Philippe Vergez wants to change the way women see the world.
The French entrepreneur owns JeeVice Optics, a San Clemente-based maker of upscale sunglasses for women.
JeeVice generates an estimated $10 million in yearly sales and is backed by a group of investors: Optic Couture Inc.
The company employs eight workers at its 6,000-square-foot headquarters.
JeeVice is trying to build a place in a crowded market with chic sunglasses targeted at women with extra cash to spend.
The company’s sunglasses come in a variety of colors and have big, wide frames reminiscent of those worn in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.
The sunglasses are made in Italy and sold through department stores and boutiques including Nordstrom, Envie Beverly Hills and Balboa Eyewear in Newport Beach.
The sunglasses go for $200 to $300 and are packaged in nifty cases that look like mini handbags and clutches.
There’s plenty of competition.
Rivals include big names such as Gucci Group NV, part of PPR SA, Prada SPA Group, Chanel SA and other European fashion houses.
JeeVice has managed to attract a celebrity following.
Lindsay Lohan, Anne Hathaway, Katherine Heigl and Salma Hayek are among those who wear JeeVice glasses.
“When celebrities wear your sunglasses it’s the best kind of advertisement,” Vergez said.
He has spent his working life in sunglasses.
In the 1980s, Vergez worked for Foothill Ranch-based Oakley Inc., now part of Italy’s Luxottica Group SPA.
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Vergez: worked at Arnette, Luxottica |
At Oakley, Vergez met Greg Arnette, who started San Clemente’s Arnette Optical Illusions, which became part of Bausch & Lomb Inc. and now is owned by Luxottica.
Vergez left Oakley to work for Arnette and then Luxottica.
It didn’t take long for Vergez to catch the entrepreneur bug, he said.
He wanted to start a sunglasses business that would break away from surf- and skate-inspired designs to focus on high fashion for women.
Vergez started JeeVice in France in 2003.
His industry experience helped nab investors early on, he said.
Starting a sunglasses company wasn’t easy.
Vergez spent months researching and developing products that could fit women’s faces comfortably, he said.
Developing prototypes that could fit all face shapes and sizes was tricky, Vergez said.
“You have to really study a women’s face,” he said. “Not all frames will fit.”
Finding a factory in Italy to make the company’s products took a lot of time, he said.
Getting an unknown brand into stores also had its challenges, he said.
Vergez said he traveled constantly and met with buyers. He went to trade shows to help get the word out about his brand.
JeeVice has gained recognition among European and Asian shoppers, according to Vergez. Growth in the U.S. has been slower but steady, he said.
Earlier this year, Vergez moved JeeVice from France to Orange County in a bid to boost U.S. sales.
“I really want to grow the brand here,” he said.
Vergez picked OC for its proximity to buyers in California and Hollywood celebrities. He came to know the county while working for Oakley and Arnette.
Vergez also wanted to be near the apparel companies based here.
He opened the company’s headquarters minutes away from Arnette’s former headquarters in San Clemente.
“I’m familiar with this area,” he said. “It feels like home.”
These days, when he’s not traveling in Europe and Asia, Vergez splits his time between France and San Clemente.
He said he’s worn out from the endless plane rides but knows that constant traveling is a price he has to pay for a successful business.
The retail market,which has been the hardest hit after real estate in the economy’s downturn,will be JeeVice’s biggest challenge yet.
Many Americans plan to spend less and shop differently during this year’s holiday season, according to Deloitte & Touche USA LLP’s annual Holiday Survey of retail spending trends.
The survey found that 59% of those surveyed expected to reduce their spending this holiday season as they deal with the slumping economy.
Drumming up sales will be difficult, Vergez said. But women who can afford to buy premium sunglasses still are buying them, he said.
The company isn’t scaling back its development and marketing, Vergez said.
Custom Auto Gear
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CoverKing auto cover: company has $15 million in yearly sales |
Anaheim-based CoverKing Inc. generates an estimated $15 million in yearly sales making custom auto covers, seat covers, dashboard covers and other accessories for General Motors Corp., Toyota Motor Corp., Nissan Motor Co., Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd.’s Subaru, Porsche Automobil Holding SE and others.
