S05.E13: Ellison Eyewear

[sarthaz]

Episode Description: Marcus wears a black leather jacket over a sweater vest, and no one can take him seriously.

[Showthyme]

I need to watch the show again. Who had ownership in this business before Marcus signed on? Marcus tried to identify who did what in his quadrant but I am still confused as to their role/ownership. I assume that they are gone since they did not appear at the grand opening of Marcus. They liked to hear themselves talk! IMO, Ellison Eyewear is better without them.

Product costs in Euro? Manufacturing their products in Greece? Not that there is anything wrong with that but I just got the impression that they saw themselves as just so damn unique/creative that they didn't want to do anything mainstream or non-Millennial. News flash: Other generations buy products too and some even have money to do so. 

I like the eyeglasses but I just wanted to cyber-smack these people. I don't know any women who wear acetate jewelry. The jewelry cases had some appeal.

CNBC ran an eye wear show on American Greed this week. I kept thinking about it during The Profit. I didn't think too much about eye wear until now and I enjoy a good pair of eyeglasses. 

Let's hope that Marcus gets fixated on something else next season besides that broken heart sweater.

Edited June 27, 2018 by Showthyme

[Ray Adverb]

That was a whole lotta nothing.  Why was Marcus so fixated on acetate?  The company had little monetary value and was doing terrible business.  The emotional aspect seemed cliche and made me gag.  That store in the mall is going nowhere fast.

[KHenry14]

Those three dorks who work with Aristotle are some of the more annoying coworkers I've ever seen on The Profit. They are excellent at spewing out millennial buzz words, but they sure as hell don't know how to listen. 

I'm curious as to why Marcus thought a brick and mortar store was the way to go instead of marketing to chains like Sunglass Hut? 

[sarthaz]

It's clear that the business was hemorrhaging money to support Lamar's daily weed intake. 

[Amarsir]

1 hour ago, Showthyme said:

I need to watch the show again. Who had ownership in this business before Marcus signed on? Marcus tried to identify who did what in his quadrant but I am still confused as to their role/ownership. I assume that they are gone since they did not appear at the grand opening of Marcus. They liked to hear themselves talk! IMO, Ellison Eyewear is better without them.

 

And how did Marcus get involved? It sounds like his vanity store was already selling their stuff before they realized they could use him as a lifeline.

Quote

Product costs in Euro? Manufacturing their products in Greece? Not that there is anything wrong with that but I just got the impression that they saw themselves as just so damn unique/creative that they didn't want to do anything mainstream or non-Millennial. News flash: Other generations buy products too and some even have money to do so. 

It doesn't translate in Euros either. That exchange is around 1.2:1. He just had no idea. Don't put Greece on MIllennials though. I wouldn't be surprised if the Greek connection was what drew Marcus in the first place. I will blame the guys for thinking that they can spend their days talking about feelings and then at some point that turns into profit. There's no connection between wishes and work. 

It's especially glaring because they considered themselves to be "ideas" guys, but when Marcus deliberately wanted ideas from them they didn't really have any. That's what he wants to invest in: people who can come up with creative successful ideas he doesn't have. If he wanted to tell you what to make or just get a list of items in an "accessories" category he would just hire someone. To that extent Aristotle redeemed himself with the kids' glasses and new designs, but none of his posse did a damn thing.

Although to be fair, Marcus often gives 3 directions that may not necessarily jive, or he picks one as the most important that wasn't clear. After the initial failure (business card holders?) he said 1) Items for women, 2) Key in to acetate, 3) Ready in 30 days. If his manufacturing is in Greece, it probably isn't plausible to get whole new designs back in that time. And I don't think a leather valet case is any worse of an idea than acetate earrings.

Edited June 27, 2018 by Amarsir

[toodles]

What a cf.  Accessories for sunglasses is not hard.  Eyeglass chains (not the stupid ones that hang down you back), cases etc. are good upsells.  The hipster douchebags were just the worst.  I think sunglasses that fit over your regular glasses would be a home run.  I have a pair and love them.

