Dakota Watch Company
The Dakota Watch Company is a retail and service company that specializes in watches and watch accessories. The company was founded in 1945 by Albert Cooper under the name Cooper's Fixery in Cincinnati, Ohio. At the time, the company's products consisted mostly of a variety of services ranging from scissor sharpening to watch repair.[1] In 1985 the company changed its focus to watches (both sales and repair) and was accordingly renamed Cooper's Watchworks (Cooper's Watch World in some locations).
Since the early 1990s, Dakota has been designing their own watches under the direction of Martin Cooper (Albert's son).
In 1999 the company was again renamed, this time as Dakota Watch Company. The company is currently operated by brothers David and Martin Cooper with around 100 Dakota Watch Company retail locations in shopping malls across the United States. Dakota remains one of the largest watch retailers based in the United States. In addition to mall locations, The Dakota brand is also sold in hundreds of outdoor specialty shops across the world.[2]
Brands
The Dakota Watch Company creates timepieces under the following brand names:
- Dakota
- Berenger
- Fusion
- Jean Paul
- Moxie
In addition to watches, the Dakota company also designs and manufactures steel, leather, rubber, and copper jewelry and watch bands.
At larger locations, Dakota kiosks sell other brand names as well, such as Kenneth Cole and Timex. Since Dakota has a partnership with Citizen, kiosks carry and warranty Q&Q brand watches (the sister company of Citizen) as well.
References
- Imfeld, Cassandra (2005), "PR Newswire", Encyclopedia of Public Relations, 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks California 91320 United States: SAGE Publications, Inc., doi:10.4135/9781412952545.n322, ISBN 978-0-7619-2733-4CS1 maint: location (link)
- Strandberg, Keith W. "RETAILER PROFILE - DAKOTA WATCHES - Making a success in shopping malls". www.europastar.com. Retrieved 2020-09-10.