reporter2
03-09-13, 09:46
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/archive/saturday/premium/top-stories/emperor-muscles-crowded-market-20130831-0
Published August 31, 2013
Emperor muscles in on crowded market
Luxury watch retailer to flash jewellery along with its timepieces
By Chuang Peck Ming [email protected]
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/archive/saturday/sites/businesstimes.com.sg/files/imagecache/image_300x200/BT_20130831_PEMPEROR_L7SS_735605.jpg
CONFIDENT
Emperor's jewellery, sold side by side with the timepieces, will help make a difference, says chairwoman Cindy Yeung. - PHOTO: ARTHUR LEE
HONG KONG's biggest retail chain for luxury timepieces, Emperor Watch & Jewellery, has set up shop in Singapore.
Its arrival is set to make the local market for high-end watches even more crowded - and squeeze business further for existing players.
Already sales have slowed for many of the multi-brand stores and mono-brand boutiques.
The Hour Glass, one of the top three local watch retailers, reported flat earnings as sales dipped for the financial year ending March 2013. While sales climbed at Cortina, another of the top retailers, that's because it has opened two new boutiques which pushed up costs. And its profits have plunged.
The remaining top retailer, Sincere Watch, which now has a Hong Kong owner and is no longer listed on the stock exchange here, doesn't disclose its sales and profits.
More tellingly, Singapore was the only one among the 15 biggest global markets for Swiss timepieces that saw imports fall in 2012 - down 1.9 per cent to 1.12 billion Swiss francs (S$1.5 billion), according to the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry.
The year-on-year decline was extended in the first seven months of this year, when imports dropped 2.8 per cent.
With some 50 luxury watch outlets concentrated mainly on Orchard Road, in the Raffles City zone and Marina Bay Sands in a tiny city, Emperor Watch's chairwoman Cindy Yeung readily concedes that the Singapore market is "saturated". But the newcomer is confident that it has what it takes to win a share of the high-end watch market here.
Emperor Watch, which has been listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange since 2008, is part of the Hong Kong-based multi-billion dollar Emperor Group headed by Ms Yeung's father Albert. The group also has businesses in financial services, property, hotels, casinos, publishing, entertainment and films, furniture and food and restaurants.
The property connections can help Emperor Watch secure good locations in Singapore, according to Ms Yeung. Emperor's long-established ties - 70 years - in Hong Kong with the big watch names like Cartier, Omega, Patek Philippe and Rolex will also come in handy in Singapore to offer what customers want. Ms Yeung, who has university degrees in business and gemology from the United States, is especially sure that Emperor's jewellery, sold side by side with the timepieces, will help make a difference and draw in the crowd.
If luxury watch sales have reached their limits, the jewellery business - diamonds and jade in particular - still has room for growth in the Singapore market, according to her. And Emperor is good at growing the business.
"We have been selling jewellery for a long time," Ms Yeung says. "We know the industry, we have many sources and we have the expertise to educate customers."
She claims that you can buy at Emperor's stores jewellery with international design and craftsmanship at a fraction of the prices of similar pieces sold by international brands.
Then there's the links to the movie business, which will add extra sparkle to Emperor Watch's marketing pull.
"We can ask our artistes from Hong Kong to come for ribbon cuttings and for events to attract customers," Ms Yeung says.
Besides an overcrowded market and being a latecomer, industry observers think Emperor Watch is also handicapped by its shop location. All its four outlets are in Hilton Hotel, at the quieter end of Orchard Road.
But Ms Yeung says Emperor Watch has plans to open up to five more shops on Orchard Road, in Suntec City and Marina Bay Sands in three years' time. It's even prepared to bring the plans forward through acquisitions.
In fact, industry sources say Emperor Watch was earlier in talks to buy the Watches of Switzerland chain, which already has stores in the Paragon and Centrepoint shopping malls on Orchard Road. But the proposed purchase fell through.
Ms Yeung says Singapore is Emperor Watch's first stop outside Hong Kong. It wants to use Singapore as a stepping stone into Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam in the next few years.