One last thing-enough with the Oprah moments.  If I'm looking for sunglasses, I don't want to hear your sob stories.  If I'm buying something from you, I want to know how it benefits me, not you.  Marcus, if you want to be Oprah, fine.  Please, no more group hug moments.

[ae2]

Omg... that guy (Lamar?) interjecting about how much he doesn't like math was the funniest thing I've seen on this show. It was so random and pointless. Math is a construct, and that limits him, so he hires people to do math for him. What??

Later he added, "this is going to be fun because quadrants are the best."

"We have to give constructed things because otherwise people get lost."

Marcus: "I still don't know what the vision is." Heh, no pun intended?

About the glasses "necklace" thing, Marcus: "that looks effing ridiculous." Thank you, I was just saying literally that exact thing.

The lady at their store planning meeting gave such a repulsive look when they mentioned having a bar so they can do popup events.

Also Marcus, sorry, but acetate glasses are not unique to Ellison. All the major companies offer that material. And no one wants acetate jewelry.

[Ray Adverb]

Something about beards and wool caps just immediately puts me in a bad mood and makes me not like a man.  I can't make sense of it, so it must be something subconscious.

[Should Be Working]

Congratulations. You dudes just took the most negative popular stereotypes about millenials and confirmed them all. Perhaps this is just an isolated instance of a big city hipster dufus enterprise run amok, but I doubt it. Marcus, on the other hand, did a decent job of assuming the role of patient preschool daycare provider.

[Christina]

The tweet that resulting in me noping right out of the episode:

 

Well, the first airing anyway; I ended up watching the later episode. I was rolling my eyes at Lamar, who couldn't even open his, and when it got to Aristotle's claims of not knowing if his mother was alive because of a fight that took place between his siblings and her when he was away, I was regretting my decision to watch. His Dr. Phil Moments are as bad as his marketing plans. I was waiting for a heartbreaking scene of his mother appearing, who I was guessing had addiction problems for no reason other than having seen several episodes of Intervention and Dr. Phil, and was greeted with a scene of his siblings showing up. 

Marcus apparently has a store front for his fashion line. This apparently isn't new information but since I avoid his fashion shows, I just saw it last night. https://twitter.com/shopmarcus

[toodles]

1 hour ago, Christina said:

The tweet that resulting in me noping right out of the episode:

 

Well, the first airing anyway; I ended up watching the later episode. I was rolling my eyes at Lamar, who couldn't even open his, and when it got to Aristotle's claims of not knowing if his mother was alive because of a fight that took place between his siblings and her when he was away, I was regretting my decision to watch. His Dr. Phil Moments are as bad as his marketing plans. I was waiting for a heartbreaking scene of his mother appearing, who I was guessing had addiction problems for no reason other than having seen several episodes of Intervention and Dr. Phil, and was greeted with a scene of his siblings showing up. 

Marcus apparently has a store front for his fashion line. This apparently isn't new information but since I avoid his fashion shows, I just saw it last night. https://twitter.com/shopmarcus

As I said upthread, I hate the Dr Phil episodes.  I caught some earlier Prophets and it reminded of why I started watching in the first place.  I miss the old Prophet.

Edited June 28, 2018 by toodles
Stupid autocorrect

[sskrill]

Yeah. I'm going to need further explanation about the mom thing.

I don't know if I just didn't hear something but...  "I was close with her, she had a fight with my siblings while I was in college, now I don't know if she's alive."  That makes no fu**ing sense.  How would you only be able to contact your mother through email?  You've got time to travel back and forth to Greece but can't take a few days to google some death records?  You can't hire a PI to find out if your siblings know anything?

 

The "partners" were ridiculous. 

Guy1:  "I'm responsible for modulating the flux capacitor with respect to how it impacts corporate synergy as a core competency. And marketing."  Marcus:  "Yes, but what do you do?" 

Guy2:  "My wheelhouse is amplifying the bandwidth by thinking outside the box to incentivize our customers.  And marketing."   Marcus:  "Yes, but what do you do??"

Guy3:  "I handle 100% of the marketing."

[Amarsir]

17 hours ago, sskrill said:

Yeah. I'm going to need further explanation about the mom thing.

