Eyeking gets IDA help to expand as sales of Under Armour sunglasses grow

A designer and seller of sunglasses used by professional and amateur athletes plans to more than triple the size of its office and warehouse on Long Island.

Eyeking LLC will move into 35,000 square feet of rented space at 10 Hub Dr. in Melville over the next two years to accommodate higher sales of the sunglasses it turns out for athletic apparel giant Under Armour.

Eyeking currently operates from 10,000 square feet in Plainview.

Craig Fels, who owns the 11-year-old company with industry veteran Sheldon Goldman, said its sales growth was "in step" with the 30-percent-per-year growth of Under Armour.

Records show Eyeking expects sales growth of $2 million in each of the next five years.

"We are a design house that also markets and distributes" eyeglasses with designer labels such as Crocs footwear and private label for Pacific Sunwear, Spencer Gifts and other retailers, Fels told the Suffolk County Industrial Development Agency.

He said the eyeglasses are made overseas, primarily in China.

To support Eyeking's $464,000 expansion, the IDA last week offered a $140,746 reduction in property taxes over 10 years and a $24,668 sales-tax exemption on material and equipment needed for the new facility.

Fels said players in the National Football League and National Hockey League use Eyeking's helmet visors, while surfers wear the company's Hobie- and Maui-and-Sons branded sunglasses.

Because of the talents of Eyeking's 74 employees, Fels said he and his partner never considered leaving Long Island to expand. Records show the company's employees earn, on average, $39,449 per year.

Eyeking has promised to create 11 jobs by 2017 in return for Suffolk's help. The business also is seeking tax breaks and low-cost electricity from New York State, according to its application for IDA benefits.

Larger sellers of designer eyeglasses have received government help in the past few years to remain on the Island: Marchon Eyewear Inc. in Melville and Luxottica Group in Port Washington.

Eyeking traces its roots to a novelty business begun in 1955 in a Brooklyn garage. That company, Zolkind & Sons, eventually entered the sunglasses industry and was renamed Sungold Enterprise. The Goldman family sold Sungold to the Gargoyles of Seattle in the late 1990s but Sheldon Goldman stayed on for a time before starting Eyeking with Fels.