BizVoice May / June 2017

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70 BizVoice/Indiana Chamber – May/June 2017
“If it’s good enough for Oprah,
it’s good enough for me.”
Such a phrase has likely been said by
many regarding books, fashion and one would
assume – eyewear. The entertainment icon
has targeted Michigan City’s Peepers by
PeeperSpecs glasses as one of her “Favorite
Things Under $50 in 2016” on
Peepers was also featured in O magazine,
among other national publications, and ABC’s
hit show, “The View.”
But Peepers is hardly some fledgling
start-up that hit it big. Far from it. CEO Alec
Sammann reveals the fourth-generation
family-owned business has deep roots in
northern Indiana, beginning as a scissor and
cutlery business in the early 1900s.
“In 1985, (the family) got into eyewear,”
Sammann notes. “There was an opportunity
to acquire a company in eyewear accessories,
and my dad thought it was a good marriage
since we had the distribution and it
complemented what drug stores could sell to
consumers.”
In 2012, Sammann and his sister,
Lindsay – now creative director – purchased
the business from their parents after working
there for several years.
“Since 2010, the company’s grown
568%,” he quantifies. “We’ve had to move
our warehouse, which is now outside of
Chicago. We moved into our old warehouse
and built out about 10,000 square feet and
have about 25 full-time team members, and
we continue to grow.”
The company can be found on the 2016
Inc. 5000 list, pulling in $10.3 million of
revenue.
In fashion
Sammann reflects on when his parents
first delved into the eyewear business and
decided to focus more on style
considerations.
“It wasn’t until my mom started using
reading glasses and said, ‘These reading
glasses are hideous,’ ” he relays. “My dad
said, ‘OK, you can make your own samples.’
So she started working with the factories to
come up with more colorful options and
Peepers was born. That was 1993.
“We know we’re not a fashion house,
but we like to incorporate a lot of what the
fashion houses do in terms of trending and
making sure we have a story to tell with our
seasonal collections,” he adds. “We’re always
reinventing ourselves and not being
complacent.”
As for other celebrity customers, Sheryl
Crow and Howie Mandel have also been
identified as Peepers wearers. When asked if
more famous pupils will be aided by Peepers’
specs, Sammann advises to stay tuned.
“There are none we can necessarily name
at the moment, but we’re working on having
a couple different celebrities be advocates of
the brand. We’re excited about some of the
opportunities coming up.”
Staying sharp
“There’s no shortage of competition,”
Sammann admits of the industry. “We’re not
the most expensive reader out there, but not
the cheapest. So we’ve dedicated a lot of our
resources to design.”
In fact, Peepers has four team members
assigned to product development.
“We also use freelance and in-house
designers that work with us to come up with
unique patterns,” he shares.
The company cultivates 50 to 60 new
styles each season and operates at about a
60/40 split in terms of its wholesale versus
online business.
“We do feel like we’re running two
different types of businesses,” Sammann says.
“We have just north of 4,000 locations
nationwide of retailers that carry our
products. Eyewear is something people want
to try on, so we try to make it easy to use the
store locator and try them on at our partners’
locations.”
Blues blockers
An upbeat environment is a focus at
Peepers. Sammann explains that transparency
is also important and that he shares financial
numbers with staff. He also aggressively
requests employee feedback to help the
business improve.
While the company helps its customers
cultivate new looks, it has undergone its own
recent aesthetic upgrades.
Eyes Forward
Peepers Grows With a Clear Focus
By Matt Ottinger
2017 NEWCOMER
While Peepers’ employees have fun at work, they are
serious about quality. The company, launching a blue-
blocking anti-reflective lens this fall, remains steadfast in
combating eye strain and causes of macular degeneration.