TOMS wants you to buy sunglasses for a cause

Originally published June 24, 2011 at 2 p.m., updated June 24, 2011 at 2 p.m.

With so many businesses struggling, it’s unusual to see one thriving — especially a business that gives away half of its inventory.

Toms shoes has gained rapid popularity, especially on college campuses. When someone buys a pair of Toms shoes, the company sends a pair to an impoverished child.

The popular brand is now expanding and selling eyewear that encompass the same giving principle. For every pair of glasses someone buys, someone overseas receives glasses, surgery or another form of eye treatment to help improve or restore their vision.

The company chose eyewear because, like having shoes, it affects many other aspects of a person’s life and is easily solvable, according to the Toms website.

“Available solutions, including medical treatment, prescription eyeglasses or a 15-minute cataract surgery, could impact 80 percent of people afflicted with vision impairment and blindness,” said the site.

The only place to find the new Toms sunglasses is at Shark’s Surf Shop, 813 Massachusetts St., or the Toms website, which offers a virtual try on. By either using a webcam or uploading a picture, customers can see what they would look like wearing any of the different styles.

Chris Cox, the owner of Shark’s, said the first day the sunglasses were available Toms website crashed from so much traffic. An employee of Shark’s, Erica Friedheim, said the first day Toms sunglasses were available at the store a Toms representative came and sold a bunch of the glasses.

The glasses are sold for about $145. Though that may be out of many college students’ budgets, Friedheim said that price isn’t unusual for designer sunglasses.

The cheapest glasses Shark’s carries are $65, but some of the more expensive can be in the $200 range.

Bailey Perkins, a senior from Wichita and owner of seven pairs of Toms shoes, has been trying to get the on-campus Toms group started back up since its disintegration last year with the graduation of many of its members and officers.

While the group was in full swing, it sponsored events such as “One Day Without Shoes,” during which people tried to experience what those without shoes face every day.

The group also sponsored a visit from the company founder Blake Mycoskie in 2010 and concert by 1990s teen boy band Hanson.

Though the initial frenzy surrounding Toms has died down, Friedheim said she thought that, as soon as the word about the sunglasses is out, they would be as popular as the shoes.

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