Louisville-based Shady Rays growing nationally, opening retail store at Oxmoor Mall

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The future is bright for a Kentuckiana business seeing growth.

Shady Rays is one of the fastest growing eyewear companies in the country.

For Chris Ratterman, every pair of sunglasses has their place. The Louisville native created Shady Rays about a decade ago.

"It started in 2012, I had the idea to start a lifestyle sunglasses brand and solve the problem of losing or breaking sunglasses," Ratterman said.

If a Shady Rays' pair of sunglasses breaks or is lost, buyers get a replacement sent within 24 hours. Despite working now out of a warehouse in Simpsonville, Shady Rays came from humble beginnings.

"Quickly became my dad in his formal living room on a card table with a laptop and a label printer, printing orders, putting them in garbage bags, taking them to the post office," Ratterman said. "Literally every day in the back of his trunk."

The company will soon be moving into a new shipping and distribution center that will be completed in about a year.

"It was about high quality but for us it was all about a protection program that would literally solve even losing sunglasses, even dropping them in the lake or whatever it might be," Ratterman said.

The success of Shady Rays is moving from internet sales to brick and mortar stores, with a retail space opening in Oxmoor Center.

"Pretty surreal moment to have a store in such a prominent store in a hometown location," Ratterman said. "The mall that I would have gone to and had gone to as a child."

Ratterman also wants the company to support people in need. Through a partnership with Feeding America, Shady Rays has donated more than 24 million meals for food insecurity.

Since its inception, the company now has more than two million customers and 250,000 five-star reviews. It also continues to give hundreds of thousands of dollars annually through charitable contributions.

"Helping change the world through each pair of sunglasses that we sell was always part of the plan," Ratterman said.

A plan that started with a dream and not only grew locally but globally into a future that is looking bright.

"Being a relevant national brand has just been an exciting ride that I am grateful to be a part of for sure," Ratterman said.

In addition to current retail stores in Denver and Lexington, Shady Rays plans on opening in Louisville, Scottsdale, Arizona and The Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota.