Trish Nguyen 1

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Background & history

Sunglass hut is one of the overpricing luxury products that I have used and I think they

will be more beneficial if they have a proper overhaul of their pricing strategy. Sunglass Hut was

founded in 1971 as a small kiosk that sells fashionable frames for $20 by Sanford Ziff in a

Miami mall in Florida. His ideas was a success as people were willing to give in to impulse

shopping when it comes to accessories (Sunglass Hut International, Inc., n.d.). Later on, the

international retailer of sunglasses continues to grow and expands and had become one of the

most successful business in retail optical chain. However, after a debt, Sunglass Hut was

acquired by Luxottica, the world’s largest eyewear company, in 2002. Since then, they rebrand

its company to emphasize more on the trendy, fashionable sunglasses and less than long-term

quality. Their glasses became extremely expensive and unaffordable for working class people,

Sunglasses Hut is the retail store chain that sells glasses of different brands that all made

by Luxottica, such as Ray-Ban, Versace, Michael Kors, or Chanel (Arends, B. 2010). Today, the

price per glasses no longer reflects the quality of the sunglasses but rather, brand values, cost of

materials and labor, marketing and most importantly how much consumers will pay (Arends, B.

2010). The most important thing is that those expensive sunglasses may not be any better for

your eyes than a $10 pharmacy sunglasses, either, regardless that it features UVA/UVB block or

color changing lenses. According to Dr. Reza Dana, director of cornea and refractive surgery at

Massachusetts Eyes and Ear Infirmary, the cost of making lenses that offer protection against

harmful ultra violet rays isn’t very expensive technology (Arends, B. 2010).

Rationale

I have come to know of Sunglass hut last year when I’m out in the market for a new pair

of sunglasses. As I want to get a decent pair and partly because of social media influence as well,
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I wanted to get a branded sunglasses. Since I’m not familiar with luxury brands except for very

luxurious brands such as Chanel, Versace, I did some research online and decided on a pair of

Michael Kors glasses and found that Sunglass hut store actually a famous retailer that has all the

luxury sunglasses brands. That’s also why I know of Ray-Ban sunglasses as well. The cheapest

pair I can found at the store cost $150, and the store associate guarantee it’s polarized, scratch

and felt resistant, 2 year warranty and refundable within 30 days. When I bought and wear the

sunglasses for a week, I don’t see any different from a $10 drugstore sunglasses. In fact, it’s a

little more uncomfortable for me to wear too. The store associate stated that it’s polarized and

would block any rays while driving, however, to my disappointed, it’ not only does it altered the

environment colors as I drive but also didn’t block any UV rays. In fact it took a while after I

took off the sunglasses for my brain to mentally seeing normal color as opposed to the color of

the lenses.

Therefore, I think the sunglasses at Sunglass hut is overpriced and need a serious

overhaul of pricing. With the rise of Amazon and eBay these days, the same pair of glasses can

be found for half a price or cheaper online as many glasses at Sunglass hut are sell at the 20

times the price they actually cost to make (Sunglass Hut International, Inc., n.d.). Also with the

change in the economic and how the majority of consumers are millennials who favor discount

retailers over luxury brand (Acosta, G., 2017), Sunglass Hut should target the group by offering

sunglasses at lower price, increase the style choices and release frequency to attract younger

consumers. They can also adopting new payment platforms that allows shoppers to split their

payments into several interest-free installments because as the generation that favors experience

over luxury and also has the most education loan, this generation doesn’t want to borrow any

more money than they already had for luxury, the platforms can help attract more customers.
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Citation:

Acosta, G. (2017, July 12). Retail Leader. Here’s where younger consumers are not shopping.

Retrieved January 18, 2019, from https://retailleader.com/heres-where-younger-

consumers-are-not-shopping

Arends, B. (2010, July 22). Are Designer Sunglasses Worth the Price?. Retrieved January 18,

2019, from

https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704518904575365362932852610

Sunglass Hut International, Inc. (n.d.). Retrieved January 17, 2019, from

https://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history/St-Th/Sunglass-Hut-International-Inc.html