In many ways, Bajio has the best of both worlds – it’s small enough to be nimble and easy for retailers to work with, but at the same time, the ownership and nearly all the people who work there are sunglass industry veterans with decades of experience, mostly at Costa.

VP of Sales Sean Kelly answered a few questions for us about Bajio’s competitive advantages, including building its glasses in Florida, its in-house lab, and its laser focus on supporting independent retailers. This year alone, Bajio executed over 200 activations at retail accounts.

For those who don’t know the background of the brand, can you explain who is behind Bajio and their experience in the sunglass industry?

Sean Kelly, Bajio VP of sales: Sure, I like to think we have PhD’s in sunglasses. I did the math once before, and we have over 200 years of combined experience in sunglasses. From the gang cutting lenses in the lab to the customer service, finance, design, marketing and sales teams – in truly all aspects of the business – we have incredible experience and talent. This helps us avoid missteps that startups may fall into, although launching a new brand at the tail end of COVID in a category dominated by billion-dollar global companies certainly made my hair turn gray quicker.

How is different from other brands in the market?

Sean Kelly: You know, we try to lead with simplicity in everything we do. It really boils down to a couple of things for us:

Have an amazing product – fortunately, we have been able to achieve that on both the frame and lens sides. We spent a ton of time developing our LAPIS lens technology through which you can see a clear difference.

Treat people right and be true partners – that’s from both a retailer and consumer standpoint. We don’t want to ever be transactional; we actively support our retailers and their communities. We show up – in fact, by the end of the year, we will have done well over 200 activations supporting retailers. We measure how fast a real person answers the phone in our building, and if we miss a call, we call them back. We are laser-focused on being the easiest, most supportive company to work with while providing incredible customer service.

Build our glasses here in New Smyrna Beach, Florida – how many things do you buy where, if something goes wrong, you can send it back to the factory where it was built? I’m sure there are a lot of people like me who are hard on their glasses, and our glasses aren’t inexpensive, so when something happens or goes wrong, you can send them back to us, and we take care of them.

Do what’s right, not what’s easy – we are building for the long term, not the short term.

Given all the changes in the industry with licensing companies and large corporations, how does Bajio approach working with independent retailers?

Sean Kelly: Independent retailers are the lifeblood of Bajio. I mentioned partnership before, and that’s core to what we do. The small things matter; we fill dealer orders first, we aren’t promotional on our website, and we don’t have exclusive product offering. Because we build our product here in Florida, we can turn orders around in 24 hours. If we don’t have a product, we just build it, eliminating the need for massive pre-books or inventory buys.

As a young brand, we still have our challenges – we don’t have nearly the war chests our competitors do – but the feedback we get from retailers is that we are at the top of the list of brands that are easy to work with.

Is the brand mostly in fishing-focused stores, or are you making headway in the surf channel as well?

Sean Kelly: Yes, fishing is our core, but the crossover between fishing and surf is so strong. We have been fortunate to have been really well received in surf. If we look at some of the pros like Quentin Turko from the Outer Banks or Tommy Coleman from Vero Beach, they are just as passionate as anglers as they are world-class surfers. Even within our sales team, our reps carry brands like Salty Crew, Jetty, and RVCA. Iconic shops like Bunger, Marsh’s, AB Surf, Blueline, Jet Set, Surfstation, and Brave New World have been great partners for us. There is plenty of room for us to continue to grow in the surf channel, and our approach continues resonate with retailers.

What is Bajio’s philosophy with working with department stores and other large retailers?

Sean Kelly: We are a small business that wants to work with small businesses. For us to be successful, we need someone telling our story, opening our case, taking people outside to look through our lenses, and preaching about our amazing customer service. We know independent specialty dealers do that best. Who knows what happens down the road, maybe we will look at larger national chains, but for the foreseeable future, we are focused on supporting independent retailers. It goes back to partnership.

From all the reports we hear, the sunglass market is tough these days. How is 2024 turning out for Bajio? What do you expect in 2025?

Sean Kelly: It sure is, but we know we are taking share. I mentioned earlier that we are in a space dominated by brands that have multi-billion dollar parent companies. I think one of our smallest competitors is owned by a $20 billion multinational, This year, we will grow more than 20%, and our plans are for at least that next year.

What are the three most important things you want people to know about the brand?

Sean Kelly: I keep coming back to this, but what makes Bajio special is being independent.

1. We created the best lenses available – with a focus on blocking bad blue light at levels above the competition.
2. Conservation is at our core – we spend money and effort ensuring our impact on the environment is minimal and our impact on preserving/enhancing coastal areas is maximized.
3. Customer service like it used to be done – real people answering the phone, replying to emails, following up on repairs and warranties. 

Our team also has fun – we genuinely enjoy what we do and are proud of how far we have come and what the future holds.  

Editor’s note: Read an SES interview with Bajio founder Al Perkinson from our archives here.