9Five Goes from Low-End to Higher-End Eyewear

"Within a year of launching their company, the founders of 9Five Eyewear, based in Chula Vista, Calif., realized they weren’t crazy about their product – cheap sunglasses that were selling fast at about $37 a pair," reports the Globe and Mail. "So the four business partners, who had started out as good friends with a shared passion for skateboarding, decided to rethink their business. The results took them from one end of the eyewear spectrum to the other. 'We were initially getting our glasses mass-manufactured in mainland China,' recalls Mike Metcalf, one of 9Five’s four founders and owners. 'Now we have them handmade in Hong Kong, where the glass frame is cut, moulded and assembled by hand, and every single item is hand-inspected and rebalanced so you get a guaranteed flawless product.' 9Five’s strategic pivot has turned out to be a winning gambit. Today, the six-year-old company enjoys seven-figure revenue from its three bricks-and-mortar stores, all in California, and from its website, and through partner retailers. The company ships internationally and is seeing rapid growth in Australia, Japan and Russia. (The glasses are available in Canada online.)" Read more.