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Caddis, best known for their cheeky and stylish reading glasses, has been one of the most impressive success stories in recent years. The brand’s awesome founder Tim Parr recently sat down with The Daily to discuss how they’ve conquered the eyewear world and become a favorite among the fashion set. Get your readers on and check out their inspiring story and find out what’s ahead for this growing brand!
Tell me a little bit about how Caddis came to be!
I was a touring bluegrass musician before, and the youngest ones in the band always had to make the set list. I realized there was a problem that I couldn’t see up close and I needed reading glasses. I went to buy some and they said it was going to take a week and that was the only option. This felt completely wrong. How do I get my head around it? And after doing homework, it was either CVS or Walgreens or a $400 pair of Tom Ford reading glasses. I have that entrepreneurial thing in me. I thought I can’t be the only one who feels this way, and found out that there’s just this massive void for reading glasses for a generation that requires a certain aesthetic. That started the pursuit.
What was the next step?
I was doing a bunch of homework and research, and it just became more and more clear how there’s just nothing out there for an eye condition, presbyopia, which affects 90% of people aged 40 and requires this product. In my opinion, from my cultural perspective, there are no options. Your age was dictating your purchasing behavior. It was forcing you into CVS or Walgreens to go purchase this thing and put it on your face, which is backwards. It should be the other way around. You follow the customer in their behavior. That put the ball in motion. And then it was a couple of years of really figuring stuff out. How does this work?
How many years ago was that?
We started selling seven years ago. But I started working on things probably four years before that. I was busy. This is probably my third startup. They’re painful endeavors, and it’s really easy to get punch drunk on the idea. And you always forget, really, what it takes to bring them to life. I made sure that I wasn’t being stupid about it.
How did you then get the word out about the product?
The World Wide Web! Back then, no one wanted our customer online because people [of the myth that people] over 45 don’t find anything online. You put a dollar into Meta with Facebook back then, and you’d get a buck fifty out. It’s just more in, more out. We really grew it, but I have to say, the brand platform, the first week we flipped the switch and turned it on. I remember a woman in Indiana took a selfie, and she said, ‘I guess aging is now cool.’ And I was just like, are we done? I think we might be done. It was really neat because, as marketers or brand creators or even product creators, all we do is send messages out, and we don’t know. We just don’t know if they’re taking off, but when they come back to you, message received.
How did you move into brick and mortar?
I feel that to truly be a lifestyle brand, you cannot be an e-commerce-only brand. I always wanted stores from day one, but there was a logical way to do it. I’ve always wanted stores. It’s the best way to walk into the brand’s world.
You have six stores open now. What’s your plan to expand?
I bet we get to 12, and then we optimize and see what we can do. There’s a sweet spot, which I don’t know what it is quite yet, of having enough stores by not having too many stores. We also have wholesale accounts.
What else is new?
We just jumped into prescription too. We have two optometrists on staff. When people are at home, and they need to ask a question, they can just FaceTime someone who really knows what they’re doing. And we get those done in about seven to 10 days.
Is it still going to be the same kind of lower price point for those glasses as well?
The frames are the same price. Then it depends on your prescription. The more messed up your eyeballs are, the more expensive they are.
Since you started, have you seen a lot of competition?
Yeah!
How does that feel?
You know that saying, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery? That needs to change. Imitation is the most annoying form of flattery. Some people just directly rip us off. I actually don’t care. We’ve seen competition. It’s died off a little bit, but probably three years ago it was at its peak. I could scroll through Instagram and find 12 to 15 brands that didn’t exist the year before that were copying the vibe of what we do. But my take on that is since we were arguably one of the first to do it differently, we are authoring this story as we go. By design, people have to chase us. If you’re copying somebody, you don’t have time on your side, you don’t have creativity on your side, they’re going to compete on some other basis, which I don’t know. So I’m all right with it, because I know what’s coming down the pipe and they’re not doing anything like that. By the time we’re done with that, we’re on the next thing and the next thing and the next thing.
Who actually designs the actual glasses?
Me. I’ll Frankenstein things I find in thrift stores, old vintage, classic things. Pull an arm from here, take a brow line from there. A lot of times, I’ll put it into Photoshop and then rework it in Photoshop and start that way.
What I love about them is they are reading glasses made for creative people. People who like to have a little fun with fashion.
We hear this a lot. They have different pairs for different personalities. I’ll be sitting in the store, and people will say, I’m really this pair, but I want to be that pair. I’m like, well, then be that pair.
Why is it called Caddis?
It’s my youngest daughter’s middle name. It is a fly fishing bug, and it’s tattooed on the inside of my arm. It’s the lifecycle of this particular bug.
I did not expect that.
Surprises around every corner.
How many different types do you have now?
Maybe 25. Not a lot. Some brands have up to 350 styles, and it’s actually something that we’re quite proud of. It’s such a narrow focus, and it has to do with just having a point of view. We have a strong point of view.
How often do you launch new styles?
About six a year.
That’s really not that many.
Then we’ll retire some. Then we’ll introduce new colors. We’ll introduce collabs. There’s a lot of moving parts. There’s newness coming in almost every week, but in a different form.
What else is new?
We came out with this line of accessories, which is called Loosies, and it just launched. It’s funny, it’s cool. It’s engaging. It keeps the conversation going, and I’ve had a lot of fun with it. [It includes the “Empty Nesting” candle, matchbooks, fieldbooks, caps, and tote bags – all $50 and under.] We also have a collaboration with Friends From New York. [The collaboration is a portrait series by Heidi Hartwig, celebrating the doers, dancers, builders, and everyday legends who keep New York City moving. The series features Stretch Armstrong, Judi Rosen, Jenny Dembrow, Mickey Boardman, Bonnie Thornton, Camella Ehlke, Crystal Moselle, David Boxwell, Eli Gesner, Joan Wasser, Jodie Patterson, Mike Saes, Pilar Maschi, Tracey Ryans, Zach Bliss, and Zahra Sherzad.]
Do you have any advice for people who lose their glasses all the time?
Yes. Keep doing that!
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