By Nikhil Kurmala
Since establishing themselves as Europe’s leading watch retailer wasn’t enough, Bucherer acquired Toureau, the largest luxury watch retailer for the United States recently in January. This can be likened to Facebook’s acquisition of WhatsApp back in 2014 since one of their main aims was user growth. This wasn’t enough though. On the 13th of August, Bucherer had announced the acquisition of another US watch retailer, Baron & Leeds.
Founded in 2002, Barons & Leeds help further sinking Bucherer’s roots into the US market. The acquisition further expanding their global footprint in the global watch retailing industry and the company now has a total of 63 stores worldwide reaching countries like Hawaii, Switzerland, Germany, Paris and many more along with the 24 stores in the United States thanks to Toureau.
As the CEO of Bucherer Guido Zumbühl states, “We take great pride in partnering with companies who complement and align with our quest for perfection, warm hospitality, and constantly aspire to delight customers with fascinating brands and products… Baron & Leeds meets all of these criteria and we are excited to welcome them to the Bucherer family.”
Bucherer isn’t the only ones who have been in the business of acquisitions. Recently the Movado Group acquired fashion company, MVMT for a whopping $100 million. Despite making cheap quartz watches, MVMT were able to clock $71 million in revenue in 2017. This just goes to show how even with little to no quality mechanisms, a watch company can become huge just by taking advantage of social media marketing, something which almost no Swiss watch brands are doing besides maybe Tag Heuer.
With the Swiss watch industry experiencing a decline over the past few years, only till recent has it been greeted with slow growth, it is a good move by Bucherer to expand their customer base and diversify their positions globally to keep up with the ever competitive watch industry. However, with brands like MVMT, Daniel Wellington, and others popping out and becoming $100 million dollar companies within a matter of 5 years, compared to Bucherer’s 130 years, acquisitions alone won’t be enough to beat the competition.
