FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif., July 15, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Oakley, Inc. (NYSE:OO) today announced the opening of a flagship O Store(r) located in the SoHo district of Manhattan. The Prince Street location is the latest addition to the company's expanding domestic and international retail presence and will be owned and operated by Oakley, Inc.
"The Manhattan O Store represents a significant step in the realization of our retail growth objectives for the year and our belief in the considerable strength and appeal of the Oakley brand," commented Oakley Chief Operating Officer Link Newcomb. "This high profile store sits in a retail hotbed for style, shopping and design -- perfect for showcasing Oakley's entire product line."
The O Store's SoHo location features much of the building's original frontage including a minimalist relief portico-type entrance capped by a charismatic second-story and above fire escape. The interior is modern featuring glass, stainless steel and brushed aluminum fixtures synonymous with Oakley's retail architecture. The SoHo neighborhood of New York City is a 24-block area just south of Houston Street, once renowned for being one of the largest unofficial artists' colonies in America, yet in recent years has seen an explosion of the world's top retail brands.
O Store(r) and Oakley Vault(r) Concepts
Armed with the widest, most comprehensive inventory of Oakley innovations, O Stores offer a full selection of the company's premium sunglasses, prescription eyewear frames, footwear, apparel, electronics, watches and accessories. Additionally, O Stores offer customers a unique venue to preview new generations of Oakley performance products. The Oakley Vault(r) concept offers customers a unique opportunity to purchase off-season and discontinued merchandise from all categories.
Worldwide, Oakley now operates 44 company-owned O Stores(r) and Vaults(r) including locations in Australia, Japan, South Africa, United Kingdom and the United States. There are also seven other international locations operating as licensed stores in Austria, Australia, Chile, France, Spain, Mexico and the United Kingdom. Additionally, the company operates more than 90 sunglass specialty stores through its wholly-owned Iacon subsidiary under seven separate retail concepts comprising: Sunglass Designs, Sporting Eyes, Occhiali da Sole, Oakley Icon, Optica, Sunglass Club and Sunglass Icon.
About Oakley, Inc.
Oakley: a world brand, driven to ignite the imagination through the fusion of art and science. Building on its legacy of innovative, market-leading, premium sunglasses, the company also offers performance apparel and accessories, prescription eyewear, footwear, watches and electronics to consumers in more than 100 countries. Trailing-12-month net sales through March 31, 2005 totaled $598.6 million and generated net income of $44.7 million. Oakley, Inc. press releases, SEC filings and the company's annual report are available at www.oakley.com.
Safe Harbor Disclaimer
This press release contains certain statements of a forward-looking nature. Such statements are made pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to growth and strategies, future operating and financial results, financial expectations and current business indicators are based upon current information and expectations and are subject to change based on factors beyond the control of the company. Forward-looking statements typically are identified by the use of terms such as "may," "will," "should," "might," "believe," "plan," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate" and similar words, although some forward-looking statements are expressed differently. The accuracy of such statements may be impacted by a number of business risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or anticipated, including but not limited to: risks related to the sale of OAKLEY THUMP(tm) and new product introductions in the company's electronics category; the company's ability to maintain approved vendor status and continue to receive product orders from the U.S. military; the company's ability to integrate and operate acquisitions, the company's ability to manage rapid growth; risks related to the limited visibility of future sunglass orders associated with the company's "at once" production and fulfillment business model; the ability to identify qualified manufacturing partners; the ability to coordinate product development and production processes with those partners; the ability of those manufacturing partners and the company's internal production operations to increase production volumes on raw materials and finished goods in a timely fashion in response to increasing demand and enable the company to achieve timely delivery of finished goods to its retail customers; the ability to provide adequate fixturing to existing and future retail customers to meet anticipated needs and schedules; the dependence on eyewear sales to Luxottica Group S.p.A, which, as a major competitor, could materially alter or terminate its relationship with the company; the company's ability to expand and grow its distribution channels and its own retail operations; unanticipated changes in general market conditions or other factors, which may result in cancellations of advance orders or a reduction in the rate of reorders placed by retailers; a weakening of economic conditions could continue to reduce demand for products sold by the company and could adversely affect profitability, especially of the company's retail operations; terrorist acts, or the threat thereof, could adversely affect consumer confidence and spending, could interrupt production and distribution of product and raw materials and could, as a result, adversely affect the company's operations and financial performance; the ability of the company to integrate licensing arrangements without adversely affecting operations and the success of such initiatives; the ability to continue to develop and produce innovative new products and introduce them in a timely manner; the acceptance in the marketplace of the company's new products and changes in consumer preferences; reductions in sales of products, either as the result of economic or other conditions or reduced consumer acceptance of a product, could result in a buildup of inventory; the ability to source raw materials and finished products at favorable prices to the company; the potential impact of periodic power crises on the company's operations including temporary blackouts at the company's facilities; foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations; earthquakes or other natural disasters concentrated in Southern California where a significant portion of the company's operations are based; the company's ability to identify and execute successfully cost control initiatives; and other risks outlined in the company's SEC filings, including but not limited to the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2004 and other filings made periodically by the company. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. The company undertakes no obligation to update this forward-looking information. Nonetheless, the Company reserves the right to make such updates from time to time by press release, periodic report or other method of public disclosure without the need for specific reference to this press release. No such update shall be deemed to indicate that other statements not addressed by such update remain correct or create an obligation to provide any other updates.
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