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REM Eyewear Launches New E-Commerce Website

REM Eyewear is about to get a sharp new look online. The Sun Valley-based eyewear company will launch a business to business e-commerce site next month, enabling customers to order frames and view their bill online, company officials said. Leading the charge is REM’s Kevin Hundert, son of CEO Mike Hundert and grandson of Gerry and Shirley Hundert, the husband and wife duo that purchased the company in 1971 for $16,000. “The company wasn’t too keen on technology,” said Kevin Hundert, 23, manager of new business development. “My dad just needed a younger vision.” The goal is that 80 percent of existing customer accounts will use the website to place orders within the first six months of the launch, Kevin Hundert said. REM Eyewear’s clients range from big name companies like LensCrafters and Kaiser Permanente to regional optometrists. Generations of Hunderts have helped the company to grow from a small, family-run eyeglass distributor into an international eyewear designer and marketing company. “They came in with new ideas and added a lot of personal attention and service to the customers,” said Gerry Hundert, chairman. When he and his wife purchased REM more than 40 years ago, the company specialized in distributing and importing French eyewear. It did poor business and had one part-time employee. There wasn’t a typewriter or adding machine on the premises. After a couple years of educating himself in eyewear, Gerry Hundert decided to import his own product and the company began its growth trajectory. Gerry and Shirley Hundert’s eldest son, Mike, joined the company in 1981 to manage the sales and marketing team. He and his father devised ways to increase the company’s global reach by participating in international tradeshows. In 1988, the company landed their first licensing agreement with retailer Converse. Since then, REM has added brands such as Jones New York, John Varvatos and Lucky Brand. This month, the company announced they will license eyewear for luggage retailer Tumi. Mike and sister Donna Gindy bought REM from their parents in 1997. Three years later, they opened an office in Australia. Operations in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong followed soon after. “I’ve always been a global thinker with an eye towards growing the business,” Mike Hundert said. REM’s new website In April, Hundert asked his son to help out in developing new projects, including the new website. “Kevin and his generation live on the Internet,” so he was a natural choice, Mike Hundert said. Revamping the website had been on the company’s to do list for about four years, said Gindy, who serves as the company’s chief operating officer. “It just wasn’t happening until Kevin came in,” Gindy said. “He took over an old project in a new way.” The new site shifts the business model to make ordering easier for opticians and it allows them access to their accounts 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Kevin Hundert said. Dr. Gregg Ossip, CEO and President of Indiana-based Ossip Optometry has done business with REM for about 10 years. Ossip said the new website will make ordering for his 16 locations more efficient and convenient. From a marketing standpoint, Kevin Hundert said he and his team have devised a plan to get the word out on the new site. “We are doing extensive in-house training with our office employees and our outside training representatives,” he said. Clients will be given several learning tools for the new website, including hands-on tutorials from sales representatives and an online question forum where they can discuss troubleshooting and leave comments. Kevin Hundert said joining the family business has been like “coming home.” “I’ve known everybody for a long time,” he said. “I didn’t go through that awkward transition phase of starting a new job. I fit in right away.” From the start, Kevin Hundert looked to REM President Steve Horowitz for guidance and leadership. “I knew early on that reporting to my dad would not be the best idea because it’s a different relationship,” he said. “Steve’s really been my mentor and boss.”

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