I hang out a lot with an artist friend and, without exception, every single time we go out…read moresomewhere, somebody compliments her on her eyeglasses. I am not exaggerating. Her glasses are so awesomely bold (but not cartoonish), and they suit her SO well, and everybody notices them and compliments her on them. (She gets all her glasses from this optical store).
Lately I have been getting increasingly tired with switching my glasses for nearsightedness, farsightedness, and reading, both regular lenses and sunglasses. I have lots of glasses and I keep having to switch. And I knew my prescription had changed, too. This whole rigamarole was getting old and I was so tired of it, having different glasses all over the place, all for different functions.
So I finally broke down and said enough was enough. Got an eye exam (see my review for The Eye Lab), and with new prescription in hand, I immediately came to this store.
And all I can say is, wow.
This is one of those reviews where I wish I could give more than 5 stars.
Everything about this optical shop is stellar: the selection of products, the knowledge of the staff (and the friendliness and helpfulness, too - and it's all genuine), the customer service at point of sale and follow-up afterwards.
I worked with Dee there. Like the other staff here, Dee has many years' experience working in this field (over a decade). There was no hard sell on any frames at all. She studied my facial shape and features and looked at my prescription, and she brought me a bunch of frames that she thought would work best on me. I took some off the shelves, too, that I wanted to try. And wouldn't you know it, Dee found the perfect pair for me!
And now *I* am getting all the compliments on my eyeglasses!
I should note that, upon pick up of my glasses, Dee took the time to double and triple-check how the frames fit on me, and took the time to explain in detail how best to adjust to these new lenses and how to best care for these frames. (I got transitional and progressive lenses. Yeah, when one gets old, unfortunately, one needs all the bells and whistles). She said she'd be calling in 1-2 weeks to follow up on how the new glasses are going, too. Nice!
One last note: this shop has very high-end frames. It's pricey. We're talking avante garde (as well as more traditional frames. But nothing here is "old-fashioned" or dowdy. Even the retro-oriented frames have up-to-date details). There are lots of big-name designers from Europe and Japan. You'll see frames here that you don't see anywhere else. And they have lots of options for the lenses (i.e., my mom in Montreal got transitional lenses recently and she was so surprised that I had options when I ordered transitional lenses here. She didn't know that there were different transitional options available. Same with the progressive lenses. You will definitely get exactly what you want here - but don't expect it to come cheap! IMO you get what you pay for, though, and I think eyeglasses are super important for one's eye health and one's confidence, too). That said, they have amazing sales where tons of frames are half off (like, practically half the whole store!), and also, whenever you purchase frames and lenses here, they give you 40% lenses on any other pair of glasses, good for two months after the initial sale. Nice bonus if you want another pair of glasses!
This shop is akin to a gallery or museum of eyeglass frames. It's definitely an arty field now, with frames so fashionable, in so many materials, colors and shapes and sizes. For me, shopping here was really a fun experience, and I would only return here for any optical purchases in the future.