CBC Radio THE SUNDAY EDITION
Meet the Montreal optician on a radical mission to make glasses affordable for everyone
CBC Radio · July 19, 2017
Phillippe Rochette worked at upscale eyeglasses shops in downtown Montreal, but he hated sweet-talking customers into paying more for glasses than they could afford. (Le Bonhomme à lunettes/Facebook )
PhilippeRochette is a Montrealoptician on a radical mission.
While a pair of glasses in astylish shop can easily cost you more than $1,000, Rochette sells his for$100 or $200.
But for customers who cannotafford that much, he will sell prescription glasses — frame and lenses — for$20. Or give them away for free.
Sunday Edition producerDavid Gutnick's documentary is called "Two Sticks and Two Circles."
Crisis of conscience
When Philippe Rochette graduated from optician school, he had no trouble finding a job in an upscale shop in downtown Montreal.
Frames branded Ray-ban, Oliver Peoples, Prada, Luxor, Chanel, Prada, Armani and Versace were his bread and butter. He was making more money than he'd ever imagined, but something didn't feel right.
Rochette's politics lean to the left, and he was sweet-talking people into spending piles of money on bits of wire and plastic and a couple of screws.
Eventually, he hit a wall and quit his job. He couldn't live with himself.
He loved the job. He just hated the industry.
So Rochette decided to re-invent it. He founded a company called Le Bonhomme à lunettes — "the glasses guy."
Glasses are not a luxury. Seeing clearly is a necessity. My mission is to make glasses affordable to everyone. How do I do that? It's actually pretty simple. When you buy glasses from me, here's what you are NOT paying for: head office space, a huge ad on a billboard along the highway or a 'prestigious' name on the frame. You don't pay for those things simply because I don't have any of them. I trust word-of-mouth and the dynamism and loyalty of community organizers.- Philippe Rochette , The Bonhomme's Manifesto
In the homemade video on Rochette's website, he's dressed up in a loose white smock, a crazy grey wig and a giant moustache.
"Our prescription lenses are the same as those sold in all the shops, at less than half the price," Rochette says.
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https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thesundayed...yone-1.4005488
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