"We have been in Hong Kong for a long time," she says. "We want to build up a brand not only in Hong Kong but also in South-east Asia."
Published August 31, 2013
Emperor muscles in on crowded market
Luxury watch retailer to flash jewellery along with its timepieces
By Chuang Peck Ming [email protected]
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/archive/saturday/sites/businesstimes.com.sg/files/imagecache/image_300x200/BT_20130831_PEMPEROR_L7SS_735605.jpg
CONFIDENT
Emperor's jewellery, sold side by side with the timepieces, will help make a difference, says chairwoman Cindy Yeung. - PHOTO: ARTHUR LEE
HONG KONG's biggest retail chain for luxury timepieces, Emperor Watch & Jewellery, has set up shop in Singapore.
Its arrival is set to make the local market for high-end watches even more crowded - and squeeze business further for existing players.
Already sales have slowed for many of the multi-brand stores and mono-brand boutiques.
The Hour Glass, one of the top three local watch retailers, reported flat earnings as sales dipped for the financial year ending March 2013. While sales climbed at Cortina, another of the top retailers, that's because it has opened two new boutiques which pushed up costs. And its profits have plunged.
The remaining top retailer, Sincere Watch, which now has a Hong Kong owner and is no longer listed on the stock exchange here, doesn't disclose its sales and profits.
More tellingly, Singapore was the only one among the 15 biggest global markets for Swiss timepieces that saw imports fall in 2012 - down 1.9 per cent to 1.12 billion Swiss francs (S$1.5 billion), according to the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry.
The year-on-year decline was extended in the first seven months of this year, when imports dropped 2.8 per cent.
With some 50 luxury watch outlets concentrated mainly on Orchard Road, in the Raffles City zone and Marina Bay Sands in a tiny city, Emperor Watch's chairwoman Cindy Yeung readily concedes that the Singapore market is "saturated". But the newcomer is confident that it has what it takes to win a share of the high-end watch market here.
Emperor Watch, which has been listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange since 2008, is part of the Hong Kong-based multi-billion dollar Emperor Group headed by Ms Yeung's father Albert. The group also has businesses in financial services, property, hotels, casinos, publishing, entertainment and films, furniture and food and restaurants.
The property connections can help Emperor Watch secure good locations in Singapore, according to Ms Yeung. Emperor's long-established ties - 70 years - in Hong Kong with the big watch names like Cartier, Omega, Patek Philippe and Rolex will also come in handy in Singapore to offer what customers want. Ms Yeung, who has university degrees in business and gemology from the United States, is especially sure that Emperor's jewellery, sold side by side with the timepieces, will help make a difference and draw in the crowd.
If luxury watch sales have reached their limits, the jewellery business - diamonds and jade in particular - still has room for growth in the Singapore market, according to her. And Emperor is good at growing the business.
"We have been selling jewellery for a long time," Ms Yeung says. "We know the industry, we have many sources and we have the expertise to educate customers."
She claims that you can buy at Emperor's stores jewellery with international design and craftsmanship at a fraction of the prices of similar pieces sold by international brands.
Then there's the links to the movie business, which will add extra sparkle to Emperor Watch's marketing pull.
"We can ask our artistes from Hong Kong to come for ribbon cuttings and for events to attract customers," Ms Yeung says.
Besides an overcrowded market and being a latecomer, industry observers think Emperor Watch is also handicapped by its shop location. All its four outlets are in Hilton Hotel, at the quieter end of Orchard Road.
But Ms Yeung says Emperor Watch has plans to open up to five more shops on Orchard Road, in Suntec City and Marina Bay Sands in three years' time. It's even prepared to bring the plans forward through acquisitions.
In fact, industry sources say Emperor Watch was earlier in talks to buy the Watches of Switzerland chain, which already has stores in the Paragon and Centrepoint shopping malls on Orchard Road. But the proposed purchase fell through.
Ms Yeung says Singapore is Emperor Watch's first stop outside Hong Kong. It wants to use Singapore as a stepping stone into Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam in the next few years.
"We have been in Hong Kong for a long time," she says. "We want to build up a brand not only in Hong Kong but also in South-east Asia."