If you live in San Diego, you probably recognize a few required living essentials: sunscreen, swimsuits, sandals and, according to San Diego State University graduate and entrepreneur Chase Fisher, you must have “a good pair of shades.” But sunglasses that are both affordable and of good quality can be hard to come by \u2013 a challenge met with enthusiasm by Fisher\u2019s Pacific Beach-based business.
\nSince 2012, his sunglasses company Blenders Eyewear has been selling “fresh, vibrant, comfortable” shades and goggles in store and online. According to Fisher, it\u2019s the active lifestyle of San Diego that inspires the product.
\nTheir motto, “Founded on Fun. Designed for Adventure. Priced to Party,” says it all.
\nBlender Eyewear\u2019s sunglasses are priced between about $20 and $65 and are made to be light-weight with maximum comfortability. The polycarbonate lenses, all of which are UV-protected, can bend without breaking so they\u2019re convenient to wear for any occasion. “We try to get the best stuff at the best price we can, and bring the best value,” Fisher said.
\nFisher says he was inspired to open the business by the gear he saw others wearing when he surfed competitively in his home town of Santa Barbara. The active San Diego lifestyle also inspired the products
\nBut the true “ah-ha” moment, as Fisher puts it, was when he was in a night club sporting $5 neon green sunglasses. According to him, his cheap glasses attracted as much attention as they would have if they\u2019d been expensive name brand glasses, sparking his business idea for quality shades that wouldn\u2019t require customers to “spend their entire bank account.”
\nBlenders offers a diverse line of styles to fit everyone\u2019s taste, from the bold tropical patterned Kate Forest sunglasses with blue and green lenses to the more subtle Surfliner sunglasses with the light blue rims and black lenses.
\nOften times, the most popular sunglasses will sell out quickly, but being out of stock doesn\u2019t tend to pose a problem, says customer success manager Lexi Horn. A different pair rises up immediately to become the new favorite. “I\u2019m really confident in our brand,” she says.
\nOn each pair of sunglasses is the company\u2019s logo: a pair of stripes “\/\/,” which symbolizes “life in forward motion.”
\n“It\u2019s following your passion, whatever that might be,” said Fisher about the logo\u2019s meaning. “We try to design our glasses around any possible lifestyle.”
\nThe company promotes fun and adventure, but sunglasses sales aren\u2019t without their challenges.
\nAccording to Fisher, it\u2019s a competitive market with continuously shifting trends that are difficult to keep up with. With production timelines taking between 90 and 120 days, he says the changes in popular styles aren\u2019t something that can be easily planned for.
\nHorn adds that the company commonly has to “fix things on the fly,” but that the customers have remained loyal through the adjustments. For the Blenders Eyewear team, the rewards of the business outshine the challenges.
\n“For me, the most fulfilling thing is just adding value to people\u2019s lives,” says Fisher. “I think our product really allows people to express themselves.”
\nThe future of Blenders Eyewear will include a new kids line, limited edition projects, and an expansion of both the snow goggles and sunglasses line, according to Fisher. The Blenders Eyewear office is located in Pacific Beach at 1940 Garnet Ave. It is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. during weekdays and closed on weekends. Blenders Eyewear
\nWhere: 1940 Garnet Ave. No. 240.
\nHours: 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays, closed weekends.
\nInfo: blenderseyewear.com.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
If you live in San Diego, you probably recognize a few required living essentials: sunscreen, swimsuits, sandals and, according to San Diego State University graduate and entrepreneur Chase Fisher, you must have “a good pair of shades.” But sunglasses that are both affordable and of good quality can be hard to come by \u2013 a […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":271081,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11561","_seopress_titles_title":"Pacific Beach entrepreneur has it made in the shades","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[12360,11551,11561],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-271082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-duplicate","category-news","category-peninsula-beacon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271082","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=271082"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271082\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/271081"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=271082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=271082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=271082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}