Walmart struggling?

[Fezz]

I post at another board and there is a thread there about Zenni Optical and how cheap their glasses are.

You are not CHEATING on Optiboard are you?

;):cheers::bbg::cheers::p

[MarcE]

let alone OWN one!

or SIX!

[Fezz]

or SIX!

Yeah,


What does he know?

[bob_f_aboc]

(The above statement was sent from FezzJohns, Inc. Spin and Sarcasm Dept and does not reflect the opinion of those involved)

Is FezzJohns hiring? I think I could give up my life as an optician to work in the Spin and Sarcasm Department. I am more than qualified. Ask any of my co-workers, they will tell you.

[Happylady]

You are not CHEATING on Optiboard are you?

;) Maybe....

[Pete Hanlin]

Kudos to you, OpticLabRat (in fact, just gave you positive feedback)!

What makes ANY optical (retail or private) good or bad is the people who work there. Like you, I've worked in retail and private practice environments (and now for a manufacturer)- like you, I've enjoyed them all.

There are some EXCELLENT opticals out there- both private and retail. I've had the pleasure of meeting thousands of opticians in all sorts of settings over the years, and have found you are exactly correct- its all in how you approach your work!

[bt5050]

I just had a very interesting conversation with a new pt od - the practice now has -

he comes from WM - Form our talk - he did his time - and made his $ - in his own practice for many years - and now he just does that PT - i need something to do job ( one i wish i could have )

anyways - he had said that WM - optical managers - ( at least the ones form his 2 store ) - where any JOE-Blow
he said the manager of the garden shop - was actually promoted to the optical dept - and that was when he had enough - of it -


TO my understanding - the company - has a disregard for the laws in the state ( laws that are in most states ) that the retailer that leases to a OD - can not and should not - have control -over how they decide to push sales - ect -

and i guess they butted heads many times - when the mgr of the optical tried to tell the od - how and what to prescribe - and when to work ( with how many pts to see an hour ) ect

i know many retailers try to pull this with their docs -and when they don't listen they just decide ( NOT TO RENEW their leases ) - but i have seen more and more of these docs putting there foots down - to try to stop this insane dictatorships

Now - I have no issues - with say a manager - that has LIGIT management exp - to push the numbers and sales - in optics - however the ONLY time this is ok - is if that MANAGER is a OFFICE MGR - not one that works with pts - tries to sell -and disp eye-wear - ect -

HOWever - AS many of us - recall in retail optical - UNLESS the store is very busy - making tons of $$ - you can not have one of those OFFICE MANAGERS - since usually you are only working with a select few staff - and the company monitors payroll hours - like a hawk -
in these situations - i do have a major issue - with any manager - regardless how good they are with business - running an optical dept -

i have a buddy that works with one of those - and she says it is a nightmare - that the disregard for the law - the ethics of the sales - come up allot - and she puts her foot down being the permit holder -
however to my understanding - the new store mgr - now has her tagged for doing the right thing - so she is very careful -

i just find it hard to figure out - regardless of how good a retail mgr is - how these company's do not look at this as a health care issue - that anyone selling cars - or dresses for that matte r- would be great at dispensing glasses -

IT is clear many - just care in the end if the #'s are met - and they look the other way - when seeing
HOW THEY WHERE MET

[rdcoach5]

If your boss was selling "the exact same lenses" then this is just a case of him overcharging. $700 for the senior citizen? On a fixed income? Hmm...

We happen to (I didn't plan it) sell our lenses for less than WM does (in many cases). We don't advertise that fact for fear our customers will think we are selling "the exact same lenses".

$700? They'd have to pick a generic cat food for dinner after that?

Oh, and are you back to selling $700 glasses to seniors on fixed incomes?Or is the MD matching WMs prices?

I just priced our local Wal-Mart and was told they did not know what GT2 was, but their Zeiss Gradal Top price was $35 more than we charge for GT2. We couldn't price compare frames because they don't carry Coach or Airlocks or a couple others we asked about. They carry a similar product to the Airlock by Nikon, which I can find in my price book.It's price is similar to the Airlock. But, is it equal in quality and warranty? Also we neglected to ask their addition for Poly and drilling and what AR are they using? So , Wal-Mart is cheaper than what?

[For-Life]

Nikon no longer makes frames.

So those frames are several year old discos

[rdcoach5]

I am shocked that Wal-mart would sell discontinued frames as new. Kinda hard to service them in the future , isn't it? Any warranty? As long as they still have parts? So their lenses are high priced and a generation older than the latest state of the art. The only reason someone could come up with a lower total than our store is .
1 discontinued frame is cheaper than our current Airlock
2 cheaper but lower price AR ?

[For-Life]

thing is though, with most clients, Wal-Mart is not going to offer the Gradal Top. The dispensary will offer something cheaper, and its price will beat ours.

[Happylady]

Two or three years ago our local Walmart was selling Natural lenses and telling their patients that they were Varilux. I don't know if they are still doing this, I haven't seen it lately.

[blindboy]

Sounds just like Sears Optical, except their more of a dumping ground for LC. just my take

Actually, Sears frames are branded to match Sears store product, as are Target. You'll get Converse One Star frames in Target, and ALine (which is the Anne Klein frame rebranded), Apostrophe, etc. at Sears. The frame selection is not like the BJs/Costco (former?) business model with jobbed out closeout frames from three years ago. They are frames specifically designed for each licensed brand, to align the optical shopper with the store goods shopper. And they are often an almost parallel design to the portfolio brands.

[Speed]

Some frames come a dozen to a box. Others are taken out of the box , shined and hung on a frame bar. They are all the same to me, just different prices.

[mervinek]

All offices are as good as the people that work there. I worked at a few chain stores when I was in graduate school. Some locations did good work and others did not. It just depended on who worked there on what day. I'm quite happy to NOT work in a chain location now. Would only do so if I had to.

[NCspecs]

All offices are as good as the people that work there. I worked at a few chain stores when I was in graduate school. Some locations did good work and others did not. It just depended on who worked there on what day. I'm quite happy to NOT work in a chain location now. Would only do so if I had to.

I agree. I got my start at a kind-of-local chain in Wisconsin, that, when I started in Optical over 10 years ago, had just been bought by ECCA. Some people really taught me well and really pushed education even though all that is required to be an "Optician" in Wisconsin is a pulse. Some people simply....had a pulse. It was the same thing at the last private practice I worked at- the "head" of Optical is someone who does not have strong critical thinking skills and even less optical skill.

However, I hate the "turn and burn" mentality of the VW down the street- I field constant Srx checks from them because they move too fast without paying any attention to accuracy or quality. There is a license over there but it's a lazy license- making the money without giving a damn about the work. I'd rather people go to Costco here in NC- at least they require the Optical dept to have some sort of education.

As for price issues- I created a package deal for pts who like/need bargains without sacrificing quality on either frames or lenses. It's done really well in helping with pt retention. I'm quite proud of it actually. :)

[EdgeOptical]

wait... johns dislikes wal-mart?

cant be

i wont believe it until i see him in a movie about this topic.

[EdgeOptical]

I started off at LC. The GM that hired me was a great guy, great optician, but was more concerned with long term stability and the "advantages" of a corporate environment. Nothing wrong with that, he never lied or hid the fact. He went out and got his ABO even though as a GM it didn't increase his pay or position. all around great guy. after about 6 months, sucking in as much info as i could, busting my tail in optical and spending any free time in the lab asking questions bugging those guys he pulled me aside and said he hopes that one day i would be out of there an on to private practice where i will be able to learn, and do more. our Lab manager at the time, and the 2 replacements that were promoted while i was there (the original and his first replacement were sent to other stores near by that were struggling) were also skilled and very good at what they did. I learned a ton from all of them.

The time i spent there was defiantly valuable. I could have easily made a career there. I chose not to.

I cant imagine i would be nearly as happy in the industry as i am now if i stayed. LC and the chains have their merits (not usually morals, but merits), i dont think anyone really denies that. There is another 75% of the industry you learn when you leave though. i dont know how many times i said "but LC/luxottica said XYZ" in my first couple years after leaving.


some people will have great expereinces at the chains. mostly not though. they dont spend so much on advertising and coupons, promotions, etc. to bring back their "satisfied" patients.