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Maker Of Eyewear Fit For A Queen Has U.S. Office In Bradenton
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Published: May 19, 2008
BRADENTON — One fashionable eyewear company can claim to have outfitted royalty in both America and Europe.
Queen Elizabeth II has worn Neostyle Boutique eyeglass frames, and former President George H. W. Bush owns the Dynasty frames. Reese Witherspoon wore Neostyle College frames in the movie "Legally Blonde." Some other celebrity clients and their frames:
Queen Elizabeth II wears Neostyle's eyeglass frames. But the King of Rock 'n' Roll, who wore the company's gold-framed aviator glasses with his bejeweled shirts and jumpsuits, made the German company hot in America.
All that was before everyone else -- from Sean "Diddy" Combs to Chanel, Versace and even Cartier, the French jewelry maker -- got into the eyewear business.
Thirty years after Elvis Presley, Neostyle has moved its U.S. distribution center to Bradenton, from where it hopes to reinvigorate the brand and capture the eyes of the wealthy and hip from Miami to Malibu.
Bob Lawson, the company's head of U.S. distribution, said that 15 years ago, when it came to stylish eyewear, his company was the "only game in town."
"Now we have to be much clearer about what niches we're selling to," he said.
In that way Lawson has been charged with "Americanizing" what Neostyle is selling. He is talking to people in New York, Miami, Denver and Los Angeles to see what it is that makes them choose one pair of frames over another. He also is trying to get more celebrities into Neostyle, starting with the most famous artists signed with the Motown label.
The queen remains nice, but not so hip. Elvis, well, he is still hip, but not exactly setting today's fashion trends.
Moving Forward
Knock-offs of Neostyle's most famous glasses sell today for $6 on eBay, and every Elvis impersonator already owns a pair.
Real Neostyle frames retail for $200 to $600, unless they are made of gold. Those go for $5,000 to $15,000.
Analysts and eyewear experts say Neostyle must continue to move forward.
Trying to figure out what is hip to Americans can be dangerous, said Brad VanAuken, who wrote the book "Brand Aid" and is the chief brand strategist for The Blake Project, a brand management consulting company with offices in Tampa, Rochester, N.Y., and Germany.
Targeting hip clientele means nurturing Neostyle's cutting-edge reputation and maybe even scaling back on some of the more conservative or ordinary styles that the company thinks will appeal to Americans, VanAuken said.
Neostyle also should consider taking a page from the spectacle johnny-come-latelys and do something that makes its brand more visible -- on the frames themselves, as well as on celebrities, VanAuken said.
Chanel frames are obvious, because of the back-to-back "Cs" on the arms. Versace also has a distinctive logo. Combs' Sean John frames are distinctive because they are seen so often on their celebrity designer.
At Neostyle, managers always have counted on their company's distinctive designs, high-quality materials -- such as titanium and gold -- and precise German workmanship to set their product apart.
That is what makes Neostyle's products a cut above, says Sharon Foote Katzman, who owns the optical boutique Ioptics on Sarasota's Burns Court and who prides herself on selling exclusive and couture frames.
But Neostyle has a long way to go before it will get back into the top tier of must-have frames, Katzman is quick to add.
Chanel, Gucci and Tom Ford are all in the tier above Neostyle right now because their names are so widely known in the U.S.
"It's not that the product is so wonderful, it's just that it's the fashion level," Katzman said. "It's not based on quality or design but based on the fashion focus on name."
Ioptics does not sell those brands. Rather, it has exclusive contracts with what Katzman describes as top-tier makers such as Oliver Peoples, Anne et Valentin and Loree Rodkin Eye Couture by Sama.
To get into an Ioptics, Neostyle would have to offer exclusivity and the most stylish frames out there. Katzman tries to make sure her clients do not see their frames on a dozen other Sarasota faces.
Brand New World
Neostyle likens itself to Porsche and Mercedes, both manufactured in the same regions of Germany and Italy where Neostyle does its work.
Many designers send their work to China, where the frames are mass produced and the materials are just average, Lawson said.
So what happened? Why did Neostyle lose its luster soon after Elvis died in 1977?
Lawson thinks the U.S. distributors based in California and under contract to Neostyle were not doing enough to sell the brand and not paying attention to trends. At one point, the company had 100 salespeople in the California office, but sales were declining.
Today the direct-to-market company has nine salespeople across the country and they are out daily selling to boutiques and talking to customers about styles and trends. The company has about $2 million in U.S. sales now and is not making a profit here.
The U.S. distribution headquarters is contained in 1,000 square feet in the Bank of America building in downtown Bradenton.
One room is dedicated to inventory, with some space for inspection and repairs. Another room is the sales floor, where one man handles the phones and keeps in touch with salespeople and optical shops across the country.
The third room is Lawson's office, where he is on the phone to Germany at least once a day. The conference calls are rarely short as company officials try to figure out the American market. They are working frantically to try to boost sales to $5 million or even $10 million in the next three years.
"We wanted to regain control," Lawson said. His job is to ensure that "we turn a profit in the years ahead."
Neostyle is working to get into boutiques where customers are looking for quality merchandise and high-end frames. Lawson plans to host trunk shows with optical retailers so that they can talk to customers and get their reaction, but also so the salespeople can work with the opticians to help them generate more revenue.
Through this sort of "micro-marketing," Lawson also has a chance to talk to the customers and try to understand what Americans consider hip. He wants to understand first-hand how to sell to that aspirational market -- Americans willing to spend money on luxury items that make them feel on the cutting edge.
It is a foreign concept for Lawson. In Europe, Neostyle is worn by soccer moms. The women who model the frames in ads look like soccer moms, too.
"Europeans don't tend to be brand junkies," Lawson said. "Americans are much more brand aware."
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