Solstice Sunglass Boutique has forecast sunny skies ahead, and not just because the specialty chain is in the business of retailing shades.
The purveyor of frames by Chanel, Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Emporio Armani, Marc Jacobs and Kate Spade, among another 20 to 30 high-end brands, is anticipating growth after announcing in March that it would almost double its locations to 155 doors by the end of 2008.
The company is also introducing SunSights by Solstice, a concept that will offer designer looks at more approachable price points, like those created by Armani Exchange and the soon-to-be-launched Marc by Marc Jacobs eyewear line. The first SunSights is to open in early 2007, with another 14 anticipated to roll out in the following 12 months.
“[SunSights] is opening up so many different doors for us,” said Ed Jankowski, chief operating officer of Solstice Marketing Concepts, the privately owned parent company of Solstice Sunglass Boutique. “In our expansion, we were coming across retail centers that did not necessarily attract the demographics that we seek out but has a fashion-driven customer nonetheless. And then it just hit us: Why not open stores where fashion continues to be important, but it can still appeal to that customer who can’t spend $210 on a pair of sunglasses (which is our average ticket price in Solstice stores)?”
Jankowski said that from the start, Solstice wanted to position sunglasses as more of a fashion-driven accessory than purely a functional item, which led to its decision to carry designer labels with a wide assortment and to show them within an open-sell format where customers are at their leisure to try on looks.
“We are not a sunglass store, we are an accessories store,” Jankowski said. “Our customer is a fashion consumer who is shopping maybe in the mall and is intrigued by the open-sell format and the assortment. It’s like she is walking into a shoe store or jewelry store. That’s our biggest point of difference.”
To keep the customers coming back, Solstice rotates its windows every three weeks, promoting new launches or tying into recently released ad campaigns.
“Brands are clamoring to get into the windows,” Jankowski said. “Brands love it because sunglasses are an entry-level product for them that can get their name out to a wider audience. Malls also love it because having an image of Gucci or Chanel in a store window reinforces to their shoppers that they are at a mall that carries the latest fashion items.”
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Solstice opened its first boutique in Orlando, Fla., in 1999, under the operation of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton. In 2002, LVMH sold the business, then comprising six stores, to a group of private investors, the largest of which was Safilo Group, the eyewear manufacturer based in Italy. The investment group formed Solstice Marketing Concepts, which has grown the chain to 81 doors, averaging 800 to 1,200 square feet. There are also three off-price outlet stores.
Locations exist in many major U.S. cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, Boston and Atlanta. Solstice opened its new West Coast flagship in Los Angeles in the Westfield Century City mall in 2005 and plans to launch an East Coast flagship in December in Manhattan’s SoHo district. Solstice is also exploring e-commerce and expansion into the Caribbean and Europe over the next year.
“Receiving the award from ACE proves that our intention to make sunglasses a fashion accessory business has been recognized,” Jankowski said.