The old adage that you get what you pay for ends up being true in life more often than not, and when it comes to eyewear, the prices you pay for frames and lenses really do equate to the quality you receive. To a larger extent, the type of eyewear shop that you visit, whether it’s a boutique and artsy place or a national chain retailer, can really influence your entire experience.
Not only do these two different types of establishments tend to carry wildly different products, but there’s a completely unique vibe that each brings to the table. If you’ve asked yourself what exactly makes a boutique optical shop so special, we’re here to tell you.
Handpicked And Handcrafted
Think about the behind the scenes operations that must take place at a large chain eyewear retailer. As they sell hundreds upon hundreds of frames, they don’t have the time or energy to carefully curate their selection of styles. Simply reordering what recently sold or even receiving stock from corporate without any of their input tends to be the norm.
On the other hand, the team at a boutique eyewear shop like Optik PDX meets with each frame vendor individually and spends time evaluating each style that’s available. Our frame selection is literally handpicked by our staff and many of the brands we carry are handmade with a great attention to detail.
Knowledge Galore
This next set of information might surprise you a bit, and it’s certainly not true 100% of the time, but it tends to be somewhat of an industry standard. Staff members who work at large chain stores don’t have to be opticians. Yes, you read that right! Often seen as a great starting place to get into the optical industry, you could be purchasing your eyewear from someone who has only helped patients for literally one week of their lives so far.
Yet at Optik PDX and many other boutique shops, we place a huge emphasis on patient education and guidance, and in order to do that, it’s up to our staff to know their stuff. Our opticians have been in the business for years and know exactly how to style a hard to fit face or find the right frame for your high prescription.
Seeing Clearly
Perhaps one of the most important aspects of shopping at a boutique eyewear establishment has to do with the quality of lenses you receive. After all, you shouldn’t expect anything less than perfection when it comes to your vision, and our shop has very close relationships with our lens labs to ensure that you receive the exact lenses and features that are right for you.
Instead of taking a one size fits all approach to lens types and options, we’re able to work with our labs to create a customized pair of glasses that are for you and you alone! It’s this kind of attention to detail and commitment to our patients that really sets us apart from chain shops in the Portland area.
The next time you’re in need of a personalized eyewear shopping experience, head over to Optik PDX and see the difference we make!
