First Person

Five Questions for…

Ross Brownlee, the new president and COO of Safilo North America, hails from Safilo Far East, where he served as managing director. EB recently chatted with him.

EB What are the differences between the U.S. market and the Asian optical market?

RB From a supplier perspective, we had a much greater weight of our business in the luxury brands (i.e., Gucci, Giorgio Armani) throughout the Asian region while here the market is more segmented providing opportunities for branded offerings at a variety of price points.

EB What are your plans for the direction of Safilo USA?

RB Safilo USA has a solid history of trying to understand and respond to the needs of our customer base. Our customers value the highest in their suppliers, and be it product quality, brand assortment, design variety, or speed of service, we will continue to work step-by-step in raising the bar.

EB How can ECPs best meet today's business challenges?

RB Inventory control, rotation of product, and profitability are now more key than ever in managing a successful practice.

Key then is to understand the customer mix of a given practice. Offering targeted collections that fit these customers, selecting brands that can be relied on for quality, service, and sell though is a much more dependable approach for securing sustainable success.

EB How is the frame market shifting to respond to consumers' shopping slowdown?

RB We have a portfolio of brands that meet different needs and opportunities; and this year, the greatest opportunity has been found in the fashion and designer branded arena as opposed to the top luxury bracket, which has been more sensitive to the consumer slowdown.

All brands need to fight to prove their merit to the ECPs; and the luxury brands, too, have the opportunity to bring more of a contribution, but their ability to do so is linked to how they are distributed and merchandised at the point of sale.

EB How can ECPs keep their sunwear sales moving?

RB Sunwear remains key to overall eye health, with the fashion element providing an additional incentive to spur the purchase. The category also has the ability to bring to life a practice if merchandised with a sufficiently broad assortment. EB

The Personal Touch
	EB: What's surprising about life in the U.S.? RB: Much higher taxes than the roads would seem to justify!
	EB: What's your ideal vacation? RB: A week of golf in the west coast of Scotland with friends and family followed by the opportunity to dry off in the hills of Italy.
	EB: What would you do if you didn't work in optical? RB: Try and stretch out the Scotland/Italy trip.