Owndays Europe marks first foray outside Asia-Pacific

After rapidly building a network of stores across Asia, Japanese eyewear retailer Owndays has made its European debut.

Owndays Europe has opened its first store in the Netherlands, the design largely true to its Asian format and its simple pricing model seamlessly converted into local currency with frames and lenses paired at between 98 euros and 198 euros.  A 20-minute “quick processing” promise is also included in its in-store marketing, two two promises being the eyewear chain’s unique selling points.

 

The 80 sqm Dutch store opened last week in a traditional street-front location, rather than a shopping mall, where most of its stores are located in Asia; at Passage in The Hague, a trendy area bustling with retail and food & beverages establishments.

Owndays Europe plans to open 30 stores in the Netherlands in the next three years.

The brand began its international expansion just three years ago and is already trading in Singapore, the Philippines, Australia, Vietnam, Taiwan, Thailand, Cambodia and Malaysia, making the Netherlands its 10th market.

Owndays Europe stores carry more than 1500 designs of frames ranging from basic and functional to stylish and fashion-forward so customers can pick the right pairs of glasses to suit their lifestyles or to match occasions and functions. With a team of in-house designers based in Japan, the brand regularly adds new designs to its existing collections so customers always see something new each time they visit the shop.

Owndays already has more than 170 shops in Asia-Pacific and sells more than 1.5 million pairs of glasses a year. It is one of the few optical retailers internationally which has adopted an entirely private label system, managing the entire process from design and manufacturing to inventory management and retail.