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Ralph Lauren is another master of style and lifestyle. Enter his branded flagship store (or his headquarters on Madison Avenue) and you enter a time machine that instantly transports you to a polo match at the Hamptons. It is a gentleman’s or gentlewoman’s world in which the ritual on the field simulates the controlled social competition in the stands. As one female client said, “When I put on my Ralph Lauren, I put on my game face.” The Ralph Lauren brand is the uniform of American civilization.

The best brands (the ones with real heritage) know that independent businesses, from their logos to their layouts are geared to merchandise to the customer, not to a specific brand. They know that your sales associates are incented to romance and sell any six figure watch or a seven figure ring in stock. The customer who comes in enquiring about a Patek will be treated in a similar (hopefully excellent) fashion as the customer who inquires about a Jaeger-LeCoultre. You will deliver a good experience. But you will not deliver their brand’s experience.

This is why these brands are coming to your home town. What is the best counter-strategy? Well, their strength is their weakness. They are brand-centric. You, if you are at the top of your game, are customer-centric. You have the flexibility to match the offering to the customer’s best interests. You don’t have to sell a Maserati to someone looking for a luxurious hybrid sedan.

Your relationship with the customer will have touch points at every important date on their calendar: anniversary, graduation, grandchild, birthday, and bat mitzvah. You will meet them at the auction held for their favorite charity. You will greet them by name, know their spouse has blue eyes, and know she would look fabulous in the necklace that just arrived no matter what the brand.

Done well, customer-centric trumps brand-specific competition at the local level every time.