Since 2001, Eyebobs has helped customers define their comfort zone, only to then push them to think bigger. In a confluence of recognizing individuality, industry expertise, material quality, and a touch of daring, Eyebobs encourages customers to find eyewear that accentuates their personality without limiting their potential.
By adding inclusivity always to their core values, Eyebobs encourages customers to explore and define their identity while scanning eyewear options lining its website and retail walls.
Since joining the company in 2016, how do you feel like you’ve seen Eyebobs evolve?
CEO Mike Hollenstein: We’ve transitioned from an eyewear company, really a reader-only company, to an eyewear company, to a framewear company.
We build beautiful frames that ultimately help people be their true and authentic self. That is one of the most important things as an organization: narrowing in on why people love Eyebobs. Because those that know us, love us, truly.
How do you help people find their true, authentic self with eyewear?
That is the most important thing that we do here. That’s been the transition: we now know that we are in the personality framing business.
We’re new to the retail game, and I would say it’s what I’m most proud of as CEO. We have done a wonderful job of finding the right people and training them to be incredibly successful at asking the right questions, but really, sizing people up and finding the perfect pair of glasses for them.
Our team does a great job of taking people outside of their comfort zone, and that’s really our special sauce: a person comes on and tries a pair of tortoise glasses, and our people will say ‘nope those aren’t the ones, try these.’ This industry, to a large extent, doesn’t do that.
How does Eyebobs differ from competitors?
Ultimately, there are rational aspects to it: a spring hinge that’s stainless steel, that's highly durable; the Italian-designed acetates that are beautiful; the feel of our product when you get it in your hand.
The other thing we do is we’re bold. We’re bold in our product execution. We have a bit of a different feel when it comes to our glasses. We accentuate it with a slight little bit of blue, or we pick an acetate, and we layer multiple levels and layers of that acetate in different colors so that it pops when the person wears it.
How have you tried to cultivate a sense of authenticity in the branding?
We start from the place of what does our customer need? Are we providing them with the right colors in our glasses, the right shapes, the right sizes, the right bridge fit, the correct length of the temples, are we doing things to meet the needs of our customers?
This, to me, is all about helping people be their true and authentic self, first and foremost. When I say that it sounds kind of weird—really, can that happen? But that’s how we view our business.