How long before Lux decides to close the Oakley stores and only sell through their own shops...? - pastor.elfstrom

I would suspect this might happen if they get out of AFA products... at that point they would just sell eyewear, and then be a location in competition with SGH (which often have 2, if not 3 locations in some malls) & APEX (which are starting to pop-up at more mall locations. I've also seen SunglassIcon showing up in malls too...

This certainly is not great news. like others have said I feel bad for all the employees that will get dumbed when the dismantling of Oakley is complete.
my other big concern is them killing HQ? im hoping it will be kept as a tourist attraction but fear it might be too big and expensive to warrant?
I will still hold out hope that Oakley will still (albeit less and less) still release cool crazy stuff. although if we hear that LUX are getting rid of Brian and Peter then I think I will give up and assume the worst.

just checked, j-review.com is an available domain name...

How long before Lux decides to close the Oakley stores and only sell through their own shops...? - pastor.elfstrom

I would suspect this might happen if they get out of AFA products... at that point they would just sell eyewear, and then be a location in competition with SGH (which often have 2, if not 3 locations in some malls) & APEX (which are starting to pop-up at more mall locations. I've also seen SunglassIcon showing up in malls too... - H01B3RG

Looking at the almighty $/ft2 math... Considering the square footage of O Stores, and Vaults almost even more so, with the publicized decision to dial AFA way back, I don't see how they'll be economically viable or relevant to LUX's business model for too much longer...

Am I the only one who finds Jim's words rather 'ironic'. After all, he's the one who sold out for a fortune. So basically, all he should do is blame himself.

Just for some perspective, I'd like to repost some older threads. The first is from 2007, only a few years into this site, and almost a decade ago. Almost three times as much time have passed vs the time we were chatting while Oakley was still owned by Jim. Yet here we still are. And it would be several more years before there were really any more fans sites or social media groups. It is comforting to see that we're the only ones who really went through the transitions, and still the conversation here is level-headed.


http://o-review.com/forum_detail.php?ID=8167

Then move to 2009 which is still ages ago, and there's a fair sense of "it really wasn't that bad". Granted a lot of the changes do finally seem to be hitting from a management perspective, and the future is still a little nebulous, but cries that the sky is falling have been landing for 9+ years now, so I'll opt to just sit back and see how things end up.


http://o-review.com/forum_detail.php?ID=9518

It will be cool to see what Jim comes up with, but it took him 10 years to produce more than grips and goggles, and another 10 years before they released more than one model per year. The only real tragedy at this time is the layoffs of employees who loved working there. Visitin 1 Icon was cool, but 94 Icon was a close second. It seemed like a really nice place to be.

I'll opt to just sit back and see how things end up.

I'm with you on this Dann... if I don't like what's being produced, no one is forcing me to make a purchase; I just hope they don't stop producing AFA items that I have come accustom to being available... but if they do, nothing I can do about it.

The only real tragedy at this time is the layoffs of employees who loved working there. Visiting 1 Icon was cool, but 94 Icon was a close second. It seemed like a really nice place to be. - Dann

And yes, couldn't agree more. Lot's of people, families, that will be impacted or already being impacted.

Always enjoyed stopping by 94 Icon... everyone was always so welcoming there when I've stopped by for a visit. This visit was no different.

Yeah, we seem so happy.

Game face. LOL

Every extremely successful company hits a rut eventually, but most really good brands will find their way out of it. Looking back, there have been a lot of fantastic releases since Lux took over, from the Elite line to the Switchlock stuff to some of AFA stuff. Oakley will survive for a long time to come, especially under Lux ownership, whether the current crop of collectors are with them or not.

I believe actual collectors make up like 1% of their revenue anyway. We end up exchanging more money between each other than retail.