WOLF opened its first store in the world today in London’s historic Covent Garden.
The British business is a specialist in watch winders, jewelry boxes, safes and other accessories, and recently moved into leather fashion goods including handbags, wallets and passport holders.
The new showroom will allow the company to present its full range from a $400 single watch winder up to sophisticated luxury 24-watch secure safes and winders costing upwards of $100,000.
As well as selling to the public, WOLF sees the showroom as a way to present the breadth of its offer to retail partners and demonstrate how shop-in-shops might look in their stores.
“We will be holding events at the shop and many will be completely focused on our retail partners as they are the most important part of our business. We will have workshops and product training, get togethers to chat about how we can help improve their business through displays and product information. It will be a completely collaborative space for them to come and experience what WOLF can fully be for them,” suggests WOLF managing director Simon Wolf, the fifth generation of the founding family to run the company.
WOLF launched as a box maker in 1834 and is celebrating its 190th anniversary this year, and Mr Wolf is using the landmark to take the business to a new level.
“I am incredibly proud of what my family has managed to achieve over the past 190 years. And what better way to celebrate the five generations but to open a retail shop, something we have always wanted to do. 72 Neal Street is the perfect location, in the heart of Covent Garden’s Seven Dials, one of the world’s most prestigious shopping areas. It will be wonderful to be able to welcome customers into the world of WOLF at a level never seen before,” he adds.
WOLF’s Covent Garden showroom occupies almost 1,000 square feet, ample space to give customers and retail partners an immersive brand experience.
“Providing consumers with a full retail experience, the store will also provide the business with the opportunity to conduct training sessions with their key retailers, ensuring they can equip all partners with in-depth product and brand knowledge,” Mr Wolf reveals.
“Open seven days a week, the venue will also host exclusive events with key industry media and partners, creating community activations with the opportunity for key speakers to attend and invite their network of partners and consumers to attend across the watch and jewelry industry,” he adds.
The ribbon cutting takes place on the same day as an incredible night at the Royal Opera House, also located in Covent Garden, to celebrate the landmark 190th anniversary for the multi-generational family business.
Friends of WOLF, including distributors, retail partners and press, are arriving in London from across the globe for a black-tie gala.
For Mr Wolf, who has been working in, then running, the family firm since he finished education, the scale of the anniversary celebrations is a chance to reflect on how successful the company has become.
“As the 5th generation to helm the business it gives me immeasurable pride to have been able to carry the brand to this point in time, it is an amazing journey that we have been on and after so many trials and tribulations we are still standing and moving forward and so to be able to celebrate with a fabulous gala at The Royal Opera House, well, that is a dream come true,” he tells WatchPro.
Recent successes for the company have seen the rollout of WOLF shop-in-shops at Watches of Switzerland showrooms across the UK and United States, which give the brand a similar presence to any of the world’s great watchmakers.
That is a model that WOLF is replicating with other major multiples as well as independent retailers, many of whom are among 350 people that will be celebrating in London today.
Opening the new store means that WOLF partners can see the latest product lines, how to present them in their own showrooms, and immerse themselves in the expanding WOLF universe. “We’ve never been a company to shy away from a challenge and when we decided to have our gala at the Royal Opera House we realised that with over 350 people attending we had to have a local showcase for them to visit, so a pop-up store was the answer,” Mr Wolf says.
“Most important is the chance to demonstrate the strength of our brand and gain first-hand learnings. With this knowledge, we can better understand the challenges that our retailers face and in turn provide them with the necessary tools to make WOLF an even bigger success in their shops.”
WOLF may be excited about the potential for its first boutique, but it is not planning a major rollout of stores and restates its commitment to being a perfect partner for retailers. “We believe that through the success of the shop on Neal Street we will be able to build even stronger relationships with our retailers and find ways to increase our presence in their stores. By showcasing how a shop can look it will enable us to work on the finer details of displays, presentation that we will move immediately into those retail partners that want to increase their business with us,” Mr Wolf outlines.
He will not rule out opening a similar store in the United States, but insists there are no immediate plans. “Let’s see how Neal Street works out for us first,” he insists.
WOLF is often seen as a bellwether for the wider luxury watch business because all those mechanical timepieces need to be kept in perfect condition with a watch winder. According to Mr Wolf, the market is now showing signs of recovering after a difficult 2022. “We had a decent year last year. This year has started off very nicely, great in fact, we are ahead of goal by just under 5%. Are we a bellwether for the luxury watch industry? I am not sure. We’ve had very successful years when the watch business has had challenges. For us it is more about stable growth of the brand, something that has taken many years to achieve,” he concludes.