Oakley Inc. announced 2003 expansion plans for Iacon Inc., the company’s wholly owned specialty sunglass retailer. The company also announced the promotion at Iacon of Pete Siegle, Greg Wicklman and Rudy Esquivel.
For 2003 Iacon plans to open approximately 20 new locations under its four different concepts — Occhiali da Sole, Sporting Eyes, Sunglass Designs and Oakley Icon. The stores will be located nationwide and will feature both kiosks and in-line store formats.
“We will be continuing our pursuit of the best locations in the best malls throughout the country. Our development plans this year will start with the remodel of our Occhiali da Sole store at Tyson’s Corner in Virginia. Two new stores, one Occhiali da Sole and one Sunglass Designs, will follow in the Houston Galleria in Houston, Texas.
“I am also proud to announce that we will be opening an Occhiali da Sole store in the Cherry Creek Mall in Denver, Colorado early in the second quarter. In addition to the growth of our own concepts, we look forward to the continued expansion of our HMSHost — licensed airport locations. Last year we doubled our locations to four and look forward to continuing to build upon this relationship,” commented Jeff Obstfeld, president of Iacon.
Iacon also announced the promotion of Siegle to the newly created position of director of stores. Prior to this, Siegle served as the Eastern Regional manager and oversaw the expansion of the Iacon concepts in Florida, Illinois, New Jersey and Missouri.
Prior to joining Iacon, Siegle was a senior level executive with Sunglass Hut and has more than 27 years of specialty retail experience in the sunglass and optical eyewear industry. Siegle was the company’s general manager from 1975 to 1989 where he helped build Sunglass Hut from 3 stores to more than 200 stores.
After the company went public in 1993, he took on a number of roles, including vice president of merchandising, EyeX field operations director (their start-up optical business), and most recently, director of field marketing and optical business.
The company also announced the promotion of Wicklman to the newly created title of director of planning and distribution. Prior to this promotion, Wicklman served as Iacon’s merchandise manager/planner at the home office in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Wicklman brings extensive experience in planning, distribution, merchandising and merchandising systems, having performed similar functions over a 12-year career at Sunglass Hut. At Sunglass Hut, he served as planning manager, international planning manager, director of merchandising systems, and most recently, director of store planning and distribution.
Iacon also announced the promotion of Esquivel, a 12-year Iacon veteran, to the newly created position of director of store development and training. Prior to this position, Esquivel was director of retail operations and instrumental in streamlining company operations. Esquivel has also served as zone manager for both Texas and Arizona.
Obstfeld concluded: “It has been a busy year since we were acquired by Oakley. Over the span of the last 15 months we have increased our doors by more than 50%. With this team we are now ready to continue our expansion plans while adhering to our philosophies of securing the best real estate for our various concepts. I look forward to leading this group to achieve our goals for continued growth.”
