We’re proud to welcome RetroSpecs & Co. to the Commercial Brokers International family. What started as one conversation about outgrowing a warehouse became a two-part engagement: an industrial acquisition, then a retail search. Here’s how it came together, and why it’s a great example of what a full-service brokerage can do for a growing brand.
Meet RetroSpecs: Keepers of a Golden Age
RetroSpecs isn’t a typical eyewear company. Their mission says it best:
Our mission is to preserve the revolutionary designs and unparalleled quality of early and late modern eyewear manufactured from the 1890s–1980s. With RetroSpecs, our clients will find something unique and precious – registered historic eyewear fabricated and restored by exacting old-world standards.
The company’s origin story is pure entrepreneurship. Founder Jay Owens started restoring gold-filled 1940s spectacles as a college student (his parents had an old barrel of gold-filled Ray-Ban Aviators), then set out across America in an RV in 1992 hunting for vintage American-made frames. His first batch of restored pieces sold out at high-end optical shops in Aspen and Vail in a single holiday week.
More than three decades later, RetroSpecs runs a Los Angeles restoration facility with custom machinery, an archive of over 8,000 original frame designs from 150-plus manufacturers, and a team of 46 craftspeople restoring more than 30,000 frames a year. Every frame leaves with its own registration number so it can be serviced for life. They also produce Cuthbert & Chen, a contemporary line in titanium and buffalo horn, and serve clients through stores in Los Angeles and San Francisco and a network of dealers.
The Challenge: A Good Problem to Have
RetroSpecs had outgrown its industrial building. Restoring tens of thousands of frames a year and maintaining a deep archive requires room for inventory, parts, and specialized equipment, and the old space could no longer keep up.
At the same time, they wanted the right retail home for a brand built on craftsmanship and story. That meant two moving pieces, each with its own timeline and market:
Buy an industrial building large enough for inventory and future growth.
Find a retail location that fits the brand and its customers.
Our Industrial Team: The Right Location Within Greater Los Angeles
Our industrial team took on the bigger operational move. First, they helped RetroSpecs identify an area to purchase an industrial building with the space their inventory and restoration work demanded, giving the company room to keep growing instead of renting around the problem.
Running the purchase and the relocation from the old space in parallel is where experience matters. We timed the closing to overlap the end of their lease, leaving enough time to move and set up at the new location so that a business with 46 craftspeople and a constant flow of frames could keep working through the transition.
The result: we found a centrally located warehouse and manufacturing facility close to where their first retail locations would be. Next came the search for the next phase of RetroSpecs’ growth: the perfect retail location.
Our Retail Team: Finding the Right Storefront
Our retail team started by understanding what makes a RetroSpecs store work. Their customers are collectors, designers, and people who want something no one else is wearing, so the location has to match: the right foot traffic, the right neighbors, and a space that can showcase a century of eyewear history.
From there, the team toured several locations with RetroSpecs’ leadership, comparing visibility, co-tenancy, layout, and lease terms against the brand’s long-term plans. It’s the same disciplined process we bring to every retail search: match the space to the business, not the other way around.
Why It Worked: One Firm, Every Property Type
RetroSpecs didn’t need separate brokers who’d never met. They needed one team that could see the whole picture. At Commercial Brokers International, our retail and industrial specialists work under the same roof, so the industrial acquisition and the storefront search were coordinated as one strategy rather than as separate, disconnected deals.
Every recommendation, from which storefront to pursue to how to negotiate the best price and terms on the new industrial building, started with what was right for RetroSpecs’ business, not what closed fastest.
Here’s to the Next Chapter
RetroSpecs has spent more than 30 years preserving the best of the past. We’re honored to help build the space for its future. If you’re near one of their stores, stop in and see a century of eyewear craftsmanship up close.
Outgrowing your space, or ready for a storefront that fits your brand? Whether you need retail, industrial, or both at once, the Commercial Brokers Int. team can map out the whole move. Reach out to start the conversation. jkillinger@cbicommercial.com or call me at 310-943-8542.
