{"id":233876,"date":"2026-05-16T15:39:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T15:39:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/233876\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T15:39:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T15:39:08","slug":"chaos-at-nyc-swatch-stores-as-brand-launches-limited-edition-collaboration-with-one-store-forced-to-close","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/233876\/","title":{"rendered":"Chaos at NYC Swatch stores as brand launches limited-edition collaboration \u2014 with one store forced to close"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Chaos erupted outside NYC Swatch stores as cut-throat resellers and watch enthusiasts <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/05\/15\/lifestyle\/new-yorkers-create-encampment-for-400-plastic-watch-filled-with-paid-line-sitters-and-a-shocking-overdose\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">impatiently waited for a new release<\/a> \u2013 causing the SoHo location to abruptly close amid the disastrous launch.<\/p>\n<p>Hundreds of shoppers were seen swarming the stores in SoHo and Times Square Saturday morning, rounding out about a week of lengthy lines that saw the city\u2019s sidewalks resembling tent encampments.<\/p>\n<p>Chaos erupted outside a Swatch store in Times Square as watch enthusiasts impatiently waited for a new product release. Stephen Yang for NY Post<\/p>\n<p>SoHo location was forced to abruptly close amid the disastrous launch. Robert Miller for NY Post<\/p>\n<p>The frenzy is centered around the latest collaboration between Swatch and Audemars Piguet \u2014 a limited-edition, bioceramic pocket watch that merges Audemars Piguet\u2019s iconic Royal Oak with Swatch\u2019s vibrant POP line from the 1980s.<\/p>\n<p>At the Time Square location, some buyers were let into the store well before the 10 a.m. scheduled opening time \u2013 and the coveted watches were sold out in an hour.<\/p>\n<p>The frenzy is centered around the latest collaboration between Swatch and Audemars Piguet. Stephen Yang for NY Post<\/p>\n<p>At the SoHo store, the crowd reportedly got so out of hand, the location had to close its doors.<\/p>\n<p>The chaos comes days after someone overdosed while waiting for the weekend product release.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Chaos erupted outside NYC Swatch stores as cut-throat resellers and watch enthusiasts impatiently waited for a new release&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":233877,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[57,9,24,56,63,65,64,5943,38970,58,11847],"class_list":["post-233876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-metro","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news","tag-retail","tag-smartwatches","tag-us-news","tag-watches"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233876","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=233876"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233876\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/233877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=233876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=233876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=233876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}