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The Extremists
Get in the action with technology- and style-driven eyewear geared to extreme sports
By Erinn Morgan

Extreme options are more fashionable than ever. Shown above: Rudy Project style Ekynox SX Rudy Girl; bottom: Eddie Wall wears Fuse Custom Fleur de Lis by Smith

Are you in the game? The extreme sports crowd digs sports sunwear as well—and is willing to spend the dollars to get the style and function they want. In fact, snowboarders spent $255 million on sunglasses in 2003. According to Board-Trac, skateboarders spent $25.6 million on sunglasses in 2004 and surfers opened their wallets to spend $104.2 million. On average, surfers and skateboarders buy one pair of sunglasses per year at an average price of $63.

Surfers, snowboarders, skateboarders, dirt bikers, and mountain bikers require technical performance. These action sports enthusiasts also covet cool style. It is a match made in heaven for an
optical retailer—an audience that needs and wants your products. The question is: Are you targeting them?

Those who are, say this niche business is growing. "Action sports eyewear continues to be strong for us," says Dave Weiler, sport buyer at Iacon, which has over 100 sunglass specialty stores nationwide. "And I believe a lot of our customers do participate in action sports."

At SportRx.com, an Internet retailer of prescription sports eyewear with a brick-and-mortar presence in San Diego, the extreme eyewear segment is a huge part of the business. "It has simply exploded for us," says optician and owner Gabby Bloch.

WHO'S GOING TO EXTREMES?

This is truly the customer who wants it all—style, performance, and safety with new technology leading the pack as a performance booster. "Sports eyewear technology is getting better all the time as far as fit and coverage," says Bret Hunter, owner of two Sports Optical locations in the Denver area. "And that's not just for lenses, it's frames too."

Action sports enthusiasts are also style-conscious. "It is really about how cool the brand is," says Weiler. "Surfers rarely wear eyewear in the water, but they definitely want something hip and cool for afterwards."

As a result, many sports eyewear companies have amped up their style quotient, coming out with products that mimic trends in fashion eyewear. "Even goggles have really become a fashion statement," says Weiler.

For example, new goggle styles include unique bands, some customizable and some hopped up with Swarovski crystals. Other sports eyewear has followed the rimless trend or the return to oversized frames.

Still, many sports participants are purists and prefer straight technology and performance in their eyewear. "Many people will buy something sport specific for function—some even want to match their bike," says Richard Young, OD, and owner of Main Street Optometry in Northport, N.Y. "And they will buy something more stylish for everyday wear."

PERFORMING IN-STORE

Your knowledge of this category is crucial to the success of your presentation. There certainly is a lot to know about the sport-specific, performance and style elements to each pair of sports eyewear. "Everybody here is trained on what people need to do for their sport—and what they need to see," says Bloch.

At Tom's Sportique Eyewear in Boulder, Colo., owner/optician Tom Buell says there are two points to successfully fitting sports eyewear. "Picking the right frame design that serves the purpose is one," he says.

"Point number two is that you have to be conscious of what you're creating the prescription in," he adds. "Often, we use a brown polarized lens or there are more polarized photochromic lenses coming out."

When it boils down to presentation, ECPs recommend starting with questions about their sport. Consider these following questions when fitting sports eyewear:

►What isyour sport?

Understand the special needs of extreme athletes. Shown top right: Wiley-X style Top Jimmie. Above: Eric Rassmussen wears LAZOR for Zeal Optics

►What is the terrain?

►When are you out?

►Are you covering contact lenses?

In addition, Hunter recommends asking customers to bring in their helmet for eyewear fittings.

MARKETING YOUR NICHE

There are numerous ways to promote your dispensary as the stop for sports eyewear. To make it your main focus, name your business accordingly. "The name of your business says it all," says Hunter.

Even if it is not your main focus, you can draw attention to your selection of action sports eyewear by
promoting it in streetfront windows or separating it in the dispensary. At Tom's Sportique Eyewear, the shop is split with sunglasses on one side and ophthalmic selection on the other.

While many ECPs say they get most of their customers through word-of-mouth referrals, there is another sure-fire way to target the action sports enthusiast. "We get referrals from other sports shops in the area," says Buell.

Building relationships with these types of shops can be a strong asset to increasing your business.

Targeted promotions can also boost the number of sports-specific customers walking in the door. "I felt like there was a falloff in people buying goggles a few years ago," says Weiler. "So, I did a promotion that started with a pricepoint goggle and went all the way up to a $220 polarized goggle. There was something for everybody. Our growth in that category has been incredible."