Las Vegas Show - Talk about the Odds (Part 2)
WORLDTEMPUS - 26 June 2010
Concurrent with the JCK Las Vegas Show is Swiss Watch by JCK, held in the upper floors of the Venetian hotel, which is attached to the Sands Convention Center, in luxury suites of varying sizes. Exhibitors here rent suites for various numbers of days during the show and hold appointment-only meetings with retailers and press. Most of the exhibitors in the suites remain there for three to four days, with most opening their suite doors on Friday and closing them at the end of business on Sunday. These suites range in size and offer a more intimate, luxurious way to meet with clients.
"The suites are more spacious and allow us to create an environment to show our brand properly," says Stacie Orloff, president of Bell & Ross in the United States. "It is a relaxed atmosphere and there is room to accommodate multiple retailers at one time. You don't have that on a show floor."
Indeed, most of the brands exhibiting in the suites are those who directly control their distribution and work with only select retailers. Suite exhibitors this year included Harry Winston, Chopard, Carl F. Bucherer, IWC, Bedat, Rebellion, Franc Vila, Corum, Bell & Ross, Bovet, Technomarine, Cuervo y Sobrinos, and Ulysse Nardin.
"Last year was the first year we showed in the suites," says Steven E. Cohen, CEO of Technomarine USA. He opened the Technomarine suite from Friday through Sunday to fulfill 70 appointments. "At our price point, there could be a lot of retailers interested in our brand, but we want to be selective; the suite lets us be discriminating."
Similarly, Don Fitzhenry, U.S. distributor of Cuervo y Sobrinos and Moser & Cie, says he feels it is important to be off the show floor and in a more controlled environment. "The show floor is geographically retarded; there is rope gold sold next to $20,000 watches, and bead jewelry next to that. Here, we all offer similar luxury products to similar customers."
Couture
Also drawing luxury retailers and typically beginning just a day or two before the JCK Las Vegas Show, the high-end Couture Show takes place across the street at the Wynn Resort in its ballrooms and villas. Here again, exhibitors show on the show floor or in villas situated on the golf course. Among those on the show floor Fendi (who this year introduced its $15,000-and-up Crazy Carats watch), Philip Stein, and Tutima can be found. Breitling, Charriol, David Yurman, and others showed in private villas this year. At this event retailers are invited guests, evening soirees are held, and lunch, afternoon coffee and snacks are served on the show floor.
Until this year, it was often a difficult choice for exhibitors to determine which show to set up shop in and where to do so. Watch brands needed to determine if they wanted to reach a wide range of retailers or be selective. But now, as JCK moves to Mandalay Bay in 2011, many exhibitors—especially those currently exhibiting in the JCK suites—say they're not happy with the decision to move all the way down The Strip, Las Vegas's famed gambling mile. A good percentage of the luxury suite exhibitors stated that they recognize the need to stay closer to the luxury exhibitors at Couture and are already considering migrating to that show next year instead of south on The Strip.
"We want to keep the allure of luxury when we exhibit in Vegas; this has to be a destination point," says Johnny Wizman, president and CEO of Luxury Montres LLC, which distributes Bedat, Rebellion, and Franc Vila in the United States. "Simply put, we won't be at Mandalay Bay next year."
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