The siblings cut her out, apparently. Including the brother who showed up at the end to support him? So they're still in touch, but she's not responding to him, and it's because of them?

It reads to me like the mom has some kind of psychological issue, the rest of the family made a difficult decision, and Aristotle isn't ready to. That's OK - if you can't have a soft spot for your mother then when can you? But one way or another he has to toughen up, both for himself personally and for the business.

[seacliffsal]

This was just fascinating to watch.  Marcus wants to be in business with people he believes are hip and cool.  Yet, when he buys into such a business he can't even get the partners to give him a straight answer.  Why not partner with someone who has an understanding of a work ethic?  These guys had no worries about making a profit as they seemed to believe that someone would come along to bail them out.  They probably learned young that someone (parents) would bail them out.  Even though Aristotle had no idea how to value a company, Marcus still wanted to be in business with him.  There are so many brands of sunglasses that it will be hard for Marcus to make a dent in the market.  I think the best plan would be for Marcus to make this his in-store brand and not worry about expanding beyond that.  

[Jamoche]

WoolHatBeardGuy: "I'm going to think like a 16 year old girl who has just walked into the store."

*time passes*

WHBG: "Look at these cufflinks and other things that made great dad gifts in 1950."

 

Never wanted to see a group fail so hard. The only redeeming part of it was Marcus' WTF looks.

[Ray Adverb]

12 hours ago, seacliffsal said:

This was just fascinating to watch.  Marcus wants to be in business with people he believes are hip and cool. 

Why do I get the feeling that Marcus was a bullied dork loner in his childhood?

Edited June 29, 2018 by Ray Adverb

[Showthyme]

18 hours ago, Amarsir said:

The siblings cut her out, apparently. Including the brother who showed up at the end to support him? So they're still in touch, but she's not responding to him, and it's because of them?

It reads to me like the mom has some kind of psychological issue, the rest of the family made a difficult decision, and Aristotle isn't ready to. That's OK - if you can't have a soft spot for your mother then when can you? But one way or another he has to toughen up, both for himself personally and for the business.

Unfortunately, I understand this family issue. My husband and I got into a spat with my MIL. She cut off the ENTIRE side of our family. Grandchildren and all. Some people are so focused on being right and getting their way 100% of the time to the exclusion of everything else. 

I do believe that it is a psychological issue. It takes both sides to want to move forward and some people prefer to stay on their high horse.

[sarthaz]

2 hours ago, Showthyme said:

Unfortunately, I understand this family issue. My husband and I got into a spat with my MIL. She cut off the ENTIRE side of our family. Grandchildren and all. Some people are so focused on being right and getting their way 100% of the time to the exclusion of everything else. 

I do believe that it is a psychological issue. It takes both sides to want to move forward and some people prefer to stay on their high horse.

I've seen this happen in my extended family as well: a mother not talking to her daughter for 10 years because of the seating arrangements at the wedding (that she pouted through). I can't comprehend this behavior, but it's surprisingly common.

[Ray Adverb]

I just can't stop thinking of the guy in the beard and wool cap.  Such a bad combination.  Although on women it can look really cute.  Men?  Just.... no.

 

I figure that since this was such a vapid business and a vapid episode, I can restrict myself to vapid comments.

[tehach]

Absolute train wreck of a "business." $350,000 for 50% of that money-hemorrhaging sunglasses business? "I don't do math so I hire somebody to do it."

Total fail at every level. Not worthy of an investment, and an insult to hard-working, intrepid entrepreneurs everywhere.

[sskrill]

10 hours ago, Showthyme said:

Unfortunately, I understand this family issue. 

And I get that too - I don't have the best relationship with my mother - I just don't understand why they even included that if it wasn't going to be clear.  Just say "issues with both parents" and move on.

ETA: But no matter the state of our relationship I always knew where she was and if she was ok.

Edited June 30, 2018 by sskrill

[tobeannounced]

Poor guy has probably watched too many Profit episodes where Marcus insists the personal drama is part of the brand's "story" and is integral to engaging the customer.  Oops, except when Marcus thinks it's not.

