CORTINA Watch is now happily ensconced in Fahrenheit 88, Kuala Lumpur. While they might have just relocated to this mall from another retail establishment across the road, the company is not new to this building that was formerly known as KL Plaza.
“We were actually here before, back in 1994,” explained Cortina Watch chief operating officer Jeremy Lim.
“We are still along Jalan Bukit Bintang, this is a prime location and it is a corner store,” he added.
The elegant 3,000sq ft Cortina Watch boutique in Fahrenheit 88 held its grand opening recently. The group retails over 50 brands, including Patek Philippe, Girard-Perregaux and Rolex.
Making a statement: Models showing the various brands of timepieces at the Cortina Watch boutique opening in Fahrenheit 88. Since its founding in 1972 by Jeremy’s father, Anthony Lim, the Singapore-based company now operates 19 stores in Asia, having penetrated Thailand, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
“We have been aggressively expanding in the past three to four years,” Jeremy says. “Penang was our first foray out of the Klang Valley, when we opened in 2007,” he said of their Rolex boutique. That was rapidly followed by a Cortina Watch multi-brand store on the island a year later, as well as their first in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.
“Both Penang and Kota Kinabalu are mature markets, have international airports and a vibrant tourism industry,” said Jeremy.
“Our focus now is that the existing outlets perform. We are present in many of the major malls so, for now, we do not plan to spread ourselves out too much,” he said.
While conceding that the watch market in Kuala Lumpur is saturated, he said Cortina Watch had found a niche by emphasising service, creating a boutique environment and planning marketing activities on a regional basis.
“Tourists have better incentives to buy watches here,” he pointed out, adding that Malaysia’s watch industry records annual sales of at least RM1.2bil.
Watches are among the luxury goods for which import duties have been waived by the Government.
On the back of such support, Cortina Watch charted between RM96mil and RM100mil sales in Malaysia, which according to Jeremy, contributed 15% to the group’s turnover.
“It has been a progression. Fifteen years ago Cortina was also selling watches that were at mid-price point. Now we have more luxury brands and our regular clients are buying those too.
“The Internet has changed the way the industry works. Customers are informed now about their next purchase before they step into the shop. So our service had to change, our staff must be equipped with more technical knowledge as there is no privileged information any more. That said, there are some customers who do rely on us to share knowledge about the product,” he said.
He added that Cortina’s clientele is a good mix of people who buy pieces based on brand prestige and those who look for specific complications.
Naturally, Cortina Watch has not enjoyed its longevity without looking ahead to the future.
“We have been grooming the next generation of clients by organising various activities every year and updated our marketing platform, for example reaching them via social media,” said Jeremy.
Combined with a philosophy of “always working for the customer,” Cortina Watch has the formula to ensure time stays on its side.
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