Swiss timing right for King Street

Watches of Switzerland has extended its lease at historic King Street, signing on for a further 10 years at the upmarket fashion enclave.

The ultra-high-end Swiss watch retailer will notch up 20 years at 38 King Street in 2017, with a significant revamp of the store to occur in coming weeks.

Elite Property Group’s Aldo Gianotti brokered the extension of the lease.

Watches of Switzerland chairman Eric van der Griend said there was no consideration made for an alternate location, with King Street’s collection of luxury stores, including Gucci, Prada, Tiffany and Louis Vuitton, a key attraction to stay.

Mr van der Griend highlighted Louis Vuitton as an early adopter of the precinct.

“One by one they’ve come along and it’s been great, because it’s a real nice little enclave there now,” he said.

“It’s just got that charm about it with the heritage facade and everything; King Street is a bit iconic and it’s special for Perth to have that grouping of those names, all within 100 metres of each other.”

Mr van der Griend said the coming revamp would bring the store into line with new-look outlets in Sydney and Melbourne.

It’s expected the works will be completed by late September.

Mr van der Griend said the slowing economy hadn’t dramatically affected demand for expensive watches.

“We didn’t have any huge growth in a short period of time when the boom was on, and now similarly we’re not having this downturn now that things are a bit quieter,” he said.

Mr van der Griend said more recently arrived high-end brands such as Vacheron Constantin and Lange & Sohne, whose watches range between $50,000 and $500,000, would add to the redeveloped store’s offering.

“We’ve seen that the average sales price has increased quite significantly, it’s probably double what it was two years ago,” he said.

“That comes back to product – the good thing we see there is that people are very aware of brands and to have them in Perth is a great benefit.”