Hawaiian sunglass brand Maui Jim has become synonymous with classic styling and quality sun lenses. Its products are designed on the Pacific Islands and use Italian and Japanese expertise in their manufacture. The products are supported from distribution and service centres in Peoria Illinois and Braunschweig in Germany.
Peoria also has a prescription lab which glazes prescription sunglasses for its global market. Maui Jim is best known for its colour enhancing and polarising lenses but last year it decided to branch out into the untinted optical business. Peoria has started producing prescription lenses and this summer sees the opening of a state of the art prescription lab in Braunschweig. This will meet the demand for prescription lenses in Europe and support the supply of lenses to other regions of the world.
For an undertaking which could dramatically increase the size of its business Walter Hester, chief executive officer and owner of Maui Jim, is characteristically laid back: ‘Having an optical offering made sense for us,’ he says adding that customer requests for clear lenses had been made for some time. These were rarely produced although clear prescription lenses have been produced by the lab in special circumstances.
The optical venture will not simply put clear lenses in existing Maui Jim frames, he says. A wide range of optical styles were showcased at Opti Munich earlier this year while in the US test marketing of the clear optical product has begun. The ranges will have new models and there will also be lens options such as a blue light blocking lens. While the styling remains classic there are some technical twists such as the use of magnesium to reduce weight. ‘We find it exciting too because we are doing something different,’ says Hester.
‘When we first started we thought we would do all the costing at one price.’ He says this is much simpler at the retail level than everything being an add on to a basic lens. ‘The best option is the first option and it’s a single price.’ So far a beta testing approach has been taken with a limited number of stores handling the product. From January between 800 and 1,000 had the product and as of Vision Expo East in New York everybody will have access to it.
In the light of the Essilor Luxottica merger he agrees that the environment is changing for optical practices. ‘Sometimes it takes a new viewpoint to see opportunities around you,’ he muses.
Just as the frames have changed so have the customers. Hester says one aspect which did surprise him was that the Maui team expected people who liked the sun product to be the optical buyers but it has not worked out like that. ‘Almost 40% of people who bought our optical haven’t bought a sun product from us, we are really excited about it.’
Looking to the future Hester says: ‘The main thing is to be focused on quality and service and provide a product that has a high perceived value.’ Referring to software which allows Maui Jim to analyse sales data he added: ‘We are now fully SAP so we have life time data.’ He said this allows Maui Jim to make sound decisions on what works where and decision for the future. ‘It’s just numbers and they don’t lie.’
Ralph Anderl ic! Berlin
Chris Bennett caught up with ic! Berlin owner, Ralph Anderl
For 20 years Ralph Anderl has been ic! Berlin and ic! Berlin has been Ralph Anderl. Despite his announcement to step down as the head of the innovative German eyewear maker he will remain in a consultative capacity, as he puts it: ‘providing colour’.
So what next for ic! Berlin? Anderl explains:’ My son is 18 and he’s leaving home, I will still be in his future for my lifetime. That’s the same with ic! Berlin, it’s a normal growing up situation. The company needs to leave me and I need to leave the company. The kid needs to leave the house.’
Anderl is fond of tales and relates his story to mice. Some are industrious and work hard, while others provide the colour, the fun and the energy to keep the others going. That’s him.
He says he will be spending more time on the things he enjoys, art, philosophy and fashion. ‘What I am not going to do is start a new eyewear business.’ He said just like with his son he had imparted his knowledge onto the business and now it was their time to go forward in their own way. ‘Do not be afraid, break my rules and show me that I am wrong. I want to see them be brave.’
He said running ic! Berlin had been a dream and all aspects of the story had their place. ‘I was living the dream,’ he says. He saw the power of the hinge and how it could work with his frame designs. While highlights had been setting up production he did not believe in ‘bad’ things happening. Some things may seem bad but their consequences cannot be known.