Costco Optical = busy................
Dropped in at the local Costco this morning. The store was very quite, plenty parking which is un-usual.
On the way out I passed the optical department.....and surprise, There where 15 poeple waiting to be served, also very un-usual. I have never seen more than 2-3 customers there at any time.
The large fancy optical store a block away was totally empty of customers.
What makes Costco opticals tick these days ?
The EconomyOriginally Posted by Chris Ryser
Back to school. It's second only to Xmas with retailers, and opticals housed in larger retail outlets see a bounce from the high traffic out in the store.
Maybe it was 15 people in line for complaints.
Just kidding. Apparently, Costco tends to be a leader in the Chain type optical stores. It has a good formula for business and tends to be very consistent.
15 people in line? Hmm....maybe they're understaffed. And you said the parking lot wasn't very crowded? Maybe a staff meeting?
Nah, I think for-Life was right....:D
Ophthalmic Optician, Society to Advance Opticianry
I've noticed business picking up, too. We are usually busy in August.
My former business sold 15 pairs of Drivewear Image with backside AR last month. Shows that it is not just the cheap guys that are doing the business.
:cheers:
Understaffed is right. I used to work for them until they wouldn't give us enough employees in the department. Two opticians on a weekend especially is a challenge. We would constantly have 15 to 20 people waiting at a time and once you finally got to them they were mad they had to wait so long. Management claimed the budget for the department didn't allow for another full time employee. I'm just surprised they didn't take into account the amount of business they lost with people who didn't want to wait and would leave. Not to mention the half-hour lunches leaving one optician was great! :)
Hmm... so maybe we weren't that far off the mark!
Ophthalmic Optician, Society to Advance Opticianry
9 years after I made this original post, the parking lot is always full and you can find the best parking spaces close to the doors 1 hour after opening, when the first customers are coming out.
CostcoWholesale Corporation,trading as Costco, is the largest American membership-only warehouse club.[4] As of 2015, Costco was the second largest retailer in the world after Walmart,[5] and as of 2016, Costco was theworld's largest retailer of choice andprime beef, organic foods, rotisserie chicken, and wine.[6]
Costco'sworldwide headquarters are in Issaquah, Washington,but the company opened its first warehouse in nearby Seattle in 1983. Through mergers,Costco's corporate history dates back to 1976, when its former competitor Price Club was founded in San Diego, California.[7][8][9]
As of 9 February 2017, Costcohas a total of 730 warehouses; In the United States (508), Canada (94), Mexico (37), United Kingdom (28), Japan (25), South Korea (13), Taiwan (13), Australia (8), Spain (2), Iceland (1) and one in France (1).[1][10]
source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costco
For what it is worth, many if not most of my doctor's new patients or new clients of the optical shop are coming being ex-Costco optical consumers (either by seeing our reviews on Google or by word of mouth). Obviously Costco isn't hurting for losing their business, but when I fit them in my best house design they all say how much better it is here than at costco. I'll never sell one pair of glasses to everyone in my city like costco, but I hope to sell a lifetime of glasses to quite a few.
Also Costco/Sams often only have one person on the floor, which causes backups. Price is so low and they have tons of discontinued "designer" frames so a lot of people try them out at least once.
Costco = cult.
You pay $50 and you get to feel like an "insider".
Nope.
I've been an on and off member for the last 4 or 5 years. In that time, I've yet to see any Costco employee look good in their glasses. However, Costco did rate near independents in a consumer reports I read a while back. Maybe their employees don't shop there for glasses?
I work for Costco. I find it very interesting when almost all of the local OD/MD office employees come in wearing scrubs and buy contacts and glasses from me. Yes I asked them why. Number one answer: Your price is way less than what we can get it for.
I think this speaks more of the *Scrooginess* of your area’s Dr’s than for Costco’s prices. What office can’t source stock lenses and disco frames cheaper that Costco retail?
In fairness, though, I do know several area Dr’s that only give employees 20% off their retail pricing for personal eye wear. (Talk about Scrooge!)
Yeah, I call BS on that as well. That speaks more to miserly doctor/owners than the reality of eyewear costs.
I'm Andrew Hamm and I approve this message.
I find that hard to believe.
If you're trying to say that Costco retails THE SAME STUFF for less than acquisition cost at a smaller account, I'm going to have to call bullcrap. And I can prove that.
In this area 70% of the homes are second homes for snowbirds. We also feature some of the best golf courses in the world, major polo ponies and some of the most exotic cars in the world. Oh yes and a HUGE concert every year. You know, the kind of place were people can buy what they want.
I love it when my patients come back from an African safari and tell me they waited to come home so I can adjust their glasses.
I also love it when local OD`s write a script in front of me for a pair of glasses.
The point is...people tell me they have bought glasses from the Dr office for years and are just as satisfied with the Costco quality. You do know the bulk of Costco Member have higher than average incomes.
Call all the B'S you want, I'll call it great products at great prices coupled with great service.
I believe him, in some instances. I had a Pearle franchise thirty years ago, back when it was Cole. I frequently saw Raybans being sold for less than my cost, by the big box stores of the day, i.e. Best Products. On CTLs in particular, the more dollars you spend annually, the better the discount. Most small practices can't begin to order the quantity of a BJs or Costco.
Can you believe my mother just bought a pair of glasses at Costco????? I usually get her glasses at cost from a friend that owns a wholesale lab, but she still went there this time. She heard from her friends that they are so much cheaper and she figured now that she is retired she has to watch her pennies. Good grief. Bad fit. I told her I would not adjust them. She got a crappy frame with crappy lenses. She paid about the same she paid for her silhouette frames and digital lenses I made for her last time. I swear it IS a cult. She and all her retiree friends are into "saving money." Ugh Face-palm.
What a guy. The poor woman fed you, changed your diapers, clothed you and took care of you all those years and now that she is in here dotage you are too cheap to give her a pair of glasses out of your own pocket.
"Honor thy father and thy mother!"
haha! you had that coming, mervinek. i was going to give you the benefit of the doubt. my mother doesn't accept no charge so I try to negotiate as low a fee as I can give.
The membership thing does produce a "i must buy here" mentality. Amazon, sam's, costco, etc.
True... Although I have purchased several pairs for her without her knowing it. Not being the owner of the business limits me a little. I think in her case, it's not so much a "must buy here" mentality as it is peer pressure. Her friends tell her how much cheaper it is, so she has to do what they do. Insert eye roll here.
Every "club" is the same. You want all your friends to join to validate your decision.
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