Is it true that Oakley is going to buy Oliver Peoples ? Who else has heard this ? ? ?
Oakley Buying Oliver Peoples ? ? ?
Is it true that Oakley is going to buy Oliver Peoples ? Who else has heard this ? ? ?
Yes i have heard confirmed sources Oliver Peoples is bought out by Oakley. In my opinion it is a very cheap move. I knew it was gonna happen a while ago. They are made so Sh*tty now. Collections back as far as '99 were still decent. The quality is now COMPLETELY shot. They say they didnt swtcih factories, but truth is that i think know they did. You can feel the difference of the frames once you touch it. Their exclusitivity is no longer anymore exclusive than Prada. LOL very sad....
Does this portend the demise of the truly "exclusive" frame brand strategy? I wasn't in that business then, but a lot of bucks were made in the '90 with Oliver Peoples, LA Eyeworks, Mikli, Lafont, Matsuda, etc., etc.
Is it now really more about mass merchandising?
Maybe Jedi or Carruthers have an opinion?
I don't quite understand the "exclusive" strategy. Most of those brands want to sell as much as possible and in so doing they lose their appeal. Look at Hilfiger in clothing, for example.
The brands of the 90's will die and be replaced by newer, smarter brands. Smart marketing however seems to be somewhat rare in the eyeglass business. Transitions and Lenscrafters are 2 of the best examples of marketing this business has ever seen.
Over exposure can be a huge problem.Originally Posted by Jason Carruthers
A lot of the exculusive strategist take the premium route. Now if everyone drives a Porche then what is the point in getting a Porche?
While I understand your opinion that these brands want to sell as much as possible if they are available in every store they may saturate their image. While if that brand is available in only one or two stores in the city (if they are a premium brand) they could do very well out of that one outlet.
I'd be interested to hear confirmation of this too. Oakley keeps zipped up TIGHT about everything PR--when Oakley and Motorola announced their partnership some months back, our rep told us she'd heard nothing about it at their big annual meeting, which took place a day or two before the public Oakley-Moto announcement.
About a possible merger, it seems like a really weird fit, other than that they're kind of geographically close.
There has not been any announcement by Oakley.
As a publicly traded company there would be legal risks of disclosing material info that might affect the stock price to sales reps before a public disclosure. This might be the reason they told reps nothing about the Motorola deal.
There are elements that may create a fit between OO and OP. Both have Rx and sunglasses, each has both retail stores and external distribution, both have above average price points, both have perceived cache.
OO has been expanding in a variety of non-organic ways - retail acquisitions, new product lines, the Thump and Motorola deals. They have the cash and market position to move aggressively and they are doing so.
Another factor is defensive. LUX produces around 10% of OO's revenues. They have arm wrestled in the past. It would not be illogical for OO to expect to lose this business at some point. Therefore OO is building an alternative base. Certainly LUX would love to drop OO but thus far Hut customers are voting no. For now OO is winning on every side - sales to the Hut, sales to Hut competitors and sales from their own stores. These are not dumb guys.
I have no way to know if the OP rumor is true. It is not an illogical move, however.
Good insight, Impact.
One retail venue they seem to be paying little attention to is the independent optical. Maybe that's in their best interests, being a plano sun company. Doesn't seem like they need us, really. (Same old story with Luxottica.)
Nevertheless, they have tried to move into the ophthalmic arena, and, IMO, have stunk it up. Not with poor quality, but with unmarketable frame styles. OP (while not "all that", in my book) does the ophthalmic well.
If Oakley's strategy is to better penetrate independent opticals, Peoples could help them, there. Maybe that's part of the equation?
Oakley's opthalmic styles are getting better and better, and, like many highly stylized frame lines (Cazal springs to mind), is probably very region-specific. This is Oakley's back yard--I went to high school with Jim Jannard's kids. This is Oakley's original market. As such, we do very well with it. However, their RX sunglass program is unbelievably confusing--and I've taken the time to try and understand it--and so we hardly do anything through their RX lab (although I think their quality is reasonably good).
