first person

Five Questions For…

Fabrizio Gamerini, the new CEO of Marcolin USA, spoke with the editors of Eyecare Business about his move from Nike into optical, his plans for the frame company, and thoughts on the future of the industry.

EB: In your new role, what do you plan for Marcolin?

FG: We plan to grow following specific growth drivers: Latin America, expanding distribution, and the brand weight in some of the top doors across the Americas.

We have an amazing opportunity in front of us. It is interesting for me, coming with a background in Hewlett Packard and Nike, to see how many opportunities we have for improvements on the communication, brand management, and distribution overall. We just need to roll on key priorities and define our future. The sky is the limit, but resources are limited so we need to be very focused.

EB: How is the recent shift in the industry toward frame companies owning retail or being owned by healthcare providers impacting the way Marcolin does business?

FG: We spoke with many players in the industry and there is still a lot of confusion about the outcome of the acquisitions. Many of them are actually not happy with what is going on, so this is a perfect opportunity for Marcolin to attack competition and define new alliances in the marketplace.

EB: How can Marcolin help independent dispensers and eyecare professionals?

FG: Our company vision is different than other big competitors. We are a boutique for eyewear. We search for quality, craftsmanship, and we are independent from the big retailers. We carry very big brands (Tom Ford, Roberto Cavalli, for example) and we carry very young brands (such as Miss Sixty). We have a clear position in the market.

EB: What's coming down the pipeline for Marcolin?

FG: This is an exciting period for Marcolin. We have a lot of brands that are knocking on our door due to Marcolin's recent successes. We do have a large pipeline of prestigious new additions, like Tod's, Dsquared2, Hogan, John Galliano, and Miss Sixty, which is a new brand for the United States, but has been in our worldwide portfolio. And there are more on the way. We just need to be on the offense always.

Our link with Italy is very strong. The communication, the strategy, and the execution is done close to the Italian headquarters. But this is a different market so we apply our market knowledge.

EB: How can optical retailers find success in this demanding market?

FG: Providing value added service. Just selling a frame is no longer a winning proposition. We need to start the process with selling the frame but from there they need to start the relationship (as you can see with the Apple business model in launching iPod and iTunes). EB