Prominent displays & new styles focal point in sunglasses biz

Drug Store News, June 18, 1990

Prominent displays & new styles focal point in sunglasses biz

Retailers are focusing on sunglasses with greater intensity, as they look to mine profits from this fashion category. Prominent displays and cross merchandising are increasingly common, as retailers take advantage of the impulse nature of the category.

Manufacturers, at the same time, are offering radical new styles with no end of inventiveness in sight, along with greater marketing sophistication and improved fixtures.

Retail sales of nonprescription sunglasses reached a new high of $1.7 billion in 1989, and manufacturers are developing increasingly specialized approaches to grow the business by appealing to productive consumer segments.

"This is a niche business today," said Marc Orlinsky, senior vp for VSI International, maker of Visual Scene. "A lot of people are doing a lot of different things, and to be successful, you have to address each market instead of approaching things with a broader spectrum."

Whether devoting space for two racks or ten, drug chains are taking advantage of manufacturer efforts to develop lifestyle merchandising approaches, said Alice Myer, advertising manager at Bonneau. "It just makes it easier for consumers. They don't have to spend so much time and can just head to the appropriate spot, whether it be for sports, fashion, or classic styles."

In styling, neons remain big sellers this year. "There's no question that neons help drive the business substantially," said Rich Allen, vp-sales for Opti-Ray. "Our business tends to follow the fashion business and right now neons are big in the fashion industry. People tend to re-accessorize themselves to match what they're wearing." He predicts neons will continue to be a big part of the market, though the category will evolve in a different direction by 1991.

Mary Beth Clay, associate product manager of sunglasses at Foster Grant, already sees neons being "used as an accent, rather than boldly displayed on the total temple or whole frame."

Styles for youthful consumers are increasingly important. "This demographic group is exceptional," said Opti-Ray's Allen. "This younger crowd is helping us to drive the business, because they're tuned in to what the new trends are."

Phil Kahn, vp-merchandising for Sunglass Products, Inc. says that poor quality has hindered this market in the past. "There used to be what we called the `kiddie glass business', which wasn't high-quality," he said. "Now we're seeing better [more durable] products in the market for this group."

New "solar-driven" items, whose frames and lenses change color when exposed to sunlight, could be this year's rage. "You might have white changing to hot pink outside, or light blue to purple," Kahn explained. "These are very popular right now."

PHOTO : Freddy's, the powerhouse deep discounter, creates a vision center concept with twinned

PHOTO : displays of reading glasses and sunglasses.

PHOTO : Prominent end-aisle displays of sunglasses, as at Longs, San Diego, enhance the fashion

PHOTO : image of drug chains and generate impulse sales.