[qtpye]

On 6/27/2018 at 9:49 AM, sarthaz said:

Episode Description: Marcus wears a black leather jacket over a sweater vest, and no one can take him seriously.

 

On 6/27/2018 at 10:08 AM, Showthyme said:

I need to watch the show again. Who had ownership in this business before Marcus signed on? Marcus tried to identify who did what in his quadrant but I am still confused as to their role/ownership. I assume that they are gone since they did not appear at the grand opening of Marcus. They liked to hear themselves talk! IMO, Ellison Eyewear is better without them.

Product costs in Euro? Manufacturing their products in Greece? Not that there is anything wrong with that but I just got the impression that they saw themselves as just so damn unique/creative that they didn't want to do anything mainstream or non-Millennial. News flash: Other generations buy products too and some even have money to do so. 

I like the eyeglasses but I just wanted to cyber-smack these people. I don't know any women who wear acetate jewelry. The jewelry cases had some appeal.

CNBC ran an eye wear show on American Greed this week. I kept thinking about it during The Profit. I didn't think too much about eye wear until now and I enjoy a good pair of eyeglasses. 

Let's hope that Marcus gets fixated on something else next season besides that broken heart sweater.

 

On 6/27/2018 at 10:30 AM, Ray Adverb said:

That was a whole lotta nothing.  Why was Marcus so fixated on acetate?  The company had little monetary value and was doing terrible business.  The emotional aspect seemed cliche and made me gag.  That store in the mall is going nowhere fast.

 

On 6/27/2018 at 11:11 AM, sarthaz said:

It's clear that the business was hemorrhaging money to support Lamar's daily weed intake. 

 

On 6/28/2018 at 4:16 PM, seacliffsal said:

This was just fascinating to watch.  Marcus wants to be in business with people he believes are hip and cool.  Yet, when he buys into such a business he can't even get the partners to give him a straight answer.  Why not partner with someone who has an understanding of a work ethic?  These guys had no worries about making a profit as they seemed to believe that someone would come along to bail them out.  They probably learned young that someone (parents) would bail them out.  Even though Aristotle had no idea how to value a company, Marcus still wanted to be in business with him.  There are so many brands of sunglasses that it will be hard for Marcus to make a dent in the market.  I think the best plan would be for Marcus to make this his in-store brand and not worry about expanding beyond that.  

If I was an amazingly successful billionaire ( I am not) and I invested in a string bikini company, one of the things that I would realize is that me wearing the product is not a great way to market the merchandise, because it just would not look good on me. I was wondering what the hell was Marcus wearing in the first scenes. A moto jacket over a sweater vest...really? Is he going for that, oh so valuable Fonzie meets Mr. Roger's demographic? The jacket was too small for him and he looked ridiculous. Behold, we cut to a shot of the exact same leather jacket hanging from the racks of his new high-end store "Marcus". Also, the broken heart sweaters look tight and uncomfortable on him and the embroidery seems pretty basic. I almost wish the sweaters were to help some charitable organization that is fighting heart disease because at least that would make some sense. Instead, it seems like a vanity line that must keep his new wife from getting bored. The acetate jewelry was ugly as hell and there is no way that junk would sell at the dollar store, let alone at whatever exorbitant prices Marcus would like to charge. Marcus, you are a no-nonsense lovable nerd and being a nerd myself, businesses that are going for the "cool factor" might not be your forte.

[LuvMyShows]

12 minutes ago, qtpye said:

I was wondering what the hell was Marcus wearing in the first scenes. A moto jacket over a sweater vest...really? Is he going for that, oh so valuable Fonzie meets Mr. Roger's demographic? 

Love it!

 

On 6/27/2018 at 11:58 AM, Amarsir said:

And how did Marcus get involved? It sounds like his vanity store was already selling their stuff before they realized they could use him as a lifeline.

It was a little confusing.  I didn't think they ever asked him to get involved.  I thought Marcus said they were selling the glasses in his store, and he decided to look into the company further.

 

On 6/28/2018 at 4:16 PM, seacliffsal said:

These guys had no worries about making a profit as they seemed to believe that someone would come along to bail them out.  They probably learned young that someone (parents) would bail them out.  

Actually, to me it was worse than that.  Since I don't recall them asking Marcus to bail them out, I think they weren't concerned at all about profitability or lack thereof.  That type of trivial concern is far beneath their hipster-ness and the importance of their brand's vibe.  Somehow, magically, it would all work out fine [crossed fingers for luck, fairy dust, abracadabra]...just like magically [ahem, parents] everything had worked out growing up. (I exclude Aristotle for the obvious parent situation, and I guess I'm mostly talking about the two idiots -- the stoner and the no-idea guy.)

 

On 6/27/2018 at 6:42 PM, Christina said:

I like Marcus's tweet, because of the importance of people understanding the possible overwhelming impact to the business of something from someone's personal life.  Aristotle's loss affected every.single.aspect of his business for the negative.

[Jamoche]

On 6/29/2018 at 1:27 AM, Ray Adverb said:

Why do I get the feeling that Marcus was a bullied dork loner in his childhood?

 

Maybe the problem is that he hasn't figured out that lots of kids who seemed "cool" in high school were all talk and no substance? It's a lesson these business owners need to learn too. I'd rather hang out with Marcus than those twits.

Edited June 30, 2018 by Jamoche

[TVbitch]

Cannot believe Marcus suffered the 3 stooges for more than 5 minutes. AND THEN we didn't even get the pleasure of seeing them let go! I fucking wanted to see Lamar get fired. How would that even go: "Lamar, you're fired." "No man, I don't believe in being fired, I'm just going to release my creativity from the limitations of my quadrant." 

Again with the broken heart sweater on Marcus. OMG, that heart appliqué is so 13-year old girl looking. And as Marcus pointed out, people don't want to be reminded of the negative feelings associated with LOSS when purchasing sunglasses.... so why would they want to be reminded of HEARTBREAK on their fucking sweater!  

[sarthaz]

On 6/30/2018 at 10:02 AM, tobeannounced said:

Poor guy has probably watched too many Profit episodes where Marcus insists the personal drama is part of the brand's "story" and is integral to engaging the customer.  Oops, except when Marcus thinks it's not.

This is the core of what drives me nuts about this show.

1) "Why aren't you incorporating your tragic backstory into the marketing for the product?"

1a) "I can't believe you're incorporating your tragic backstory into the marketing for the product."

2) "You need to focus your business down to 3 core products and nothing else."

2a) "You only have 3 core products. You need to start selling a bunch of other stuff that's tangentially related to your core business."

3) "My first offer is ALWAYS my best. ALWAYS."

3a) "Sure, I'll give you 75% more money for the same percentage because reasons."

It's maddening.

[PicnicLife77]

My favorite part of this episode, by far, was when Aristotle was showing Marcus the glasses chains and talking about "The loss of glasses," and Marcus puts his hands on his face, "Oh my God. Did he really just say that?"

[hoosiermommy]

On 6/29/2018 at 2:58 PM, tehach said:

Absolute train wreck of a "business." $350,000 for 50% of that money-hemorrhaging sunglasses business? "I don't do math so I hire somebody to do it."

Total fail at every level. Not worthy of an investment, and an insult to hard-working, intrepid entrepreneurs everywhere.

I just had an issue with an account executive who has been in the industry for 30+ years.  She said, "I'm not good at math so I can't help make sense of the reports."  At some point in the last 30 years, maybe you would think it important to....learn enough math to understand the reports you are supposed to use to help clients manage their account???

 

I don't necessarily think that not having the skills right away to perform every aspect of your job is a bad thing, but abdicating your responsibility to learn how to do your job better is lazy.

[CrazyInAlabama]

I couldn't stand Aristotle, and didn't see anything unique about his products, and thought they were very overpriced.     I don't think this company will ever be a decent investment, and wonder why Marcus liked them.    I would have walked when he wanted them to do the project with a store, and they did nothing.  

Edited October 9, 2018 by CrazyInAlabama

[CrazyInAlabama]

I can believe this business isn't doing too well, since I keep seeing other optical companies advertise using the same materials, and are much cheaper.