Arnette Eyewear Opening Headquarters in Encinitas

Arnette eyewear has its sights set on Encinitas.

The company—which started 20 years ago as one of first geared toward surfers, skaters, snowboarders, and other action sports athletes—is opening a headquarters center that will include an office, showroom and retail store at 444 S. Coast Highway 101, in the old Coast Tire building. 

The 2,500-square-foot space will house Arnette’s sales and marketing departments, a showroom that will feature a small skateboard halfpipe so sponsored teammates can do demos when they’re in town, and a retail store that will offer sunglasses, snowboard and motocross goggles, and a handful of soft-goods.

A spokesperson for the company said the sales and marketing teams have already moved into the building, and the retail store should open in a few months.

Because several nearby shops already carry Arnette, the new retail store will primarily serve as a place for locals to connect with the brand up close. Keeping in that vein, Arnette will host community events at the Encinitas location throughout the year.

The first of those community events will be this Thursday from 7 to 7:45 p.m. when Encinitas residents are invited to come checkout the new space. During that time Arnette surf team pro Chippa Wilson will be signing autographs. After that, everyone is invited to across the street for the San Diego premiere of Transworld SURF’s Let’s Surf Seriously, a film featuring Wilson and another globally known Arnette surf team member, Mason Ho.

Patch will keep you posted on Arnette events and developments related to Encinitas, so check back for updates. For more information about Arnette, visit arnette.com.