Main Street Matters

It is great news that Halifax is one of the twenty winners in North America to get a three block makeover thanks to Benjamin Moore.  The campaign to help win in this competition was no doubt helped by Mayor Mike Savage starring in some YouTube videos which gained the cult status of "going viral" and spreading the word about the competition and Halifax's desire to win.  You can see one of the videos here:


Well done!

Winning the competition gets us past the first hurdle, but now the streets to benefit from the makeover have to be decided and we are really excited to see our very own Blowers Street listed as one of the possibilities.  So it is time to vote again and, here at Ocean, we'd be really grateful if you would vote for Blowers Street.
The Halifax website for voting is here: http://www.halifax.ca/surveys/paintwhatmatters.html and you can vote once a day until the 19th of July.

So, come on, let's make this happen for Blowers Street!!

Press Release - Slow Food Eyeglasses come to Halifax

Ocean Optometry, Halifax (July 02, 2013) - Eyeglasses, like many other products, can often travel thousands of miles before arriving at the final retailer for sale. A more environmentally responsible alternative has arrived at Ocean Optometry.

 “When we first met with Drift Eyewear and were introduced to the range, we were blown away by the ethos of the company and the ingenious design solutions at which they have arrived,” commented Dr. Euan McGinty.  Drift Eyewear’s hand-made frames have created a unique solution in eyeglasses combining a natural acetate front and timber sides.  The frames take their design ingenuity from the architectural world as well as from nature.

“While wooden frames aren’t new”, optician Michael Bonang added, “Drift’s solution has allowed for the combining of more fragile reclaimed or sustainably sourced woods with perfectly managed weight distribution throughout the frames. This makes the frames comfortable and well-fitting”.

Drift Eyewear frames have an acetate front, definitely the look of the season, and timber sides.  “We felt that these frames also provided a great connection with the Maritimes”, said Dr. John Wilson, “There are several different options for the temples. I t was great to see a maple wood option and we were incredibly excited by the range called 12 Meter which uses reclaimed boat timbers”.

Ocean Optometry is an independent optometry office recently opened on Blowers Street in downtown Halifax.  Working with other independent companies is incredibly important to their business and Drift Eyewear is a perfect fit for this philosophy.  Being pioneers in eyewear fashion, Ocean Optometry is delivering options which have never before been available, not just within the HRM, but the across the whole of Atlantic Canada.  Assistant Erin Hensler explained, “Drift Eyewear supplies only a few retailers in the whole of Canada and none east of Ontario.  From initial order to arrival, we have waited almost three months for these frames, but when you are selecting a hand-made, small-run speciality product it is definitely worth the wait.”

The range is available to view at:

Ocean Optometry

5240 Blowers Street
Halifax
Tel: (902) 446-4470
ww.oceanoptometry.ca

Do you stock Ray-Ban?

This is a question that we hear in Ocean Optometry a couple of times a week and the simple answer is "No".

Of course, there is a great more detail to the answer than just those two letters and perhaps it would be best to give the complicated answer, rather than just the simple answer.

It is undoubtable that Ray-Ban is a popular eyewear brand, just as D&G, Prada, Versace and others have become.  Compared to some other fashion brands, likes those others mentioned, Ray-Ban is slightly different in that it has a heritage in eyewear and ophthalmic optics.  It has long been associated with fashion since its launch in 1939 and Ray-Ban classics like the Wayfarer, the Clubmaster and the Aviator have been popular with celebrities of music and screen throughout the decades.  It would be difficult to imagine the Blues Brothers poster without the classic sunglasses in it!

Ray-Ban was sold by its founding company, Bausch & Lomb, to the Italian Luxottica Group in 1999 and the brand has since been successfully re-launched and expanded to include ophthalmic frames as well as sunglass frames.  The success of having the power of the huge parent company behind them has been undoubtable and if you simply look around at any current eyeglass wearers you are sure to see a good number of them will have the Ray-Ban italicised logo on the side of their frames.

So being a trendy and stylish office you may think that we would be excited to have a hugely popular and current brand amongst the frames that we stock, not to mention that it would be a commercially obvious choice, but we are not.

If you go into virtually any eyewear office you can choose from a selection of Ray-Ban glasses, surf to many websites and the choice seems to be endless.  To our eyes, Ray-Ban has become somewhat generic and perhaps lacking in any sense of style, fashion or individualism.

So, if we get asked the question "Do you stock Ray-Bans?" our reply is, "Did you have a particular shape or style of frame in mind?".  More often than not, when someone is looking for Ray-Bans they have a particular image in their mind of a style of frame or a particular look.  Taking some time to find out what is the perfect solution for any individual is the only sure-fire way to achieve this and produce a beautiful pair of glasses that surpass the original desire of the Ray-ban seeker; surpass it with a sense of style, flair, elegance and most importantly individualism.

Be yourself, not a brand.

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!):