As far as the match with Oliver Peoples...I just don't get it. A technologically-forward-thinking primarily-sunglass-based company (though diversifying rapidly) and a traditional/classic-styled RX/Sun (though more RX focused) company? Look, I really like Oliver Peoples (I'm wearing mine right now--Zuko, best style ever) and I'm...fond of Oakley, but I just don't see a match making sense, unless it's a wholly-owned, independently-run subsidiary.
I tell my customers that if they've heard of it, it's not an exclusive. The only true exclusives are custom made private labels. (No, not mass produced frames that you put YOUR name on!)
It Is True
Yes it is true, Oakley is buying Oliver Peoples. I guess this is the end of the line for the so called, EXCLUSIVE OP line. Everybody in my area is carrying it lately, they even opened a shop 100 feet from there own Oliver Peoples store in Los Angeles carrying it.
I have decided to stick with Sama and make that my premier high end line. THis is a company that is putting out consistently quality and unique product the whole time keeping the integrity of exlusivity intact. They promised me they would keep me exclusive and they have.
OP's quality was going downhill anyway, I noticed alot more of the product was getting made in China and they could not keep up with there backorders. I placed a rather large order with them a few weeks back and only received 4 frames, that is right, 4 frames. If anything, the oakley deal should help there backorder situation, but I am going to get rid of OP and start concentrating on my Sama collection.. ANybody else have any recommendations for a TRULY exclusive high end line? Lets discuss it...
No offense intended, but please if you are making claims on this board back it up with a press release or a link to something tangible, hearsay is not proof.
I think exclusivity will be a thing of the past. It has always been up to the rep or to the company to declare exclusivity, never the individual account. Most rep with higher end lines do a good job spreading the line out with few over-lapping accts. On a personal note we never get priced shopped on frames and I know we aren't "exclusive" on all of them. I think what we will see more off is brand extensions. A particular brand for a particular acct. Oakley has a lower priced brand for "board" shops, Mikli has another "brand" called PACT and will be coming out with Mikli Studio soon. This type of positioning will give the brand more exposure, and open more accounts while giving something back to accounts that have supported them all along.
ExclusiveOnly, you might want to check out Face a Face, Theo, Judith Leiber and Gold and Wood.
So far I could not find any press release on the subject.
Therefore it is just a rumor..................until confirmed.
I have heard this from people who are usually right about this kind of thing...but there is definetly no definative answer from either side about this being the case. Oakley has already dove into the luxury arena buying a few luxury stores through icon but I do not think this is actually going to go through. Larry Leight is still pretty young and I don't see him cutting his ties to the industry yet. But we all get burnt out right? If they do would they retain Larry as the designer? Would he be willing to work for Oakley? He would probably sign an agreement that would restrict him from designing any other line for a minimum of 3 years.
too many questions. I don't know if it could be for real.
aaron
Jedi,
I spoke to Eric today about this. (I think he's the rep for your store as well.) Anyway, he says that it's in a part of the process called "due diligence"; I'm not familiar with business terminology, so I'm not sure what that means. But Eric confirmed that Oakley is looking at OP's books right now.
I know this isn't exactly tangible proof, but I don't think it's only a rumour.
Due diligence is a process of investigation and confirmation of facts prior to a deal. If they are in fact in DD it would indicate a serious intent but also there is no assurance a deal will happen. Often issues are found that troubles the potential buyer and the acquisition price is likely not yet agreed to.
This is fact, not rumor : Oakley has not, as of yet, acquired Oliver Peoples.
making a spectacle
Due Dilligence is the process of doing your homework to make sure everything is right. So he would be looking into the financing of it, the risk associated with it, the feasibility, ect ect
i was responding to previous posts that stated that op was indeed sold, which is innacurate.
the 2 parties are in contact, but, nothing is even near sold as of now.
i'm in contact with my wife about having sex at some point, but as of right now i still have my clothes on ... so that's to be considered nothing more than rumor and innuendo as well.
making a spectacle
as of right now i have a better chance than oakley of getting all the way to the hoop.
making a spectacle
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