingly limiting their exposure to the very best locations. But Mr Baldassarre believes the engagement of his audience can make a Tier 2 or 3 city viable for a wider range of marques.
“Our secret sauce could be succeeding in some market that brands do not want to touch. You see many brands opening monobrand boutiques, and they would not open that sort of store in a mid-western city like Cleveland. But we can,” he believes.