Elite Traveler January-February 2019

INFLUENCE THE BIG INTERVIEW

Kim-EvaWempe on leading a family-owned business

What does it take to run one of the world’s largest watch retailers? As Kim-EvaWempe tells Kristen Shirley, it’s a combination of unwavering conviction, honoring her family’s legacy and taking the long view

It may be surprising to learn that one of the watch world’s most successful retailers doesn’t have its roots in Switzerland, but in a family-owned business headquartered in a former department store in Hamburg. Perhaps even more surprising is that Kim-Eva Wempe, the fourth generation of Wempes to helm the 141-year-old company, doesn’t let her impressive sales numbers dictate her business plan. Instead, she relies on her gut instincts, focuses on the “family” aspect of family-owned and, above all, puts her customer first. Sitting in a well-appointed room in her headquarters, Kim-Eva cuts a striking figure. She’s smart, stylish, open

bit of magic, transforming Wempe into a behemoth in the watch industry while maintaining the familiar feeling of a family-run shop. Early on in our conversation, she declares it’s her family values that give Wempe an edge over the competition, explaining, “We don’t run it by numbers. We run it by values, and we know where to go.” Being family-owned makes Wempe nimble and, frankly, gives her the flexibility to eschew numbers, prioritize people over profit and focus on her deeply held values — even when it means saying no and losing potential revenue. Wempe has 26 stores in Germany, but just one in the US, the world’s second-largest watch market. While her brands have

and direct; it’s easy to see how she inspires loyalty among her employees, many of whom spent the morning raving about how wonderful it is to work for her. She is a mix of interesting contradictions: a female leader in a male-dominated industry; someone who has achieved incredible numbers but isn’t ruled by them; turns down expansion opportunities; and who consistently takes a long-term vision, even when she stands alone. I even see contradictions as she shows me her personal watch collection, which includes brands she says Wempe will never carry (she just likes them, she tells me). But this mix of contradictions and steadfast loyalty to her brands, employees and customers has created a

repeatedly asked her to expand and open more stores, she won’t. The affable and omnipresent leader of Wempe America is Ruediger Albers, whom she considers synonymous with the brand in the US. And since she can’t “clone him,” she won’t open more stores. She freely admits, “We didn’t grow the way we could have grown, but we are still here. We are still happy. Most people who are quite successful, they travel and they come to New York. And if you have good word of mouth, it’s like ‘If you want to know about watches, go to Ruediger. Go to Wempe.’” She attributes this reputation for excellence and personal touch to the company’s success. She travels to her stores for events because she understands her clients want to see her and know she remains involved. In order to offer this level of interaction, there’s a limit to how much the company can expand. Not that it has much room to grow; it’s already one of the world’s largest distributor of the two titans of the watch industry, Patek Philippe and Rolex. Another value she prioritizes is taking the long view, which makes Wempe one of the steadier, more conservative watch retailers. It’s perhaps easier to take this even-handed approach since she’s not worried about annual numbers and appeasing demanding shareholders, and because she can draw on her family’s 141-year history in a single industry: She has dozens of anecdotes of how much the industry has changed. “I remember when I started, it was impossible to sell a Rolex Daytona. Nobody wanted to have it. Nobody.” Today, it’s unfathomable that the ‘ghost