Zyloware Corp. may be the new kid on the block in Port Chester, but it”™s no rookie in rose-colored glasses. Increasingly for the storied company, things are looking green.
The 88-year-old global eyewear supplier, which relocated last August from a 30,000-square-foot facility in Long Island City to the industrial block known as Slater Street, has just completed a green retrofit of its 50,000-square-foot facility.
Zyloware products have graced the faces of American Idol judge Randy Jackson and Sophia Loren.
James Shyer, chief operating officer, believes in the old adage that you have to spend money to make money.
More than 700 Seesmart LED lights replaced fluorescent bulbs in Zyloware”™s offices and distribution center; motion-activated sensors light up warehouse aisles where workers walk. It”™s estimated the company will reduce its carbon output by 146,000-plus pounds each year. And Shyer and his employees are physically reaping the benefits of reduced eye strain from gaseous fluorescent bulbs.
“It”™s a substantial investment (approximately $125,000) but we”™ve already received rebates from ConEdison and other sources,” Shyer said. “From day one, from the first month”™s electric bill, I think we were saving 40 percent from the month prior. It”™s good for the environment, good for my employees and good for my pocketbook.”
Shyer said it”™s improved efficiency, as well.
“When it comes to product, you can”™t decipher colors under light that”™s no good,” he said. “My product development team checks the quality and measurements of product all day and you either had to go outside or go in true sunlight for good visibility.”
For a company that often invests nine months to a year at to develop its eyewear, the final product is paramount.
But if “you have the right brand, it can happen pretty quickly,” Shyer said. “There are brands like Daisy Fuentes, who is a celebrity, who has her goods at Kohl”™s Department Stores. You make a deal with her and sign a deal and then you go right into development.”
Zyloware works on product lines for the Randy Jackson Collection, Sophia Loren Eyewear, Via Spiga, Stetson, Natori Eyewear and private label collections.
The third-generation business began in Queens in 1923. Among company hallmarks is the creation of  the nation”™s first Nylon eyeglass frame ”“ the “Invincible” ”“ in 1964.
In the 1970s, Zyloware was instrumental in launching the Gloria Vanderbilt Eyewear collection.
From 1923 to 1994, Zyloware manufactured all of its products in-country. Manufacturing moved to Asia in the mid-”™90s; eyewear development, design and distribution is still conducted in-house.
“Our product development and marketing team find out what the trends are and then my sales force will go out and sell it to the independent, as well as mass merchant retailer,” Shyer said. “Online (sales) has its place, no question, but an eyeglass is something that, in our opinion, people still want to try on.”
Though sustainability in its infrastructure has been a focal point of Zyloware”™s expansion, it”™s a notion that has not trickled into its product just yet.
“When it comes to something (the consumer) is going to put on their face every day, the No. 1 rule is still, ”˜It has to look good on me,”™ regardless of what it”™s made of,” Shyer said. “At some point, will sustainability go into the product itself? It”™s possible.”
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