Yeah I was hoping for more, because you market your goods towards retailers. I'm pretty darn independent business wise but I expect a lot more than "we're independent" from those I'd invest my businesses money on, let alone risk my patients/clients eyes on.
So being as passionate as you are about the true topic of
the thread, why banish our progressive conversation (which along with rayban ) is really all that Essilux is truly competing with, when it comes to photochromics they are at the top of the roost unfortunately. However transition photochromics since Essilor bought them from PPG have truly only improved in stability and longevity.
Scream buy from independents all you want. Fastgrind is great for fast, but custom optics is amazing.
I agree. LUX, now VSP wants nothing more than dominance and to CRUSH the independents. As Opticians, we need a stronger voice, as we are always forgotten. I am starting to offer customized lenses, Glass (yes Glass) and Individualized Progressive lenses. Just let a Chain try to offer anything like that.
Sharing something that i found in a media page from India45 is just a number as even today there are many things I still have to learn about the business and also unlearn too. Yet the positive is, that I needn't to do both as I quit.
Why I quit being an Optician after 45 Years?
I inherited the business from our family and put in my life to it. We were a small store at a small town and grew to be the largest. The business put me through school, took care of the family, got the SUV home, fed the fish, dog, cats et all. Then why Quit?
The competition had always been there and that is not a problem. We can defend our turf. The competition we used to see as an enemy and would never even speak to when we cross the street. We were that kind of dirty competitive. Yet never wished harm for each other, and we got what is ours and they got what is theirs.
We had a workshop to manufacture mineral glass lenses besides the shop. Lenses, sorted.
Frames were brought by the reps from Bombay, who we did business with till the last days. Please note- the reps changed, the frame styles changed, prices changed, everything changed, and quality too. The best we had was the Rajini frames in gold, and they were good gold.
Our customers were our friends. Our frames used to outlast their lifespan in some cases, and call me psycho, sometimes it was a warm feeling to see them in the coffin wearing the Bhagwan Opticals, round Carbon frames.
We quickly grew with our quality products and service to become the best in the district. We never had the computerised eye testing facility, as that was not our business, it was the doctors job. We were just opticians. Bring you frame or Buy new, get your lenses done, come back for repairs or get going kind of thing.
In the 90s, it all began. The Doctors started their own optical inside their hospitals. The CR suppliers who were friends started their own stores too. In this time, we had already scrapped the mineral glass workshop as there were few takers for glass lenses and the new supra and rimless frames made it a task to fix glass. So glass was out which was one of the worst decision that I have done in the business. Come to think of it, were the new frame styles responsible for pushing glass out?
And I shamelessly gobbled all what the CR39 labs gave me. Not just their lenses, but their sign boards, POS materials, machines, instruments and all. It was a sort of a good deal. I paid nothing and my store got all swanky.
In the 2000s, came the age of internet buying. Yet it did not impact us much as the customers were better informed and knew their brands and came asking for specific stuff. So selling and up selling was easy too.
After 2010. Things were crazy. Stores were multiplying. New comers were increasing. People who were selling on the internet entered into the physical space. Yet we were cozy up the hill and believed that if we give the best and quality products and service, nothing will shake us. True, but not fully.
Then I got a chance to visit the US of A in 2010 Christmas. Me being me, walked into an optical store that looked like a family owned business. It was a cozy store with a very young gentleman and his father who ran the show. Quickly introduced myself as an Optician from India and not here to work but to just see their store.
The store was neat, tidy and warm. In India, we go all out and advertise the lens brands, frame brands, Air-conditioned, what not. This store on the other hand, was like a home. I got served a cup of warm coffee too, in spite of them knowing that I ain't buying nothing.
The frames that were displayed were all local brands from the US of A and so were the Lenses. The instruments were Nidek and the iPad displays and PD tower was from a French company Acep. Compare this to India, we had all the Luxottica, Safilo brands and Essilor lenses including their machines and instruments. Spoke to them at length, was given more coffee and bid goodbye.
I wrote this in my diary what the young man told me when I asked him why you are not selling Essilor lenses? That's what made me retire, if not quit this line of business.
SOMEONE BECOMES YOUR FRIEND OUT OF NOWHERE, THAT'S ALRIGHT. THEN YOU TRUST THIS FRIEND SO MUCH THAT YOU TAKE HIM TO YOUR HOUSE, OFFER HIM DINNER, LET HIM USE YOUR SHOWER, AND OFFER HIM A ROOM TO SLEEP. THE NEXT MORNING, HE IS GONE, SO IS YOUR NEW CAR AND THE WIFE TOO.
NOTHING IS FREE. EVERYTHING HAS A PRICE. AND OUR BUSINESS PROMOTES US AND THE US OF A. NOT ANYONE ELSE
Last edited by beejay; 08-29-2019 at 06:00 AM. Reason: Spacing and Typos
Great post
Well written,beejay.
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