This past March, a pair of student entrepreneurs and the founders of Vybe Sunglasses started accepting pre-orders for their customizable product. 

Today, NC State student Kyle May, a junior in business administration, and his business partner Chase Denison, a student at NYU, are bringing the company to new heights and continuing to expand.

The current concentration of the company is to build a reliable and loyal clientele, according to May.

In order to accomplish this, May said the company is attending many “home grown” events in order to gain exposure and get the word out about Vybe Sunglasses.

 According to May, in addition to multiple North Carolina-based events, the company has also attended two national events: Vision Expo West, a business conference in Las Vegas, and Smoked Dallas, a barbeque festival in Dallas, Texas.

“At Vision Expo West, we weren’t a vendor; we went primarily to contact stores and explore different business needs,” May said.

On the other hand, May said Vybe Sunglasses participated as a vendor at Smoked Dallas, and acquired huge success with sales there. 

Vybe has also auditioned to be on the ABC series Shark Tank; however, May said he cannot comment on this in-depth due to legal obligations. 

“It may or may not happen,” May said, referring to a possible appearance on the television show.

As far as business expansion is concerned, May said the company has many endeavors currently under research. 

“We would like to set up an RX program to get prescription lenses,” May said.

In addition to prescriptions and lenses, May said there is a plan to expand the product line with different colors and styles.

However, in order for these expansions to come to fruition, the company will need to make more money.

In order to make more money to expand, May said the company is concentrating on keeping the momentum going, as far as consumer response is concerned. This momentum is what the company hopes will translate into already well performing sales.

May said sales have been going well since Vybe Sunglasses got its first inventory in late August.

“We are on pace for where we think that we should be, business-wise,” May said. 

As far as future plans are concerned, the company has big aspirations.

May said the company is currently contemplating a pop-up shop in New York City over the summer. In addition to this, May said they are currently in negotiation with a few retail stores. 

However, the notion of selling Vybe Sunglasses in a brick and mortar store may pose some challenges.

“They would have to offer a very limited number of selections,” said Deborah Brown, a senior lecturer in the Poole College of Management. 

In addition to the challenges of expanding into stores, Brown emphasized that 98 percent of the sunglasses market is controlled by Luxottica, an Italian company.

This monopoly of the sunglasses industry may pose challenges for Vybe Sunglasses. 

Business-wise, Brown agreed with May’s strategy to get more exposure for the company. Brown said getting someone famous to wear Vybe Sunglasses would help the company immensely. 

Additionally, Brown said she thinks there is a lot of potential for Vybe Sunglasses in the market of sports team apparel and accessories. 

Brown said an interesting idea would be to promote the sunglasses using school colors associated with college athletics. 

“They could be sold as accessories to wear to sporting events,” Brown said. 

With all the challenges and possible business directions aside, Brown said she thinks what May and Denison have done is great. 

Vybe Sunglasses can be customized and purchased on the company’s website www.vybesunglasses.com