Wempe is still waiting for news of what Rolex has planned for its new headquarters in New York.
Rolex revealed plans to build its own 25-floor building on 5th Avenue in 2019, and demolished its existing building on the same plot last year.
That building housed a Rolex boutique at street level, run by Wempe, but the German-based luxury retailer has not yet heard whether it will secure a deal to run a new store for the watchmaker when the building opens.
“We don’t have enough information yet about the plan for that building,” Ruediger Albers, president of Wempe US, tells WatchPro in an interview to be published in the March edition of the magazine.
Rolex is transformative as an anchor brand for any watch retailer, and Wempe has invested in improving its presentation for the marque in its multibrand showroom on 5th Avenue.
“We have expanded our Rolex showroom into the lobby of the Peninsula Hotel to get more space and more privacy for our customers. It came out perfectly with comfortable sitting areas and a true Rolex feel,” Mr Albers says.
Artist impressions of the new Rolex skyscraper in Manhatten show a vast retail showroom opening onto the famous shopping thoroughfare, but whether Rolex will directly run the store directly (thought to be unlikely) or work with a partner have not been disclosed.
Over in London, Watches of Switzerland Group is opening a three-floor Rolex flagship on the world famous Bond Street this year.
As that plan came to light, news also emerged that Wempe had lost its Rolex agency on the same street and has taken the decision to close its showroom, which has been on the same site since 1997.
A completion date for the new Rolex headquarters in Manhattan has not been announced.
