Arnette Optic to Cut 66% of Work Force
Sunglasses maker Arnette Optic Illusions Inc., which changed owners six months ago, is axing two-thirds of its workers on Friday and shifting its U.S. distribution operations to New York.
Arnette, which just two years ago built and moved into a 40,000-square-foot headquarters in San Clemente, will shrink its work force from 54 to 18 employees as a result of the consolidation.
Workers staying in San Clemente to handle the company’s design, sales and marketing operations probably will move to a smaller facility in the same city, said John Gothard, Arnette’s sales director.
“There’s no reason to have 18 people working in a facility this large,” he said.
The company’s distribution, repairs and accounting will shift to parent company Luxottica Group’s U.S. headquarters in Port Washington, N.Y., Gothard said. Luxottica purchased Arnette in April.
The consolidation will keep Luxottica, which is based in Italy, from duplicating efforts and allow Arnette to sharpen its focus on the remaining duties, he said.
“We don’t have to worry about our inventory level” or repairs, he said. “We can really focus on what Arnette is truly known for.”
This is the second major employee cutback in recent years for Arnette, which had already whacked its work force in half after Bausch & Lomb Inc. bought the company in 1996 and shifted the company’s quality control and packaging operations to Italy, where the eye wear is made.
But Arnette--a “California lifestyle” company that targets snowboarders, skateboarders and surfers--will keep the heart of its business in place, Gothard said. Arnette makes sunglasses with names such as Raven, Swinger, Catfish and Deuce that sell for $60 to $150. Snowboard goggles--which sell for $70 to $85--account for more than 20% of the company’s business. Arnette also makes T-shirts and accessories.
Sales have risen in the “double digits” this year over last and have surpassed expectations for the last three months, Gothard said. He declined to give specific figures.
Gothard said he has been calling local snowboard and surf wear companies to try to find jobs for the soon-to-be-displaced workers. About one-third of the 36 people losing jobs at Arnette have lined up other work, he said.
Founder Greg Arnette, 48, a former Oakley Inc. designer, launched the company that bears his name in 1992 from the trunk of a rental car. He is still the company’s president and designer.
In January 1996, Arnette was purchased by optical giant Bausch & Lomb, maker of the Ray-Ban brand. This year, Bausch & Lomb sold its sunglasses business to Luxottica for $640 million.
Luxottica owns the LensCrafters retail chain and makes medium- and premium-priced sunglasses with brands such as Giorgio Armani and Anne Klein.
