Yahoo Finance Breitling Continues Its Retail Expansion With New Boutique in San Francisco
Breitling continues to expand its North American presence, with San Francisco its latest destination.
Its latest store will be the brand’s seventh boutique in California, and is located at 299 Post Street, a prime retail corner of Stockton and Post in the heart of Union Square.
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Breitling will join Kerns Fine Jewelry, which will open both a Patek Philippe boutique and Rolex salon and will open next door at 255 and 259 Post Street to form what will become a destination to shop fine watches.
“It’s the best location of any watch store in the city. San Francisco is a major U.S. city with the local population having a history of being interested in luxury items but also watches and you don’t have that many independent wholesalers and doors that could really represent your line,” said Thierry Prissert, Breitling USA president.
“There are also not a lot of choices in the downtown area, so we were very excited to be able to secure a flagship on such a prestigious location. We also now work with Bucherer, which has a multibrand store in the area, but for us it was what we call ‘white space’ in retail, looking at the demographic and at the importance for tourism of San Francisco as a city, so we are very proud to have secured a long term lease in the prime location.”
Other luxury and experiential retailers in the immediate vicinity include Gucci, Apple, Nike, Tiffany & Co., Graff, Harry Winston and Cartier.
In the past year the Swiss watchmaker has unveiled boutique openings in cities such as Austin and San Antonio, Texas; Honolulu, Hawaii; Miami and New York’s Meatpacking District, which is the only store to boast a coffee bar and lounge-style basement bar. Other stores include the company’s first locations in Atlanta, Dallas and Orange County, Calif.
Breitling’s new single-level space in San Francisco totals 1,400 square feet with 80 square feet of external store front and signage.
“Under the vision and the execution of our CEO, Georges Kern, the brand has tremendously changed over the last six years, in terms of the product offering, marketing, the collection, and rebranding as a brand. The best way to express who we are as a brand is to open a boutique because that’s where you get the right customer service, the right explanation of the brand and you can discover who we are,” Prissert said.
“We still have an amazing network of wholesale doors, so wholesale remains a way of growing the brand. We will always have a multi-channel approach with e-commerce, wholesaling and retail. That’s why the retail strategy is big for us in a period of transformation. For the customer it takes a while to make them understand the changes and to make them see the inclusive, casual yet fun brand that we remain.”
San Francisco is the brand’s 38th store in the U.S., and there are plans for openings in cities such as Columbus, Ohio; Oakbrook, Ill.; Charlotte, N.C.; Edina, Minn., and Jacksonville, Fla. By the end of 2024, Breitling expects to have 43 boutiques in the U.S.
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