Platinum Eyewear President Ron Bryan poses for a portrait Monday at the company’s offices in Ringgold. Platinum eyewear is a distributor for “Duck Dynasty” eyewear.COMPANY AT A GLANCE• Name: Platinum Eyewear LLC• Location: A 10,000-squre-foot warehouse off Roadway Drive in Ringgold, Ga.• Started: March 2013• Owners: Brandon Born, Matt Hamilton, Ron Bryan• Product lines: Sunglasses and related merchandise sold under the Duck Dynasty, Duck Commander, Buck Commander, RealTree, and Platinum brands
A year after starting their sun glass distribution business, the three Chattanooga owners of Platinum Eyewear are headed to Las Vegas this weekend for what they hope will be the talk of the town – or at least the buzz at one of the world’s biggest consumer-goods trade shows for wholesalers of most anything people wear.
Brandon Born, Matt Hamilton and Ron Bryan are headed to the bi-annual ASD (Associated Surplus Dealers) convention to promote a new line of sunglasses from the popular A&E television show, Duck Dynasty.
“It’s the hottest brand in America right now so we’re expecting great things,” Born said Monday from the Ringgold, Ga., warehouse where Platinum Eyewear recently began shipping its Duck Dynasty sunglasses to buyers around the country.
The trio won the competition last fall from the licensors for A&E to be the exclusive wholesaler of sunglasses bearing the popular Duck Dynasty and related Duck Commander and Buck Commander brands. Platinum Eyewear, which takes its name from the mortgage finance company Platinum Financial that Born and Hamilton started in 2008, is already selling tens of thousands of the Duck Dynasty sunglasses. The eyewear is marketed to more than 1,500 retailers and through its Internet site, www.platinumeyewear.com.