he company. “Everything from our Instagram through to our website and store is marketed like Oscar and Frank (pet dogs) are the owners,” said Burgess of the unique retail model. The business was founded by Burgess and his partner last year. Teaming up with Melbourne-based marketing agency, Project Project, which now has a 10 per cent stake in Oscar & Frank, led to the idea of the business being named and run by the two dachshunds. “Project Project came up with the idea of having our dogs run the company. “We’re trying to steer away from just using them as the face of the company, we really want to push the fact that they are also the owners of the company.” The marketing tactic appears to be paying off for the brand, with Burgess saying the dogs have become mini celebrities among customers. “We’re already getting customers coming instore and wanting to see Oscar and Frank. They’re becoming little celebrities.” Burgess launched Oscar & Frank after identifying a gap in the market for a niche international designer eyewear in Australia. “My partner and I travel overseas a lot and we noticed that there are so many awesome brands that we just don’t have here in Australia.” The store, which was announced via Oscar & Frank’s social media channels, is a temporary site for the company, with more pop ups expected to rollout later this year. “We’ll be using social media to announce store openings, and customers will never know how long we’re going to be open for. We have limited stock, and a lot of our stock is also limited edition, so once we sell out we’ll shut down and move to the next city.” Oscar & Frank plan to go national, naming Brisbane and Melbourne as potential cities for the next pop ups. “We really want to keep the brand as pop ups. We think it works well with the concept of the dogs roaming around Australia. “We’re hoping Oscar & Frank pop ups will become more frequent. We may look to open for just one day, or just for a weekend, maybe even have a few trading in one city at the same time. “Right now, we’re working towards having pop ups in Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne at the same time.” Despite Oscar and Frank’s growing popularity online, the business intends to remain as a bricks and mortar model. “We don’t do online. A lot of the brands we carry are quite high end, our cheapest frame is about $200 and prices range up to about $600, and a lot of companies wouldn’t be involved with us if we sold online.” The design of the 70sqm store also pushes the Oscar and Frank theme. “Oscar and Frank have a little playpen set up in the middle of the store, and we have green rugs on the floor that look quite similar to grass. Other stores will be similar in some aspects, but we’re also trying to get different local artists to jump on board in each city.”