Buying glasses online

Right!  It's time to face up to this bête noire, buying your glasses online.

In a way, Euan always feels a little sheepish when discussing this.  Euan has often been asked to speak at continuing education conferences about IT, technology and computer geekery, especially when relating to optometric practice. Back in 2002 he was giving a continuing education workshop and talked at length about practices embracing this new technology.  He discussed the importance of having a website as a virtual shop-window and about the benefits to practice management, internal communication and electronic health records.  He also confidently stated that he did not feel people would buy their glasses online, that it was an inherently tactile process and that this could not be replicated virtually.

What a fool!

Or was he?

Online eyewear purchases are now definitely a factor in the industry, albeit a small percentage of the overall market.

Every optometrist and optician has heard the words, "Can I have my PD?".  As professions built around helping people, answering questions like these are always very difficult to do, without seeming argumentative or adversarial.  We are hard wired to want to say, "Yes".  Let us wait for a moment, though, do we not also have a duty to do the best for our patients/clients?

At Ocean Optometry, we think so and we think this is an over-riding factor.

When we dispense a pair of spectacles we try to create as pleasant an experience as possible.  There is a nice environment in which to choose your glasses, there is some fabulous music playing, we have sourced the world's finest eyewear for you to select from and, ultimately, we have experts in eyewear to help facilitate the whole process.

My word, you say, all that's going to cost a lot - just give me the glasses, that's what I wear on my face!

You have to remember, though, that ultimately we are a business.  Dress it up how you want, but we only will stay in business if people purchase services (eye examinations, eye care, etc) and products (glasses, contacts) from us.  As ultimate eye-geeks, we know very well who the competition is, we know what the market is and we know what we have to do.  Therefore our prices aren't extreme or ridiculous, they are competitive, aggressive and, ultimately, fair.  Is it fair-trade eyewear?  We think so.  Is it good value?  Absolutely so!

What many people may not realise, though, is that when we dispense eyewear the process is not just a case of picking items off a shelf, we are creating a bespoke, unique and customised finished product - combining frames, prescription, fashion, lifestyle, function and aesthetics.

When we are dispensing eyewear, we don't take you coldly, step-by-step through the process.  Unlike buying glasses online, we don't ask you to input your prescription and click 'Next'; we don't ask for your PD, click 'Next'; choose your frame, 'Add to basket'; choose lenses from pre-determined options, 'Add to basket'; confirm name; confirm address; credit card details the same?; confirm delivery; hope for the best; yada, yada, click, click, click, NEXT!

We involve you.

Choosing eyewear is a harmonious relationship combining so many different factors, or, at least, it should be.  As the eyeglasses wearer, you maybe aren't aware of all of the considerations that our opticians and optometrists go through when helping you choose your eyewear ... and that's great.

Perhaps the online purchasers (if they are still reading) are possibly thinking, "yeah, yeah, yeah, so what, I'll get the same glasses online and save some cash".  Certainly, that is your choice and we want everyone to be happy with their purchasing decision, so if they are happy, that's the main thing.

Only, please don't be surprised if you come to us and ask us to adjust, maintain, sort your glasses that you have purchased elsewhere and find our experts are not willing to do it for free.  Please don't be surprised if your vision isn't optimal with your glasses ordered without ever trying them on.  Please don't be surprised when we are not excited about the so-so quality of the eyewear you have purchased elsewhere - we could have stocked it, but for many reasons we didn't.

We realise that this blog post won't be for everyone.  Madness, I know, we should be trying to appeal to as many as possible, except ... except ... we really love share our enthusiasm for all things eye-geekery with everyone who comes in to Ocean.  We will always offer tremendous value, we will always offer fabulous eyewear and we will always value the skill, knowledge, services and dedication of our professionals.  Does it cost more?  Yes  ... No ... perhaps ... but, you know what, it is worth so, so much more.

Do you want your PD?  Well, we could do that ... but you'd be making a mistake!  Just for the record when we dispense eyewear we take measurements of at least four different paramaters.  Ordering glasses with just the PD would be like buying tires with only the wheel diameter and hoping that the rest is somehow just right!  Of course, with tires it doesn't really matter about the profile, width or if they're all-season or winter or summer tires, does it?

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

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

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.

Gatecrahsers, Glasses & Getting Funky

On Friday night we had our opening party to celebrate getting everything together.  It was a great success, with many friends joining us to share in the celebration and we partied into the late night!  We attracted quite a bit of attention and some passing revelers called in, some taking a little time to browse around, with a promise to call back when we were open properly!

The office simply looked amazing!

With the bright, airy open dispensary it made a great area to have a party (and has given us inspiration for future events!).  Several hours of funky tunes were already selected in our play list, which kept everyone grooving along.  We were also visited by Snap Halifax, who knew it would be that kind of a party!

Our photographer-in-residence, Brad Avery, spent a lot of time with everyone, getting a great selection of photos for us to view later.  Brad has some great ideas of photo shoots when some of our ranges come in, so it is going to be exciting working with him as our go to guy for Ocean Optometry images.

We were even gatecrashed by a local star of screen and stage - once we have the photographic evidence we'll update our news!

Here's a photo from the night with the Ocean Optometry eye geeks crew altogether:

John, Erin, Mike & Euan

Remember, we are open for real from the 8th of April, please feel free to send us an e-mail or give us a call for an appointment.

It's started!

John, Erin & Mike hard at work.  Euan's supervising!

We all arrived at 7.30am this morning, keen and eager to get into the finishing week and to meet with the truck delivering our equipment.

Guess what ... no truck!  They'd forgotten and should be with us, oh, about an hour ago!  Never mind.

We got cracking with putting together some of the furniture and cleaning up the windows.  The first collections of frames have already arrived, but we're good and not opening the box until we get some of this work done first.

We've got some great Eye Tunes to keep us motivated this morning - so far it's been Fat Boy Slim and The Human League.  I suspect it's going to get more 'eclectic' as the day goes on!

Vision East Expo - Sunglasses! Sunglasses!

While it was almost all work at Vision Expo in New York, there were some moments to enjoy trying on some of the cool new eyewear (for research purposes, of course!).

Here are a some pictures:

Mike modeling an ic! berlin.

Euan sporting the special edition ic! berlin "Splash"!

Euan, John & Mike all featuring the ic! berlin special edition "Psycho" collection - only sold as a set of 3!

John, Mike & Euan - a little more relaxed on the last day.  Safe in the knowledge that we now had some awesome collections to open with!

Euan, John and Mike had a hectic visit to New York.  The trip started very early on a cold Friday morning, but we were all full of excitement and energy, this was going to be a trip like no other!

The sole purpose of this trip was to meet with the best eyewear providers in the world in one single location so that we could put together the most wonderful collection of spectacles in a single location.  Read all about our trip in the various news posts.