Retailers don’t give prime space to anyone. Swarovski pays for all of their grand displays and every square foot that they occupy in the retail front.
How do you know Swaro pays for the retail space?
Regardless, if it don't sell I have a hard time thinking retailers are going to devote space to something that doesn't sell. The retailers have to buy those optics, and then sell them at a profit.
Zeiss, Leica, and Swaro ALL make the best optics overall (in my slightly humble opinion), as I mentioned previously so much of it depends on individual eyes. Swaro outsells the others because they made a commitment to North America (the biggest consumers of optics thanks to hunters and shooters) with a full blown repair facility in Rhode Island and EXCELLENT customer service. That is why Swaro outsells the other two.
Look at Vortex, a relative newcomer that was started by a husband-wife team who hunted and unapologetically directed their advertising to hunters, Starting out with a decent warranty then improving it to the best warranty in the business, while producing good, sometimes very good, glass at an affordable price. I don't think it would be a stretch to say Vortex probably outsells Zeiss, Leica, and Swaro by a mile.
Personally I like the Ultravid 8x32's better than the EL 8x32's every time I've compared the two side by side. I watched two long time friends and hunting partners go through an almost year long saga getting their 15 year old Ultravids repaired (sorry Brad, but Leica's do break just like other alphas), the binos had to go back across the pond to the Motherland to be repaired and ultimately cost them a couple hundred bucks. In the meantime, when my 7x30 SLCs started growing the Dreaded Crystals, I paid for shipping to Rhode Island and had nothing but great communication from Swaro. I got my completely refurbished and updated binos back in three weeks from the time I mailed them.
Warranty and customer service is important with optics.