The company also makes auto covers under the CoverKing brand, which sells at Pep Boys, Kragen Auto Parts, Auto Zone and other
retailers.
Inside the company’s 62,000-square-foot headquarters, a good chunk of CoverKing’s 120 workers make custom auto products from materials sourced from all over the world.
Narendra Gupta left the aerospace industry to start CoverKing in 1986.
While working in aerospace, Gupta said he became familiar with mass customization, a manufacturing process that uses special equipment to make mass quantities of custom designed products.
He said he noticed there was a void of manufacturers that applied mass customization to the auto accessory business.
Figuring out what kind of equipment he needed was the easy part. So was learning how to make auto covers, seat covers and other
accessories.
Getting customers was the hard part.
“It was a little difficult at first because no one knew who I was and mass customization wasn’t popular,” he said.
Landing customers such as General Motors and Toyota took a lot of cold calls and urging, he said.
When Gupta’s business won orders, he made sure that all of the products were made right and shipped on time.
“It took us some time to get our foot in the door, but once you create a reputation of creating a quality product and delivering it at a record time with a competitive price, it’s not difficult to get your message out there,” he said.
CoverKing then started making its own brand of auto covers geared toward car buffs and others who want to take care of their cars.
The company’s CoverKing covers sell anywhere from $100 to $200.
The auto accessory business is hurting these days, along with slumping auto sales.
The economic downturn, which has tightened credit, isn’t making things easier, Gupta said.
CoverKing is generating business, he said.
As automakers deal with falling sales and high material and labor costs, many are outsourcing accessory production to smaller makers that can crank out custom orders in a short period of time.
CoverKing’s mass customization niche is helping it win orders because it can produce just enough products for its customers so that they’re not stuck with boatloads of inventory, Gupta said.
“We’re seeing more automakers turn to mass customization because they want to watch their inventory levels,” Gupta said. “A lot of money is wasted on ordering too many products and not being able to sell them right away.”
CoverKing competes with other accessory makers, including some overseas.
Gupta believes his company is able to keep up with global rivals because of the perceived quality of products made in America, he said.
But being a manufacturer in California isn’t easy, he said.
The company, like other manufacturers, has to deal with high wages and insurance costs.
The talent pool in OC has kept Gupta from moving CoverKing out of state, he said.
“This is one of the best places to find workers,” he said.
CoverKing invests a lot of money on research and development so that it can constantly create improved products, Gupta said.
The company’s latest push is to create environmentally friendly products that are made out of recycled or sustainable materials, he said.
CoverKing also has plans to come out with a lower cost line of its auto covers under a different brand name, which it plans to sell to big retailers.
This year and next the company plans to hit the trade show circuit so that it can drum up more international orders, Gupta said.
Gupta doesn’t have any plans to sell CoverKing, he said.
He’s planning to pass the business down to his son and daughter-in-law.
Tough Start
SurfCuz is treading rough waters.
The five-month-old Irvine maker of surf-inspired hooded sweatshirts, board shorts, T-shirts, baseball caps and other gear is learning what it takes to become a surfwear maker.
But this year’s economic downturn isn’t making the learning process easy.
September sales for surfwear makers were hit hard, and October isn’t expected to be any better, according to analysts.
The biggest indicator of a tough ride for surf-wear makers: Anaheim-based Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. saw its sales at stores open more than a year decline 5% in September versus a year earlier.
“There’s a lot of uncertainty out there and it’s making me wonder if it’s the right time to start this company,” cofounder Andrew Schrage said.
But SurfCuz isn’t likely to throw in the towel, especially since it’s backed by a few investors, he said.
The company made its debut at September’s Action Sports Retailer Trade Expo show in San Diego and met with manufacturers, distributors and buyers.
The show was helpful in generating industry contacts, Schrage said.
The company has its products made in Asia by a contract manufacturer, he said.
SurfCuz is in talks with surf shops around California about carrying its products.
The company is courting small stores first.
“We’re noticing that smaller mom and pop type shops are more willing to carry our products,” he said.
Next year the company plans to come out with an environmentally friendly line of clothes, Schrage said.
