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Thread: Costco Optical = busy................

  1. #1
    Manuf. Lens Surface Treatments
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    Blue Jumper 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 ?

  2. #2
    Underemployed Genius Jacqui's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chris Ryser View Post
    What makes Costco opticals tick these days ?
    The Economy

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    Quote Originally Posted by Chris Ryser View Post
    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 ?
    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.

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    ABOC-NCLEC tigerlilly's Avatar
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    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.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by For-Life View Post
    Maybe it was 15 people in line for complaints.
    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
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  6. #6
    Optician Extraordinaire
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    I've noticed business picking up, too. We are usually busy in August.

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    One of the worst people here
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    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.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by For-Life View Post
    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:

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    Hopefully the 15 people in line will get tired of waiting and go to the office down the street to get faster service.

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    Is it true (I remember reading this in a Consumer Report) that costco has a policy to only hire certified Opticians? I'm not sure if that means no apprentices, only licsensed, or just ABO, or what....but the CR on glasses a year or two back gave Costco major props for service and product quality. To be honest with you, I'm much happier selling to the people who are more "good vision" oriented than "how much?"

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    One of the worst people here
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    I do not have a Costco in town, but if I did it is the one that I believe would be the biggest challenge to the business. The main reason why, is through my understanding, it will not sell junk and has good prices. Its consistency is above Wal-Mart and Lenscrafters.

    This is why we have gone another direction. It is all about differentiation, which Costco will not go after (because it is low price). This is also why I will not cheap myself down during economic downturns.

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    OptiBoard Professional Jamelina's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Johns View Post
    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

    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! :)

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jamelina View Post
    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!
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    Redhot Jumper

    Quote Originally Posted by Chris Ryser;August 2008

    Dropped in at the local Costco this morning. The store was very quiet, plenty parking which is unusual.

    What makes Costco opticals tick these days ?


    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


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    Master OptiBoarder OptiBoard Gold Supporter
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    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.

  16. #16
    What's up? drk's Avatar
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    Costco = cult.

    You pay $50 and you get to feel like an "insider".

    Nope.

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    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?

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    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.

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    Master OptiBoarder rbaker's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by mervinek View Post
    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!"

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    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.

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    Quote Originally Posted by pknsbeans View Post
    haha! you had that coming, mervinek.

    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.

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    Every "club" is the same. You want all your friends to join to validate your decision.

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    That's it!! I am installing a 20-bird rotisserie oven next to the dispensing table this weekend...Those hens will be my new loss leader.

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    Blue Jumper Just came back from getting some items from Costco ........................

    Just came back from getting some items from Costco I forgot the other day and we needed badly.

    The optical department had no line ups whatsoever, but the parking lot was packed.

    The 20 cashes had lineups of 6 to 8 carts each. So business must be good. these days.

  25. #25
    What's up? drk's Avatar
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    They're all buying the Kool-Aid.

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