Our local outlook

It may seem a strange thought to hear Ocean Optometry talking about loving things local, especially when you hear our accents!

Although it is true that Dr John Wilson and Dr Euan McGinty are "from away", they bring with them a global perspective and a broad reaching level of experience and importantly a deep rooted understanding of why local is so important.

One of the main reasons that using local businesses is vital for any community can be seen from cold hard statistics.  Recent studies have demonstrated that generates 3.5 times more wealth for the local economy compared to chain owned business.  What does this mean beyond the statistics?  That the money spent within the community stays within the community - it is used in other local businesses, it is used to support local community projects and activities, it creates jobs and opportunities within the community and it enables the community to grow and flourish.  With chain owned business a good proportion of the same money is syphoned off to support the very existence of the chain itself, it's corporate needs and offices, the corporate staff and perhaps on activities such as national advertising, etc.

What may be thinly hidden from the general public, however, is where the ownership of an office lies.  At times offices can be owned by national or multi-national chains.

This is one of the reasons that Ocean Optometry takes its responsibility as a local business seriously, we try to work with other local businesses first and foremost.  We recognise that this isn't always possible and we also need to consider where the ethos of local is.  So we very much look at our local responsibility on a global scale.  Having a desire to bring the best products to the local community we have ensured that we look at the companies we work with and, where possible, will choose a company with a local ethos similar to our own.  We like to work with independent companies who share the same ideals and principles as ourself.

We encourage you to share our love of local, consider where you make your purchase and take on a local outlook, with a global twist (funny accents optional).

A great source for all things local in Halifax is I love local Halifax:



Keep up to date with their website and follow them on twitter, you'll be amazed as to how busy the local scene is.

More info on local V's chains can be found here:

Click to Enlarge Image



Why Buying Local is Worth Every Cent Infographic by CustomMade

Spin & Stow

One of the things that we loved about the götti range was a clever feature, designed by Sven Götti, called Spin & Stow.  This allows for the temples to be reversed 180° and then fit snugly into the natural curve of the frame front.  The result is a frame that is bowed, but quite flat and slim.  These unique frames come with a case to easily slip into and can then be carried in a suit or jacket pocket without spoiling the line of the clothes.

This picture shows both a frame from the range and the case for the frames:

Pictures are all well enough, though, what we need to really demonstrate it is a video demonstrating the system (which, of course, has beautiful people in a beautiful setting with some beautiful weather - perhaps it's just a coincidence!):

Six Weekiversary

Victoria Day – our six weekiversary!

What an amazing 43 days!

 

Ocean Optometry officially opened its doors for business six weeks ago on Victoria Day. In that time we have now performed many more eye examinations than we dared to anticipate and we’ve helped people choose some beautiful eyeglasses. We’ve worked with our lens suppliers to bring crystal clear vision in the optically and cosmetically best way possible. We’ve even fitted people with contact lenses for their very first time.

We are amazed by the response that we’ve had and also quite humbled. We’ve had complete strangers tweet to us that our store looks great as they’ve walked past. We’ve heard comments that it is “glasses heaven” and that we have “too many nice glasses”.

Since our earliest plans were being laid, John and Euan wanted to create a truly unique optometry office. From the interior design, to the eyewear ranges, through the advanced IT infrastructure to our engagement via social media. We wanted to be dynamic, vibrant, on trend and urban. Most of all we wanted to have fun while we did it. This is the reason that four friends have chosen to work together and even though, like all good friends, we have had disagreements and ‘heated debates’ we’ve stayed true to our core principle and loved every moment of it.

This Victoria Day weekend we closed on the Monday, to get a chance to spend time with our loved ones and recharge our batteries. We've come back refreshed and hungry for success.

This is where we now need your help. Our office is very much in a David and Goliath situation. We are a small local office, competing in an industry worth billions of dollars. We are creating our own space against competitors with years of trading history and incredibly deep pockets for advertising budgets. We are also competing against offices who you may imagine are local and yet are owned by national corporations with hundreds of offices.

You can help, though, by spreading the word.

We would love if you tell people about Ocean Optometry, perhaps someone needs an eye examination or you feel they could do with new eyewear. Perhaps someone has a red eye and needs immediate attention. Whatever the reason, we would be incredibly grateful if you could tell people about Ocean Optometry and your experience with us.

We would love for you to follow us on Twitter, like us on facebook or review us on Yelp!

If you’ve just picked up your new glasses, tweet us a picture of them, or post a picture to our facebook wall.

Whatever you can do, however you can spread the word, we would be honoured and grateful.

We too hope that you had a great Victoria Day weekend and, most of all, are having fun,

Euan & John

Dr Euan McGinty & Dr John Wilson

co-owners and eye-geeks to the core.

Disco-Retro

Arrrrgh!!

Our lovely auto-phoropter had died, this is the funny pair of glasses thing which we used during the whole "1 or 2"/"better or worse" part of the eye examination so that we can assess what lenses will give the best quality of vision for you.  It is a beautiful auto-phoropter, stylish (if you're an eye geek), slick, accurate, quiet, clear and now smells slightly of burnt toast.

In a funny sort of way, we are glad that this happened while it is so new, it makes dealing with the warranty issue easy - swap it out.

The only problem we face is that these items aren't usually just lying around gathering dust, so it will take a few days for it to all happen.  So what to we do in the meantime?  Our friend in Truro, Dr David Gillam, came through - he had a spare!

We already know that many of you are loving our beautiful vintage frames that we carry, now we have a very retro auto-phoropter!  Yeah, Baby!

Loving the mint green!

Up and running with contact lenses

We are now completely ready to fit and supply contact lenses for our patients.  There are many brands of contact lenses and sometimes choosing the right type of contact lenses can seem overwhelming, or perhaps you tend to think that they are all just the same, so what does it matter?

Being fitted for the correct type of contact lens doesn't just ensure that your lenses give you optimum vision, it also makes sure that the lenses fit correctly, are comfortable to wear and are not causing any issues with the health of your eyes.  As contact lenses have become an every day disposable item, it can sometimes be forgotten that you are placing a foreign body onto the surface of the eyes.

As part of our contact lens assessments we will make sure that the contact lenses that we recommended are most suited for your eyes and your lifestyle.  This greatly reduces the risk of complications and adverse effects.

We are very pleased to have decided to work with Cooper Vision and Acuvue as our principle contact lens providers.  Both companies offer an excellent range of lenses and we are delighted to be working with two companies who strongly promote daily lenses, arguably the healthiest option for contact lens wear.

If you would like to find out more about our contact lens services then please do not hesitate to get in touch.  In the meantime, here's a great video from Acuvue about the importance of healthy lenses: