BUSINESS: Suppliers Embracing a New Name, SD EYES Modernizes Its Message By Marge Axelrad Monday, January 16, 2017 12:20 AM Dan and Nancy Bliss oversee SD EYES from its Oneonta, N.Y. headquarters. ONEONTA, N.Y.—It has been a gradual, but methodical, type of transformation at Silver Dollar Optical. The eyewear company based here in central upstate New York for 35 years, has officially changed its name and its messaging to reflect a new, more modern, contemporary image. Effective Jan. 1 this year, Silver Dollar Optical will now be known as SD EYES and the company’s sales, customer service and distribution teams are ready to introduce its collections and support capabilities to an even wider range of customers across the U.S. The preparations for the name change have been planned for some time, and the move, executives said, better reflects the latest direction of the company and the development of its own collections in recent years. Since 2008, the company has been under the direction and ownership of Dan Bliss, president, who purchased the business from its founder Ron Russ. Bliss started out as a sales telemarketer, eventually moving up through sales and into an executive position with the company. Said Bliss, “SD EYES is the new name for our journey forward. In choosing the name, SD EYES, we want to make the transition as smooth as possible for our customer base, which speaks to our history. But we are rebranding as a look to the future, and we see the SD EYES brand as one that reflects the values of fashion, craft and service that we’ve worked hard to develop over the last three decades.” Bliss emphasized, “SD EYES has earned a position among the most reliable suppliers in the industry. We intend to maintain our service heritage even as we showcase our offerings with a group of diverse collections, which we think speak to many customer groups out there—fashion frames for all.” That portfolio has evolved as the eyewear customer range has diversified, in both age and attitude. (L to R) Silver Dollar’s owers, Dan Bliss and Nancy Bliss, with Dave Lewis, sales manager, are bringing their portfolio of collections to a range of customer types in theoptical market. SDEyewear.com is the updated and revamped website for SD EYES, reflecting a sleeker look and new functionalityfor its accounts. Back in 1982, the company’s original collections, Port Royale and Durango, sold primarily via telemarketers, were geared to the more mature lady and male eyewear customer. There’s been a consistency to these collections and they continue to sell well, noted Bliss. The company moved in to the kids’ eyewear arena next and eventually noticed the need to address teens with an edgier look which spurred several collections. Today’s SD EYES’ kids and teens collections are found within Kids Central and NRG. It was the emergence of a new attitude toward style and fashion among contemporary working women in the late ‘90s, which prompted the company to move into a stronger design sensibility for its Café Lunettes collection, debuting in 2000, targeting those women who were responding to new colors, materials and shapes. That collection has expanded a great deal, with new ranges each season, and SD EYES now offers a Café Boutique group featuring even more sophisticated looks. Today’s range of nine collections are developed with manufacturing partners around the world and SD EYE’s own internal buying team. Their efforts and that collection growth has enabled the company to expand its sales rep presence to 52. They work with Dave Lewis, sales manager, who brings his own expertise and knowledge to field sales. Said Bliss, “We tiptoed through these changes initially. But as we added reps and our salespeople were calling on accounts they were ready to show new things and our buyers/accounts were starting to be more open to seeing new ideas from us. We wanted to bring more to the table and we determined to make the investments to do that.” Bliss and Lewis refer passionately to the customer service and care that harkens back to the company’s telemarketing origins and continues today. The execs are proud of their internal company culture and camaraderie and the long-term service of many on its internal teams. “It’s also a lot of little things that add up to a lot,” noted Bliss. “Our customers and sales reps know about our efficiency, our in-stock positions, how we minimize back orders, even how our orders are packed. We include candy in every package we ship, every package going out. The larger the order, the more candy. Our customers like that small thing and associate that with us.” He continued, “Our name change was actually the last piece of ‘change’ that we tackled. We wanted to be sure to pay homage to our 11,000 active accounts out there, who have known our company for its value and its service and, increasingly, our range of really on-target, quality products for all customer types. But SD is not an acronym for ‘Silver Dollar.’ SD EYES is looking ahead and geared to the future.”