I never said you "couldn't voice your opinion", I said don't assume everyone agrees with you. It does seem that your only reason for posting lately has been to bash Oakley though.

I'm all in favor of open wall displays. I really think its annoying when you have to keep asking for pairs and they have to unlock the cabinet and pull it out for you. Sometimes even the employees are annoyed. Thats what I love about SGH and Nordstroms.

The SGH's where Im from normally have the big cases locked, but once you ask to open up the sliding door, then its open season.

I wonder if Oakley has thought about how dirty the display models are going to get when people try them on so freely.

Maybe if they have dedicated floor models, and everything is sold as understock it may work.

hope we can get them here, it's nice. i was thinking about opening my own store, but i dunno. i always liked the metal cabinets. i think oakley should sell some to their loyal costumers. cause some way some how there will be some that will be keept or sold to the public.

that's right Justin, a lot has changed. And you've gotten proportionately much older than any of the other members during that year.

also, the "back in the day" comments from someone in diapers during Oakley's early-90s rise to prominence are kind of ironic.

realistically though, you got into Oakley during a time of transition. the changes in the last year pale in comparison to the changes since the Eyeshades were the only frame.

I could see slightly defective pieces being used as samples. they used those empty shells for the Thump. if they're going to get f'd up by grubby fingers anyway, why start with a perfectly good frame?

It could make people not what to buy them though since they're a little messed up(like people might think theyre easily broken)

I doubt it would really cost Oakley that much to have dedicated floor models, even if they replaced them once they get dirtied/beat up. I could, as always, be wrong.

I do believe they do have deicated floor models that then get sold as DE - Display Eyewear - at Vaults and teh PL sale. When I bought my Crystal Blue Five in SoHo O I was told I got the last pair in stock though there was obviously one in the case yet.

Makes sense, the O-Stores are there to show ALL of Oakley's current eyewear. Most people would never get to see that otherwise.

hmm, not keen on them to be honest, i can see why people like open displays cos you don't feel under pressure to buy the glasses, whenever i've asked to look in a cabinet, i knida got the feeling that the staff or other customers were sort of looking at me thinking one of two things, either, look at that poser, who does he think he is? or wow! he's gonna buy some two hundred quid sunglasses.

i have looked many a time, then decided not to buy, and yeah, the staff seem to be thinking, man you made me come and open that case for you to just mess about trying stuff on, regardless of the fact that i've probably spent two years worth of their salary or more on oakley stuff, not dissing shop staff by the way, just a couple of stores that i've used in the past.

so in that respect, i'm all for open displays, but on the other hand, i can see the problem with glasses getting damaged and/or stolen, and if display models are damaged then yeah i guess potential customers are gonna think that the glasses are of a substandard quality.

i guess oakley has changed alot over thae past few years, but like i've said before, at the end of the day, whether we like it or not, it's a business and they have to go with the flow to stay in business, i don't think they'd still be around if they'd stuck solely with the eyeshade, do you?

i love porches for instance, the carrera 2 is my favourite, but the cayenne and boxster and cayman are to appeal to a wider market, everyone's gonna do it, it makes sense, but i do prefer the industrial look of old circa 98, what happened to kevlar? i guess it's sometimes better to make a few one off designs that will remain classic, and never to return to them in fear of looking stale.

so i guess they're freshening up their image a bit to attract the new crowd of impressionable dimwits with nothing better to do with their money than spend it all on expensive sunglasses and impractical bags that don't zip up properly, shoes that don't really serve a purpose except of course the si and racing boots, and stupid leather hats with goggles that make you crash into anything on the slopes....

hehe, but i still love it!!!

rant over.

more kevlar.

and more crazy shit please!

hehe

ahem.

cup of tea i think, to calm down a bit.

Currently we use one pair as the display pair and sell the stock until there is none left (and hopfully you get restocked before then) so we do already have that dedicated pair for people to try on.

am with darren. i hope the new cases won't give the store problems with theft.

Ever since the opening of our store, the women's tower has been doorless (opened). Theft was a considerate issue at first, but now that we're more aware of it, the problem phased out on its own. However, the glasses are ''stuck'' with bulky alarms on the earstem, which is ugly, heavy, uncomfortable, and also sometimes intimidating to customers...some people wonder if it's going to ring all over the place if they pick it up.

Maybe if one or more employee(s) were designated to that wall display, only to sell and make sure nobody steals, it could work. There's also always the option of having a security guard...but that means high costs and again, possibility of intimidation on the customers, which is definitely not what we need.

There are better ways to stop theft.

For example, if there are designated display models, then they can be equipped with smaller magnetic strips that are incredible small and light. If taken, the alarm will go off. It also stops the problem of the sensors being too big and bulky.

Maybe living in Japan has made me naive, but is there really THAT much of a theft problem for O-Stores?

For example, if there are designated display models, then they can be equipped with smaller magnetic strips that are incredible small and light. If taken, the alarm will go off. It also stops the problem of the sensors being too big and bulky.

Are you sure? I know of no magnetic sensor that can detect from large distances. If you can point me in the direction of the makers I would be very interested in alternate applications.

Darren, everyone loves Porches in the South. hahahaha

James, my GF bought a purse that had an alarm sensor sewn into the inside. There's no way to take it out, so certain stores the damn thing sets of the alarm at the entrance. Most of my textbooks have those things. They're "wafer thin."

I've seen those wafers too. Some clothes that I've bought have them sewn into a tag that you take off before wearing.

There are also magnetic strips though. I've seen them stuck to the sides ot small appliances and the like.

I am fully familiar with RFID security tags but as far as the 'magnetic' strips are concerned, I am dubious whether magnetism is their primary mechanism of activation since magnetic flux does not extend very far from a magnetic surface and will be virtually non-existant if the magnet is very, very thin. If it is, this will have solved a problem I've been working on for a long time.

let's hope oakley don't get a lot of complain, once again. it looks nice , i am not coming to the states this year so i hope to see them next time, or here on my island.

cheers

James, you're probably right about the magnetism, but that's what I was told they were called. They're more like sensors that are picked up by the theft gates if they go past them.

They might be radio frequency, but I thought RFID tags were used mostly for logistics and the like for tracking a specific item. I would imagine that that technology would be more advanced than what would be needed for Oakleys unless they want to bust the person who stole something where ever they live.

What are you doing studying RFID's as a magician anyways? Someone steal a trick of yours and you want to track whoever it is down? Haha.

They call me the James Bond of magic ;-)

I'm actually the biggest inventor of high tech devices for magicians. RFID is something that I have been playing with for a while. I'm always on the look out for new technologies for my toys.

Actually RFID is perfectly suitable for theft control as the tag itself is a miniature passive RFID antenna that can be made for a penny or so.

open display for electronic eyewear: