Anyone who works there know about a story floating around, that there will be no more walmart optical managers, they will hire licenses, and then walmart will hire a manager, who will wear many hats, he or she will be the manager of optical, photo, hair salon, etc, etc
I've heard it here too, don't know how true it is.
Originally Posted by harry a saake
This is probably done, because the manager is there to handle the business side point of view. For a chain that makes all of its product decisions and such in the top end, it is not necessary to have an optician. In this case I would actually hire a very good, knowledgable (about management), unlicenced manager over a licenced optician who does not have a management background.
For-Life,
I believe we have all had the experience of working for an Optician or OD/MD who was a fantastic doctor or optician but not at all a good manager. I know I've been there. Medical school does not teach management skills.
I have also, however, been on the other side of this one. Working for a manager who does not understand optics can be quite a pain! It usually winds up with frustrated managers asking their frustrated staff to do things that do not make sense in the optical world.
It will be interesting how this all winds up, but my guess is that the optical shops will be more or less left alone to fend for themselves.
I just recently left my job at WM optical...
The restructuring of management applied to photo and Tire Lube Express. They Now call Pharmacy and Optical "Professional Services..."
Both the managers I worked for have little to no optical experience.
It was funny because my manager and I would be sitting at a desk, both in lab coats...And someone would walk in with a smashed up pair of glasses, hand it to him and ask if he could fix them. He would them hand them to me and say "no but she can!"
They always looked confused.
He knew how to keep decent inventory and manage money, so thats all they cared about.
I would be willing to bet that in ten years or less there will be no optical in Wal-mart. I worked for K-mart optical when it opened 25 years ago. Same set up almost exactly. My second optical job. It wasn't profitable for them and it won't be in the long run for Wal-mart.
Wal-Mart reminds me of my ex-wife, it was good to see her come and good to see her go, even though we share two children, [23 & 13]. Each store seems to have it's own click of Managers and if you do not fit in then your days are numbered. It allways got under my skin if a produce manager or tire and lube manager came over and tried to tell me how to handle my, "Patient". Twenty five years in optical, A.B.O. & N.C.L.E. certified, have a Florida State license & and Florida Board Certified and some grease monkey or foledge fondler is going to try and tell me how to care for my patient. I am a Optician first, that's what I went to school for, If thay want to pay me for management then that is a seperate check. That is why people go to school and get their degree in business management. Optician's need to stop giveing these big box stores a two for one deal. It takes a good manager and a good optician to make it work and if the optician can do both then pay them for both. But most of the time in Florida, what you need to do as a manager for the good of the company goes against the rules of the Board of Opticianry. So I beleive in Florida you should be able to do eather or, even if you want to be a Distric Manager, it is a conflict of intreast.
the optical mgr position isnt going anyplace- know that for a fact
You can dress them up, but...
hehehehehe
:cheers:
A friend of mine was a manager at ASDA optical, the British subsidiary of Wal-Mart. It was normal to be called out at a moment's notice to work the till, or clean restaurant tables, or stack shelves. Worst career dead-end of his life. Is the American parent company the same?
I wouldn't bet on Wal-Mart optical closing up anytime soon. The CEO of Wal-Mart knows that Optical has the highest profit margin of any department; 40%. He said that in an article in the Wall Street Journal. They are slowly moving to capture more high-end customers. Something K-Mart and Sears never figured out how to do. The only Wal-Mart opticals that they have closed were run by Davis or Cole (can't remember exactly). They closed them so they could take them over and run them. They have their own lab in Arkansas. They have the buying power of the world's largest retail establishment. Their costs are lower than dirt.
Wal-Mart and Costco are the only retail competition that I am concerned about long term. I really think that they will change the whole market. I'm not talking about how LC changed the market. I'm talking about the new price point for optical goods being half of what it is now and Wal-Mart having an optical in every town larger than 8,000 people.
MarcE,
So long as they keep their quality at about half of what it is now, you needn't worry.
[quote=Johns;164101]MarcE,
(So long as they keep their quality at about half of what it is now, you needn't worry.)
I have to agree. They don't concern me a bit. The frame selection is mediocre. Half the floor space is taken up by the deal of the day in toys or cameras. The staff wears lab coats. Who does that anymore? I once turned down a job because the staff wore scrubs. I told them I didn't feel right trying to sell fashion eyewear whilst wearing my pajamas. If Wal-mart thinks they are going to capture the high end customer they have another think coming. If you want to sell high end you have to hire a certain "look" to put on the sales floor and it ain't your typical Wal-mart clerk.
You guys think I'm silly to worry about Wal-Mart. Over a period of a couple of decades, the market can change. No one makes money selling Custom-made high-end computers now. They are commodities. Actually Dell makes any computer you want from high-end to low-end. They are all still commodities. Could it happen to eyewear? Many of you think no, but it could. Wal-Mart sells plasma screen TVs.
You are right, Wal-Mart is not the pinnacle of service and quality. But many people are happy with it, especially if they save a buck.
I'm saying that unlike the previous retail players, Wal-Mart can change the market. They have for 9 out of 10 downtown businesses. Just because optical is more insulated doesn't mean it's not possible.
You say that Wal-Mart's frame selection is mediocre. That's true, but they could change that by the end of the week if they decide to. And they could buy Via Spiga or Sillouette for half the price you and I get it for.
Maybe next month they will decide to hire a VP from LensCrafters and their training and quality improves drastically.
20 years ago we could have been having this same discussion about retail pharmacy. The independent pharmacies would say "But their quality isn't as good" "People want the personal touch" Now they order meds through a 1-800 number. A computer can alert to any drug interactions better than a pharmacist can anyway.
In our small town Wal-Mart does double the Pharmacy business that even Walgreens does.
Does Wal-Mart hurt me right now. Not a lot. But they have the ability to change the market. I'm not able to change the market. Lencrafters doesn't even have that ability.
Markets change. If you anticipate the change and can adapt, MAYBE you can survive, maybe you can't.
Imagine this:
An eyeglass kiosk at the worlds largest retailer with one employee or maybe none. A virtual try-on system that has 750,000 frames in it's database ranging from $18 to $1800. The system measures PD, SH, differences in ear height, etc. better than you or I can. The lens is produced robotically in the world's largest lab, or in Mexico. Your glasses arrive in the mail. They come to you for an adjustment. You can't compete because the customer (no longer a patient) paid less than your wholesale price. They leave happy.
I know, I know; you say "That's not the customer I want to see". But I say the only customers that won't use this system will be in rest homes. Maybe that's your new niche. Serving home-bound people.
[quote=cocoisland58;164116The staff wears lab coats. Who does that anymore? [/quote]
I cannot tell you how frequently the customers at LC would believe anything a lab tech said over the associate b/c they were wearing a lab coat. The customer could be working with the General Manager, Licensed Optician, and our three-week-old trainee would walk out with a lab coat on and the customer would listen to her every time.
I completely agree about the scrubs, but I wear a lab coat sometimes if I'm cold, or if I want to have my pens/screwdrivers handy. I think it looks nice, and reminds people that they're buying both a medical and a fashion product.
I've heard that the entire intention of WM Optical is to get people in the door to shop the rest of the store. In Other Words, they do not intend to make any money off optical goods, but rather the products the customer buys while waiting for their glasses.
Anyone else heard this?
If you anticipate the change and can adapt,....................
Marc...........you are dead on target........................
However before WalMart changes I can see another change......and that is today's and a fast coming worsening of the economy.
Most People will soon, not have the mobey for any high end frames and lenses. How will you prepare for that immense change? Will you be ready to keep your customers who suddenly start feeling pinch or will they just go to the sources they know are and have been cheaper rather to their preferred optician of whom they know is high end?
However, how many people have seen a frame in a catalog or similar picture and then when you saw it in person the color was off, or the shape didn't quite look right, etc..
Or have a great looking frame that doesn't fit worth a hoot or is really uncomfortable. How about weight? Quality? How are all these things assessed without handling the product. Sure currently people have an idea of the quality of a Kenneth Cole frame, or the Armani has a certain minimum expectation to it, but can you really tell without trying on the frame how it will feel?
Cassandra
"Some believe in destiny, and some believe in fate. But I believe that happiness is something we create."-Something More by Sugarland
Ok, a couple of points since i started this thread, i had a talk with a walmart DM, the optical is NOT going to be included with the manager of all the other depts.
Also, after this year the optical will not be selling all of the other items such as telescopes, binoculars etc.
The idea will be to make the operation much more professional, just like if you walked into a doctors office.
As far as the lab coat issue goes, theres a big difference to me, between a lab coat, which is at a length below your knees, vs a medical jacket, which i personally like to wear as it has all the pockets that are useful.
I agree with the Lab coat thing, I like to wear it because then I have all my crap. No looking for a highlighter, PD stick, pens, screwdriver, sticky notes, chap stik etc....
Plus, being a 22 year old female, people actually tend to believe me when I give my professional opinion more so than when I DONT wear the coat.
sometimes, I just want to scream, I REALLY DO KNOW WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT!!!!!!!!! I KNOW MORE THAN THE MANAGER DARN IT!!! ASK ME! :hammer:
AMEN!!!
Sarah, I live in NC and you're from here, right?
I know exactly how you feel. I think I provide a distinct advantage over the 50-year-old optician who just doesn't remember the material and doesn't care any more (note: that comment excludes all members of Optiboard-you guys aren't the type I'm talking about). I'm 22 and still fascinated by optical. Plus, I'm in school NOW, so I've got this info fresh in my head. I wish that people wouldn't judge so quickly and think I'm just a 'salesperson.':p
You got it Eyefitwell,
Got dragged to CA by my husband....
Fortunatley for me, when I moved here, I did some more studying on my own and passed both abo and NCLE, where as in NC I would just be finishing my apprenticeship (sp?)
That is the ONLY upside, because I would actually be making MORE there.
:shiner:
Oh, and Harry Saake, Your son Will is the one who told me about optiboard at my best friend's 20th birthday party before I moved out here! He and his wife were at my going away party. Nice people! :cheers:
Congrats on your ABO and NCLE!
Thanks so much!
I MISS HOME! I want some barbecue and Cheerwine.....
I read the exact opposite in the Wall Street Journal. The CEO of Wal-Mart said that their net profit in optical (after cost of goods, and labor costs) is 40%, which is by far the highest of any department in Wal-Mart. For a company that averages about 3-4% net profit overall, the optical department at 40% return is very exciting to them. Optical has the attention of the upper management. They want to increase their "capture rate" just like all of us. They already have the low-end consumer. If they want to increase their business they only have one way to go. Get the high-end consumer (read: your lucrative patients). Just because they haven't done it so far doesn't mean they won't in the future.
I know we want to believe that they aren't making a profit because the prices are low, but they are. They are making more a profit than most of us are and their retail sales price is below our wholesale costs. That is why I say they can change the market. There must be a different way to buy to keep our COGS lower than it is now. Chris and EncoreJim and Fezz and others have spoken to this and understand.
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