How we choose the eyewear brands we stock
With Silmo Paris, Europe’s largest eyewear exhibition fast approaching, we thought now would be a good time to explain how we choose what eyewear brands to stock here at Respectacle Company in Market Harborough.
When we first took over the store in 2016, we felt the selection of eyewear offered to our customers was, dare we say it, a little bland. From the outset, we had a vision of what we wanted to showcase to the lovely people of Market Harborough. We were on a mission to make our eyewear collections unique, colourful, and different. At least compared to what you would find in most mainstream high street optical stores.
Over the past seven years, we have gradually introduced new brands and collections. Careful not to alienate our existing, loyal patients, we started slowly. We worked on the 80/20 concept of stocking 80 per cent of frames that would fall into the classic category, with a small mix of 20 per cent more adventurous models. We listened intently to our customers’ feedback before gradually increasing the quirkier collections we now stock. We’re delighted to say that the new brands were well received. Existing and new customers became as excited as we were with these unique and individual brands.
Respectacle Company is an owner-led store, and we are totally independent. So, we don’t have any ties to companies which would restrict what we can buy. We have complete control to curate an eclectic mix of hand-picked eyewear frames, which our customers seem to love. We put a lot of thought into choosing each piece for the store. We have evolved over the last seven years and now stock a variety of shapes and colours to cater for all tastes and budgets.
We spend a lot of time investing in the eyewear that we stock as we want to commit to building these brands into the fabric of Respectacle Company. We travel to many trade shows to discover new and unique eyewear. When we find a potential new collection, we research the brand, looking at the makeup of the company behind the eyewear, its history, and the ethos of the company. We also consider exclusivity to ensure our eyewear isn’t available elsewhere in our area. One of the main factors when considering spectacle frames is the quality of the pieces. We will only stock well-engineered, quality frames, most of which are hand-crafted luxury pieces.
Once we’ve decided to commit to taking on a collection, we invite the representative into the store. Once we have looked at each piece in detail, we select which models we feel best fit our store. When we choose the frames, we aim to offer our customers high-quality, individual eyewear they can’t find in other opticians in our area.
We transfer this ethos throughout our services at Respectacle Company. From delivering high-level customer service within the store and ensuring our customers receive experienced expertise from our clinical staff within the examination room to using the highest-grade equipment available, we tailor our services to meet every client’s needs.
If you want to visit us, you will find our optical store in Manor Walk, Market Harborough. We are delighted to partner with some of the best eyewear companies in Europe, including Caroline Abram and Woow from France, Coral Eyewear from England, Theo from Belgium, and L.G.R, Lamarca Eyewear and FEB31st from Italy.
The best way to get a feel for our collections is to pop by the shop for a browse and chat with our friendly team of passionate eyewear experts. The store is open between 9 am and 5 pm daily, except for Mondays, and from 9 am to 4 pm on Saturdays. Not local? Then head over to our online store to view a selection of the frames we stock.
Further reading:
New frames from Caroline Abram and Lamarca now in stock
Introducing Coral Earth, a new collection from Coral Eyewear
Mini Bunny in Raspberry