Optiboard's Re-Birth

[drk]

Let's just do it.

Someone post something interesting.

I'll try.

Let's dish on Tura.

I think the whole German Eschenbach purchase thingy (of probably ten years ago) was a bad move. The company seems stagnant. And they're way overpriced as well. Quality? OK. Design? OK. Service? OK, I guess. Price? Man!



Let's dish on Marchon.
Dag, they are overpriced. Way, way, way overpriced. And boring.


Let's gush on Kerig. I saw the Puma line and thought they were fun and cheap. Gucci was good. I never bought.


Let's give kudos to Prodesign...I mean, DesignEyewear Group. I'm just confused! (But I do kinda like that "Nifties" idea.)



Is Safilo still afloat? Thier Liz Claiborne is pretty dang good, for mainline junk.


I do like Silver Do.....I mean, SDEyes (yech). If you are a hunter and gatherer, you can build some neat stuff.



Luxottica's Armani Exchange and Vogue and Rayban are killer good. Sorry.


And Silhouette's an idiot. On so many fronts I can't begin to say.

[lensmanmd]

Tura. Good quality, great price points (for us) and great service.
RayBan? Commercialized crap. Made in China? BBye! Made in Italy, not so bad. But, and a big butt. If you are not a part of the Essilux empire, good luck with service.
All hail ProDesign, but it’s a niche market.
MRC? All over the place. Nike-overpriced. Flexon-overpriced. Chloe-way over priced. Longchamps-now we’re talking.
Safilo, haven’t dealt with since Kate Spade passed. I loved their Elastas.
now, OGI wasn’t mentioned. Love OGI. We’ll see what happens since their founder moved on.
Modo and REM-very poor service.
Silhouette is a love or hate. I like them b/c our rep takes care of us.
Next!

[GAgirl]

I really like the TitanFlex by Tura line. Great quality (low warranties considering how many I sell) with a great price point. There are some of the frames in that line that I can retail for as low as $125 and my reps are great to work with. The ladies Tura line are pretty and sell well here to our mature ladies.

I LOVE the Liz Claiborne petite line, and I sell through those consistently.

I haven't sold Armani or Vogue in a number of years so I can't speak to those, but the Raybans are crap these days. Unfortunately I sell a lot of them and have been really disappointed in how the quality has declined over the years. They are high on the list for warranties and repairs.

I sell a TON of Silhouette and wear them myself and I really like them. The website takes a little practice but my rep is fantastic and I haven't had any problems with them at all.

For the price point I really like L'amy, especially the Ann Taylor. Again, my rep is great!

I have Marchon just because of the Flexon and Nike but honestly the TitanFlex outsells them by far. I do, however, like the Tres Jolie line for ladies. We have a mostly older, conservative patient base so these work well for us.

[drk]

How is the TitanFlex quality? Can I safely move my Flexon-fans into TiFlex without having to apologize later?

We have found that Ogi's shapes are hard to wear. Too pointy or something.

We don't seem to have major quality issues with Rayban. They're average enough.

I think Silhouette should capture the plastic market way better than they have. What a wasted opportunity. They could have launched an SPX juggernaut to rival their rimless heyday of the 2006-2009 yrs, but they did no such thing.

[lensmanmd]

How is the TitanFlex quality? Can I safely move my Flexon-fans into TiFlex without having to apologize later?

What’s the harm in carrying both? One for the more budget conscious. The Flexon has a storied history of quality. The TitanFlex is a new-kid-on-the-block. Let your customers decide.

[GAgirl]

I carry both and agree with lensmanmd.

[Robert_S]

Lindberg is so overrated.
Cartier is so overrated.
Chopard are appalling quality.
RayBan, terrible, plus you are an enemy of the profession if you carry.

Am I doing it right?

[Robert_S]

Titanflex is better than flexon. But they both fail at quite a reliable rate so the point is moot.

[lensmanmd]

Let’s not forget OVVO. Pricey, but wow.

[lensmanmd]

Titanflex is better than flexon. But they both fail at quite a reliable rate so the point is moot.

Failure is minimal under normal wear. Most clients tend to show them off to their friends and exasperate the failure.
Same goes for OVVO, but as an optician, I can remedy that. I can’t remedy the bridge failure of the Flexon. Dollar for dollar, the TitanFlex is a better option, IMO.

[drk]

I'm a minimalist. It's one memory metal at a time.

If I cut out Flexon, then I have no more Marchon.

VSP doesn't love me, anyway, unless I keep about 1/3 of my optical in their products.

I can double up with the Tura rep, then, plus I'll have more flexibility (hahahahaha) in trade outs between their lines...

[Quig]

I'll bite...

Safilo has been our bread and butter for decades and I've never been so disappointed with the company. Been putting in more and more Charmant, women like the Elle line and some of the mens Ti stuff is nice and the Aristar memory metals are great for the money. I've always liked the Titanflex frames but their availability tends to suck. I think Flexons are waaaaaay overpriced and have seen way too many broken over the years.

Ray-Ban? I'm not a fan, but people love them...

Silhouette? Loved them for decades but lately I feel like their quality has not been the same. Waaaaaay too many problems with the 5521 'hinge discs'. So many so that I keep them in stock and replace them for free just to keep customers happy. Not acceptable at their price.

[Robert_S]

What's wrong with safilo? Their new line of own brand frames are extremely good quality, with arguably the best hinge. One of the best ranges on the market IMO.

[AngeHamm]

What's wrong with safilo? Their new line of own brand frames are extremely good quality, with arguably the best hinge. One of the best ranges on the market IMO.

Absolutely agreed. If I had to carry only one frame manufacturer in my office it would be Safilo, easy.

Also, why discontinue Kate Spade after she died? She sold the brand off over a decade earlier, and it's not like she was personally designing the frames.

[Quig]

What's wrong with safilo? Their new line of own brand frames are extremely good quality, with arguably the best hinge. One of the best ranges on the market IMO.

Product is absolutely fantastic, I've carried many of their lines for decades... And, I agree, with rare exception their spring hinges are the benchmark... second only to maybe the old-shool Sferoflex?

It started when they re-located their warehouse.... just too many problems. Last year or so it's been back-orders and delays and recently they canned two of my favorite sales reps... One of whom has been our Safilo rep for Juicy Couture, Elasta, Emozioni, Team, Liz (?), Carrera etc for 30+ years. We've never ever had a better rep and they took his 'good' territory out of the blue and gave him a much smaller and much worse territory. You DO NOT treat 30-40 year veterans who are a fantastic at their job like that.