The glasses brand and optician chain Ace & Tate initiate the next chapter in your company history.
Founder Mark de Lange changes from his position as CEO to Chief Brand Officer and makes space for Lex van de Vliet. “At some point a company needs a fresh look,” said de Lange in a double interview with fashionunited.
Ace & Tate was founded by de Lange eleven years ago. The glasses brand, later also optician chain, quickly made a name for itself as a ‘disruptor’.
“I never liked this word,” explains the founder, “because it suggests that we also destroy something. Customers: Interior experience was and is the focus for us, but the way there may be different for us. If the remedy with which we achieve this goal shakes things, that’s okay. But we are not disruptors, just for the sake of interference. “
Under the direction of De Lange, Ace & Tate has developed into a chain with 85 branches across Europe. Under the leadership of the new CEO, with the support of de Lange, this number should double. Ace & Tate also wants to further specialize in the area of eye care.
While the brand is currently known for its stylish glasses, Ace & Tate now wants to further deepen the service aspect, eye care. Of course, the trendy glasses and the modern look from Ace & Tate remain. All of this is intended to help Ace & Tate become the leading optics brand in Europe.
From the disruptor to the future designer: Ace & Tate leads the next step in evolution
The fact that Van de Vliet was found as a new CEO is described as a lucky coincidence. De Lange spoke to his co-partners since the end of 2023 about the handover of the CEO tasks. One of these shareholders has an office in Groningen, but when he is in Amsterdam, he holds his meetings in the Ace & Tate office.
“He had a meeting about something else with Lex and so we met.” The two quickly realized that they were passionate about the look, but also for customers: interior friendliness and Hospitality divided.
“It’s not just about selling glasses, but about the entire experience and that someone feels heard with us.” In addition, the two just got along well, so that the talks developed in the following months to discuss the change of leadership within Ace & Tate.
Van de Vliet has diverse experiences. So he started in the hotel industry, had his own agency for digital strategies and finally ended up in the optics industry. He worked for several years at Grandvision, the parent company of, among others, Pearle and Grandoptical. So he is not an unknown in the optics industry. From his position at Grandvision, he has admired Ace & Tate for a long time.
“There were many things we saw at Ace & Tate, which we also wanted.” Some time after the takeover of Grandvision by Essilorluxottica, van de Vliet left the optics group and temporarily rose from the industry. The conversation with de Lange, however, raised his passion for the industry.
However, the arrival of Van de Vliet does not mean a farewell to de Lange. “It is a somewhat atypical situation in which the founder remains in the company.” The founder becomes Chief Brand Officer and will continue to advise the new CEO.
“A personal connection is particularly important in this situation. Even if we are sometimes advised, we find ourselves in the solution. ” For de Lange, his new position means that it will continue to be closely involved in the development of the collection, its presentation and presentation of the brand identity.
Strategic change at ACE & Tate: Mark de Lange hands over CEO role
The founder is aware: the next chapter for Ace & Tate needed a new CEO. This chapter not only focuses on the further implementation of the concept, but also on the further developed needs of ACE & Tate customers. To a large extent, it is about eye care.
“When the brand was founded, many of our customers were around thirty. They are around forty years later, and this is considered to think about varifocal glasses in the optics as the age in which one begins, ”said de Lange. The world has also changed insofar as people, also thanks to pandemic, have a look at screens more than ever, but also pay more attention to their own (eye) health.
“The provision of care, the human aspect – that you deal with someone and understand your needs with regard to a single solution and respond to it – that will not change in the optics industry so quickly,” says van de Vliet. “However, innovations quickly come up to us that further deepen the care.” Ace & Tate began as an online company company, which led to a very integrated company, both online and offline. “You can buy glasses in England, but if something is wrong, you can just drop by in a branch in the Netherlands. That makes no difference. We want to give people the opportunity to have more control over their own eye care. ”
The future vision for Ace & Tate? “Our customers: Inside, the shop is already leaving the shop with a smile. However, we want to further deepen this customer journey and make it even more consistent. Our goal is to offer a more comprehensive single solution and to bind our customers to us in the long term. ” De Lange adds: “Basically, nothing has changed at Ace & Tate. Great things will come to us and we go through an evolution. A very happy team is sitting here and you should keep an eye on us. ”
