Seiko Australia, a subsidiary of Seiko Watch Corporation, recently announced the opening of the watch brand’s first store in Australia.
The retail outlet, which began trading in early March, is located in the Queen Victoria Building in Sydney and stocks collections including Grand Seiko, Astron and Credor.
It is also said to have several watch models not previously offered in Australia as well as a ‘resident’ Seiko watchmaker to provide customers with technical information and assistance.
According to the company, the store is designed to “allow visitors a unique, exciting and intriguing opportunity to explore the world of Seiko through its history, its craftsmanship and its finest watches”.
The launch, which was marked by an event hosted by Seiko Watch Corporation chief operating officer Hirohiko Umemoto, follows the opening of brand-only outlets in Frankfurt, Moscow and Tokyo in 2015.
Additional stores are expected to open in other cities this year.
While current trading conditions are arguably tough for the watch industry, when Seiko Australia group marketing manager Stuart Smith spoke with Jeweller in late 2015, he said local sales were up 9 per cent on the previous year.
“Internationally, we perform very strongly. Australia is a smaller market in regards to the population but when sales are broken down on population basis to sales, we’re probably one the strongest performing countries,” Smith explained at the time.
Seiko Australia has been operating since 1970. There are currently 970 Seiko retail stockists in Australia.
New store
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