Eye fashion
i2i eyewears are fashion and affordability combined
By Anne dela Cruz

Ricco Ocampo is known for his fresh business ideas – along with wife Tina Maristela-Ocampo – from fashion to food. Their business acumen has been highly regarded since they put up Sari-Sari Store years ago. But in 1996, after divesting from the business, he was once again on the lookout for a new business venture.

It was during a trip to New York when Ocampo came across the opportunity to acquire the license to retail a line of eyewear in the Philippines. Since Ocampo was able to raise a starting capital of P500,000, i2i, the store that sells affordable and fashionable eyewear, was born.

“It was a novel idea at that time because no one was selling affordable eyewear,” Ocampo said. “I really felt that there was a market for this because the glasses were of very good quality and the prices ranged form P149 to P249.”

The first i2i branch was opened at Robinsons Galleria in 1996 and it proved to be a big hit with the local market. On the opening day, Ocampo said their sales equaled that of fastfood giant McDonald’s.

To date, i2i has 167 outlets and the number is expected to grow, as Ocampo wants his affordable eyewear to be made available all throughout the country. Aside from Manila, i2i has branches in Nueva Ecija, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, and General Santos City.

“My vision is to have i2i products sold even in gasoline stations so that everyone will have the chance to buy them,” Ocampo said. “In fact, I have a tie up with 7-11 (convenience store) so some of their branches carry my products.”

Ocampo makes sure that they are able to come up with 12 to 15 new designs every month so that they are able to keep the interest of the local market. He has a team of creative people who come up with these designs, which are then manufactured in bulk in China, Taiwan, and Korea.

“The prices of our products may be cheap but we are very strict about the quality,” he said. “That is the assurance we can give to our customers.”

For Ocampo, the success of i2i was a turning point in his life because it marked his rebirth as an entrepreneur. He was motivated to open a number of businesses like Anonymous and his line of restaurants like Kitchen, Mangan, Kai, and Osake.

It was i2i, Ocampo said, that taught him to be independent and accountable for all of his actions.

“Before, everything we did had to have the backing of the board and everything had to be decided unanimously,” he said. “Now, I make decisions all by myself and I am accountable for them.”

And since he did not have the opportunity to finish college, Ocampo makes an extra effort to learn from his experiences and to make use of his being streetsmart. “I am a very creative person and I like to be challenged to come up with new ideas all the time,” he said. “I really get excited when I have a new business to open because that is where I can channel my creativity.”

With so many businesses to handle, Ocampo tries as much as he can to be hands on. When he is not around, he has an able group of managers he can depend on and he makes sure that they are well taken care of.

Ocampo’s vision for i2i is boundless. Not only does he want his eye wear line available in gasoline stations, but also in bus stops and every nook and cranny in the country. “For us, eyewear is not a novelty,” he said. “It is a fad but we just have to know how to handle it and how to introduce newer styles into the market.”

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