Independent opticians a dying breed as chain stores increase presence - American Independent Business Alliance AMIBA

Nov. 07, 2004

Independent optical shops see struggle

By Dan Laidman
CONTRA COSTA TIMES

The battle of the independent booksellers against Borders and Barnes and Noble is well known. The plight of the neighborhood coffeeshops being pummeled by Starbucks is no secret.

Fewer people, though, are aware of another type of mom-and-pop shop embroiled in a struggle for survivial. What is this quiet class of embattled corner merchants?

It's as plain as the glasses on your face.

Independent optical shops have been squeezed in recent years by competition from large chain stores as well as some developments in the insurance industry. It is not uncommon for opticians who own their own stores to refer to themselves and their peers as a "dying breed."

But some are fighting back.

Art and Science of Eyewear, a 9-year-old Lafayette store, recently moved to a new location in the town's central La Fiesta Square. Owner Anna Fuentes said the move is part of a two-pronged strategy: to focus on an upscale clientele and to use the chain stores' own tactics against them.

Fuentes noted that Art and Science is sandwiched between two successful chains, a Starbucks and a Cold Stone ice creamery.

"These guys are smart, they do their market research," she said. "We piggybacked on that."

On a recent afternoon at Art and Science's new location, a number of customers complimented Fuentes on the new storefront's stylish decor. Fuentes explained that the upscale image reinforces her store's niche. While the chains may be cheaper and quicker, Fuentes prefers spending extra time with repeat customers to match them with high-end glasses fit to their individual facial structure, fashion style and other needs.

"You can't be all things to all people," she said. "I don't want to be time and money."

What is happening in the East Bay is happening throughout the country, said Curt Duff, a Kentucky-based optician and president of the Opticians Association of America.

"We can't compete with their advertising," Duff said. "The only thing we can compete with is we can produce a better pair of glasses than they do through service."

Optical chains like Lenscrafters and mass merchants like Wal-Mart and Costco control a growing sector of the retail glasses market, said Marge Axelrad, senior vice president and editorial director for the Jobson Optical Group, a provider of industry research and information.

"The chains have been gaining market share very significantly over the past 10 years because they've opened more outlets or garnered more market share by promoting more aggressively," she said. "And they tend to offer a wider range of price point options collectively than independents do."

Chains now have about 41 percent of the $16.4 billion annual eyeglasses and contact lens industry in the United States, Jobson estimates. While that leaves independents with 59 percent, Axelrad said that includes the significant portion of opticians who work for eye doctors.

Opticians, who are licensed by the state of California, fit, adjust and sell eyewear based on prescriptions issued by eye doctors, a category that can include opthamologists or optometrists. There are no figures available for the market share held by pure independents not connected with optometrists, Axelrad said.

Dennis Metas, owner of Valley Opticians in Danville and a past president of the California Association of Dispensing Opticians, said that despite the trend toward "one-stop shopping" independent optical retailers still serve an important purpose.

It can be a conflict of interest for the eye exam and prescription to be done by the same person or outlet selling the glasses, Metas said.

"When the prescription is out in the marketplace, there are checks and balances," he said. "The consumer is protected as long as there's not a captive audience."

The relationship between eye examiners and glasses vendors has fallen under some scrutiny in California in recent years, with Attorney General Bill Lockyer suing Pearle Vision, now part of Lenscrafters' parent company Luxottica Group, for allegedly violating regulations meant to keep the two practices separate. Some of the chains, including Lenscrafters, conduct eye exams and sell glasses under the same roof under an exemption from a state health care law that allows them to function like health maintenance organizations.

Independent optical shops could never afford to pursue such exemptions and such elaborate business arrangements, Metas said. Furthermore, he said that independent opticians have been marginalized as employers have set up vision coverage for their employees with insurance providers like VSP.

The vast majority of VSP's 38 million members get their glasses from opticians who work in-house with the 21,000 VSP eye doctors.

"I don't think the whole style today of everything being under one roof is unique to the vision industry," said Patrick McNeil, a VSP spokesman. "I think the fact that the optician is in the optometrist's office is so it's convenient for the members."

Therein lies the challenge for independent opticians, who have to draw in customers otherwise lured by the ease of getting glasses through a doctor or a chain.

"How do I get that prescription and what do I have to do to get you to come?" Metas said. "I have to have a better selection, better service, something the other guys don't have."

For Art and Science of Eyewear, that something is an upscale boutique location and designer products. Metas said he aims for a similar niche with his store, which specializes in children's eye-wear, and personalized service.

Richard Powell, the proprietor of Tice Valley Optical in Walnut Creek, said he has kept his business afloat by latching onto a very specific customer base.

Powell had to sell his first optical shop in the 1990s because of VSP's insurance policies, he said. He said he was unable to compete against the retailers connected with doctors' offices. So he moved to a store next to the Rossmoor retirement community, whose residents account for about 75 percent of his business.

"Pretty much the optical shops have all had to develop a specialty of some sort," he said. "It's pretty well known in the industry you have to go for a niche or you're not gonna make it."

While Powell has found a way to sustain his business, he is skeptical about the long-term future of independent opticianry.

"I'm a disappearing, vanishing breed," he said.

Metas said he is not as pessimistic as some of his colleagues but then added that he would not recommend that his children become opticians.

The independents say that if they do disappear, it would be a loss to consumers. Duff, the Opticians Association of America president, said that one does not find masters of the craft working at the chain stores.

"Lenses, just like a Ford or a Chevrolet, are different," he said. "No matter how hard these guys try they don't keep anybody long enough to train them."

At Art and Science of Eyewear, Fuentes and all of her optician employees have at least 10 years of experience in the industry. She said that her customers appreciate that, and that repeat business has given the store the means to upgrade its location.

Fuentes is using the move to strengthen the niche that she thinks will preserve the business well into the future. Art and Science, therefore, is in a rare but promising position for an independent optical shop: It is not on the defensive.

She said, "It behooved me to be proactive."

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