first person

five Questions for …

Cedric Yhuel, Alain Mikli USA's CEO, has been in place for nearly a year, and in that time has made significant changes to the way the company does business with ECPs. He sat down recently with EB's editors to discuss the future of the firm's U.S. operations.

EB What changes are you making at Alain Mikli U.S.A.?

CY We need to create a real partnership with the customers. We don't want to work with many, many clients. We want to work well and since we are in a luxury business, that requires an outstanding customer service. It's one of my obsessions: helping our opticians!

We want to keep our opticians happy by making sure that our clients' clients are happy. This is the reason why my first decision was to bring in a new customer service manager to implement a “Yes I can” attitude when dealing with the client.

EB How are your retail operations in the U.S. expanding?

CY In the U.S., we will open 10 new stores in two to three years. This year, two in California, maybe one in Chicago.

This is as valuable as strong marketing campaigns. Luxury products have to be everywhere in the world with their own stores. When you have stores, you create an atmosphere and an experience around the brand. These new stores will give us a competitive advantage compared with smaller boutique brands who can't afford to invest in flagship stores.

EB How will you continue to build Alain Mikli in the U.S.?

CY We are trying to sell more, but we want to control the way we do it. We did close accounts. Now the distribution is good and what we want is to grow with our existing customers. We have to help our clients to increase their sell out.

We have two marketing programs according to the type of client. Silver level clients are long-term luxury dealers selected to sell Alain Mikli and Philippe Starck. They get P.O.P. and merchandising to help to start.

Gold level accounts have a larger buy-in and receive cabinets for Alain Mikli and Philippe Starck collections. In addition, the name and address of gold-level dispensaries are indicated on all national advertising campaign ads paid by Alain Mikli and Starck Eyes.

EB How will Vuarnet fit in the Alain Mikli portfolio?

CY Vuarnet is not a luxury brand, but it is an innovative brand. Vuarnet has been setting the standard for high performance lenses since Jean Vuarnet won the Winter Olympic games in 1960 in Squaw Valley.

With a lower price point than Alain Mikli, the distribution of Vuarnet will be broader. But that doesn't mean that we will sell to everybody. We will control the distribution to protect its image and avoid stock shortage. For the first year, we plan to sell to a limited selection of 1,000 doors. We have just hired our Vuarnet national sales manager, Craig Dolloff, who was Maui Jim's national sales manager for 15 years.

EB How can luxury optical succeed in the marketplace?

CY As any luxury product, luxury optical brands can succeed by sticking to their core values and implementing long-term strategies. A luxury company shouldn't follow trends. It has to create the trends, as we always did at Alain Mikli.

We are lucky since we don't carry licenses that look for short-term return on investment by implementing aggressive strategies that end up damaging the brand in the long run. This is the reason why we are so careful when we decide to start working with a new customer. We look for a long-term relationship like when you get married! EB