What’s the deal with Optimum the company?

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hooked

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When I first got into detailing, Optimum was everywhere and had the buzz. I stocked up on Opti-Seal, ONR, polish, spray wax, etc. Of course there is ebb and flow in any industry and I haven’t bought anything in a while. I just looked for OPT products here at Autogeek and there are only a handful of items for sale. And Yvan Lacroix “retired” and started his own company.

What’s going on?
 
Yvan didn't work at Optimum for that long. He was a user of the products and got into doing some training, and I guess got into steering the direction of the company somewhat when Dr. G had some health issues, but when Dr. G got better, they seem to have parted ways. You'll find there are a lot of brands that are down to "a handful of items" in the Autogeek store, that's unrelated to anything with Optimum; you can buy OPT products direct or at Amazon. At any given time in the history of OPT, there seems to have been a detailer that gets Dr. G's ear and influences things...right now that detailer seems to be "Amazon". As far as "the buzz", there is no one from Optimum that comes on other forums (what's left of other forums) to promote or answer questions about the products. There is an Optimum forum, which is generally about as active as Autopia, which means hardly at all.
 
Setec covered it very well, I didn't even know some of that honestly. That said, I'd check out other brands, things have EXPLODED since they (Optimum) were "a thing".

DIY Detail, if you wanna follow Yvan, is a great company and still growing their products. I haven't been disappointed in a single product and infact, I'm on 2nd bottles at this point

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Klasse Act said:
Setec covered it very well, I didn't even know some of that honestly. That said, I'd check out other brands, things have EXPLODED since they (Optimum) were "a thing".

DIY Detail, if you wanna follow Yvan, is a great company and still growing their products. I haven't been disappointed in a single product and infact, I'm on 2nd bottles at this point

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And which 2nd bottles are those?
 
Rsurfer said:
And which 2nd bottles are those?
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Interior Ceramic and Interior Clean & Protect. Actually, now that I think of it, I'm on my 2nd bottle of their Rinseless wash & Ceramic Gloss as well.

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Oh, and as far as Yvan "retiring and started his own company", the retirement was a bunch of PR fluff to soften things, and AFAIK DIY Detail was around before Yvan, I'm pretty skeptical of any ownership, I would describe him as being the front man, just like he was the front man for Optimum for a while. Remember, Mike Phillips was a "managing partner" at Autoforge for like a minute and a half, if he was actually an owner they did a record job on turning the paperwork. These titles are just PR mumbo jumbo, IMO.
 
hooked said:
When I first got into detailing, Optimum was everywhere and had the buzz. I stocked up on Opti-Seal, ONR, polish, spray wax, etc. Of course there is ebb and flow in any industry and I haven’t bought anything in a while. I just looked for OPT products here at Autogeek and there are only a handful of items for sale. And Yvan Lacroix “retired” and started his own company.

What’s going on?
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don't know what's going on with AG/PBMG and their inventory, there has been no response on that or anything in regards to the company. as far as optimum, you'll have to look elsewhere to find their products, in-stock inventory, and new releases across the board. there are plenty of great brands out these days to choose from...
 
VISITOR said:
don't know what's going on with AG/PBMG and their inventory, there has been no response on that or anything in regards to the company.
Click to expand...

I was looking at one of the threads about this from 6-7 months ago, and Poorboy nailed it I think with his answer on the other forum: "Don`t think it`s a big secret they are using a fulfillment company and they changed their business model , limited their line, and moved into offices .. we all are doing what it takes to survive..."
 
Klasse Act said:
Setec covered it very well, I didn't even know some of that honestly. That said, I'd check out other brands, things have EXPLODED since they (Optimum) were "a thing".

DIY Detail, if you wanna follow Yvan, is a great company and still growing their products. I haven't been disappointed in a single product and infact, I'm on 2nd bottles at this point

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Click to expand...
I’ve been watching their YouTube videos and they’re good salesmen. Lol.

I’m planning on buying a new car this year and want to ceramic coat it so DIY Detail is on the short list of the products to use. They made it easy to identify what product does what versus alphabet soup or word association games for product names.
 
Yvan is actually part (minority) as is the guy from hawks detail of DiY Detail. We’re given that by the blenders that came up with line.

Believe he was there for launch.


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Setec Astronomy said:
I was looking at one of the threads about this from 6-7 months ago, and Poorboy nailed it I think with his answer on the other forum: "Don`t think it`s a big secret they are using a fulfillment company and they changed their business model , limited their line, and moved into offices .. we all are doing what it takes to survive..."
Click to expand...

After reading this, I looked at their roster of products for sale- holy crap have they thinned their offerings down!


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01GreyStangGT said:
After reading this, I looked at their roster of products for sale- holy crap have they thinned their offerings down!


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I just went on their site and they’ve got at least 40 different products available [not including tools] for purchase. I wouldn’t call that thin at all.
 
Eldorado2k said:
I just went on their site and they’ve got at least 40 different products available [not including tools] for purchase. I wouldn’t call that thin at all.
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It looks like they have dropped several brands and they have thinned down the house brands some. I like to get Griots products from them, and they have cut down the Griots products.
 
01GreyStangGT said:
It looks like they have dropped several brands and they have thinned down the house brands some. I like to get Griots products from them, and they have cut down the Griots products.
Click to expand...

I thought you were talking about Optimum.
 
01GreyStangGT said:
It looks like they have dropped several brands and they have thinned down the house brands some. I like to get Griots products from them, and they have cut down the Griots products.
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Just get them directly from grio's. And they have free shipping at a certain amount.

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Desertnate said:
This is what I do. The only downside is their shipping is pretty high if you only need an item or two.
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That's why I make it count, I could "almost" drive there

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Great synopsis. The detail industry (especially the enthusiast side) has changed a lot over the years.
 
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