Teddy Baldassarre’s New Crocker Park Store Is Built for a Growing Audience

The road to a bustling Crocker Park storefront started simply for Teddy Baldassarre: a camera, a passion for watches and the hope of finding others who shared it.

What began in 2017 as a way to connect with a niche online audience has since grown into a global platform, with more than 1.4 million YouTube subscribers and over 500,000 Instagram followers turning to Baldassarre for education, insight and guidance in the world of watch collecting.

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Less than two years after opening his first “Teddy” storefront at Crocker Park, Baldassarre is already onto his next chapter, moving into a significantly larger space designed to match the scale of his fast-growing business.

The new store, which opened in February at 167 Market St., spans 4,200 square feet and illustrates the brand’s evolution from a content-driven startup into a full-scale retail operation.

That growth is visible not just in its expanded footprint; Baldassarre now leads a team of more than 40 full-time employees and says he has sustained double-digit revenue growth over the past three years.

As business ballooned beyond content, Baldassarre branched into e-commerce and eventually became an authorized dealer for watch brands.

“Within these milestone moments, however, we have always maintained content as the guiding star, connecting with millions of enthusiasts worldwide and educating those interested in the hobby,” he says.

Still, the move into brick-and-mortar retail marked a turning point.

Becoming an authorized retailer for major watch groups and opening the first watch store in Crocker Park allowed the brand to shift from a purely digital presence to a retailer representing more than 30 brands.

The decision to expand so quickly, Baldassarre said, was not part of a long-term plan but a response to demand.

“We simply outgrew the initial space much more quickly than we had anticipated,” he says. “We found that customers were traveling from across the country to visit our store.”

The larger footprint allows the store to better mirror the breadth of Baldassarre’s online content, where he covers nearly every corner of the watch industry. In-store, that translates to a wider range of brands and price points, from about $200 to $50,000.

New additions include Tudor, IWC, Longines and Blancpain, joining existing brands such as Omega, Grand Seiko and Breitling. The lineup of timepieces represents Baldassarre’s broader philosophy of opening doors to the world of high-end watches — especially to newcomers who may feel intimidated by traditional luxury environments.

“My guiding principle in both content and retail is to make watches more accessible,” he said. “I want to create content that I wish I had access to when I was first getting into watches, and a retail store that mirrors the same feel.”

Events have become a key part of that strategy, with some drawing between 500 and 1,000 attendees. Even as the retail side grows, Baldassarre says his online content remains the foundation of the business. 

“We have and always will view content as our main focus,” he said. “It is most often where our audience discovers us and enters the hobby altogether.”

Looking ahead, Baldassarre sees continued expansion across both content and retail, including larger-scale productions and potential international opportunities.

“This new store really represents the culmination of a dream scenario, when a passion can become a business,” he said. “The fact that this whole scenario was achieved in my hometown of Cleveland has made it all the more special.”

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