BCBusiness

14 B C B U S I N E S S . C A J U N E 2 0 24 and Aritzia. "So you start treat- ing them as your scarf. Glasses go in the middle of your face— why wouldn't you play with them, have different colours and looks? We're not in this to create planned obsolescence." From a marketing stand- point, the company has gifted pairs to influential Canadians like Jillian Harris and Love It or List It's Todd Talbot, and also done referral partnerships with community figures that champi- on the brand, like Jason Prevost, manager of restaurant Nook (which has a location in Vancou- ver's Kitsilano neighbourhood, where Kits's brick-and-mortar store is, of course, located). "It's about finding the right people who are glasses wearers and are authentic and genuine," says senior partnerships manager Katie Dempsey. "But the prod- uct really does speak for itself." Kits closed its $55-million IPO in early 2021 and initially traded at $8.50 per share on the TSX. That price dropped to a low of just over $2 a year and a half later, but it's rebounded since. In late March, the com- pany was trading at around $6.50 a share. "We're coming up on a million active custom- ers and have been profitable the last four quarters in a row," says Thompson. The market opportunity, according to Thompson, is large: to the tune of around $80 billion in the U.S. and $10 billion in Canada. "There aren't that many industries left that need to be simplified," he said. "Our mandate is to make eyecare easy." To that end, there's the lab. There's little wonder to why Culpan changed the code—the 33,000-square-foot ware- house is packed to the brim with equipment, tools and merchandise, all stored with a neatness and precision that would make even the most ardent Marie Kondo disciple blush. Culpan worked with Thomp- son at Vancouver-based home improvement e-commerce firm BuildDirect for just over two and a half years. "Joe called me, he was crying, telling me he missed me," Culpan jokes. Culpan moves his mas- sive figure around the place quickly and with purpose as he showcases the different sec- tions (frame and lens picking; assembly and QA; machine surfacing, cutting and edging; and shipping). Customers have some 2,000 different offer- ings to pick from, and Culpan and his team of around 80 lab employees keep track of all the orders diligently, with the goal of getting product to doors within 24 hours of purchase. There's also a corner of the lab created by Hadravska in which the design team can work on new models of frames and see them come to life in real time. "There's always a case [for offshore manufacturing]—some of those facilities in China and other places are fantastic," Thompson says. "But there's something about having a manufacturing facility close by... it feels different when you have designers working on glasses next to where folks are QAing and assembling them versus doing it over FaceTime with a 12-hour time difference." Later, in his car, as the windshield wipers work furi- ously to keep the view clear, Thompson is reflective when asked whether there's pressure in running a publicly traded company with around 150 em- ployees. "For sure there is, and you feel it," he says. "That's part of it. It is scary. You have the well-being of a lot of people in your hands. But we think we can do right by them." GO FIGURE by Michael McCullough GRAD DAZE June means the end of the school year and, for some families, graduation and its associated celebrations. Here are some facts and figures to put the class of 2024 in context. Number of B.C. students enrolled in independent schools: 93,291 The proportion of kids in private schools rose to 13.6% of the overall student body in 2023-24, up from just 4.3% in 1977-78. Expected enrolment for 2031-32: 64,603 Enrolment 10 years ago (2013-14): 59,128 Estimated Grade 12 enrolment in B.C. public schools this year: 57,636 YOU'VE BEEN FRAMED Kits has around 2,000 different frame designs that customers can choose from

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