Oakley opened the first licensed O Store outside the United States and discussed the company's plans for additional international Oakley retail locations. This latest addition to the company's expanding retail presence opened December 10, 2003 in the Shopping Mall Alto Las Condes in Santiago, Chile. The store is owned and operated by Racing Ltda., Oakley's exclusive distributor for Chile. Terms of the license agreement were not disclosed.
“Continuing to build upon our youth sports and lifestyle demographic, Chile represents an influential market in South America. Santiago is also considered a fashion forward cosmopolitan city, making it a great launching pad for our international O Store(r) expansion initiatives,” commented Oakley Chief Operating Officer Link Newcomb. “Our distributor there has been the perfect partner for this new launch, given the strong relationship we have had with them in that country for more than a dozen years, coupled with the strength of the Oakley brand in the market which they have helped cultivate. Thus far, we are all pleased with the results we have achieved.”
Newcomb further commented on future expansion plans, “Considering that approximately half of Oakley's sales are generated outside the United States and the brand is well recognized the world over, we believe that expansion of our retail concepts to key locations worldwide represents a tremendous long-term opportunity.”
“Our international O Store(r) philosophy is to find locations in areas with a youth sports/lifestyle focus and fashion forward thinking where we have strong partnership candidates with a history of embracing the Oakley brand. Areas under consideration currently include London, Barcelona and Dubai. International locations may be opened and managed directly by the existing international Oakley sales and marketing offices around the world or through license agreements with qualified partners such as in the case of the Santiago, Chile location.”
In addition to this latest store opening, Oakley currently operates, through its South Pacific subsidiary, an O Store in Torquay, Australia opened in November 2001 in the heart of Australia's surf industry near the company's headquarters there; two Oakley Vaults that opened under licensing agreements in March 2002 in Portsmouth and in April 2003 in York, United Kingdom; an Oakley Vault that opened in December 2003 under license in Calais, France; and an Oakley Vault opened in April 2002 that is operated by Oakley's South African subsidiary and is located near the company's South African headquarters in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
