Swatch boss says “sometimes you cannot control everything” amid Royal Pop crowd chaos
Swatch Group CEO Nick Hayek Jr. has defended the riotous scenes across various Swatch stores around the world during the launch of the AP x Swatch ‘Royal Pop.’
Speaking to the BBC in the UK, Hayek said: “Having crowds at the beginning of the launch of [a] product should not be bad news, it should be something that is good news.”
He acknowledged that there had been “overcrowding like hell” at some stores, but felt that Swatch had done its due diligence because it “clearly communicated that this is not a one-day event” to its customers.
His comments come in the light of some of the shops having to shut as a result of the extent of the disruptive and occasionally violent behaviour by some fans.
“Most of the authorities, they co-operated with us from the beginning and also most of the shopping malls. And there, where they co-operated with us from the beginning, it went well,” Hayek continued.
“There can be certain situations that are tense and everybody did their best, but sometimes you cannot control everything,” adding that he believed the launch overall had been “extraordinary.”
He also expressed indifference to the fact that many buyers of the Royal Pop have flipped them on the secondary market for significant profit. “If somebody thinks instead of keeping it for his passion, he is reselling it, this is happening in the luxury market all the time,” he said in the same BBC interview.
Swatch Group said that only 20 out of 220 stores globally were affected, despite the ugly scenes at the weekend.
