Getting away from the doctors office for eyewear…
Don’t get us wrong. Anyone can pick out a pair of frames at their doctors office after they have their eye exam. It’s convenient and insurance helps out a little bit. The past few months we’ve seen a huge influx of people bringing their prescriptions to us and their first statement was, “I just couldn’t find anything I liked at my doctor’s office.”
We thought we would dig a little bit and find out what separates small optical stores like Coopers Optique from doctors offices when it comes to the selection of eyewear.
When you read through this post, we are speaking from our point-of-view, not other independently owned optical stores. Our opinions do not reflect anything negative towards doctor offices or their selection. We simply want to highlight the differences and benefits when comparing doctors offices to us.
1. Independent VS. Mass produced
The indie design movement is made up of independent designers, artists and craftspeople who hand-make beautiful eyewear with love and pure quality. Independent means you are not only supporting Coopers Optique, but your money is going further to the independent businesses, designers, reps and everyone else. Designers have the freedom to create frames and source materials using only the best suppliers. Independent eyewear is not mass produced, but handcrafted. It is also only sold to independent optical shops and cannot be found inside of any big box shops. Small independent eyewear designers decided to create quality eyewear without a flashy name taking up half of the temple pieces. High quality acetate, titanium, recycled materials, wood, 3-D printed and screw-less designs are just a few specialties that we carry.
2. What’s wrong with the big name brand?
Many people assume that if glasses have a big name brand stamped on the side of their temple, it must be a good quality and well worth paying hundreds of dollars for. Did you know that popular name brand frames such as Tiffany and Co. are not actually made by Tiffany? Think of most of the big brand name eyewear that you are familiar with and chances are they are all made by the same company, use the same fabrication process, materials and are mass produced in the same factory. The only difference: The big stamp on the side of the glasses, and the huge price tag to go with it! Another downfall of mass produced eyewear is that there isn’t a person at the end of the production line doing quality control. Are there any visible defects, are the barrels made and put together properly preventing future breakage in the temples?
3. Why don’t many doctors offices carry independent collections?
Let’s be completely honest, it all boils down to money. Doctors offices are dependent on vision insurance benefits to help patients with the cost of exams, procedures, frames, lenses and contact lenses. With insurance reimbursing a small amount to offices and forcing the doctors office to charge certain amounts (low prices at that), doctors offices find products with little costs. Another factor, insurances are known to limit how much of a product they will cover and sometimes will not allow coverage on certain collections of frames, have a mandate of brands for lenses and even dictate which labs optical offices have to use. Hence why you see mass-produced products in doctors office.
4. How to get the best bang for your buck at Coopers Optique.
A. If you have insurance, use it. We are actually in network for quite a few carriers and if we aren’t we help you with self-submitting.
B. Purchase multiple pairs. Need glasses, reading glasses, backup glasses and sunglasses? Great! We offer multiple pair discounts.
C. Keep coming back. Return clients always get extra perks from random discounts, giveaways and/or complimentary add-ons.