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BACK-TO-SCHOOL Business

By: ERINN MORGAN
Eyecare Business August 1, 2005

LAST WORD
BACK-TO-SCHOOL Business
by Erinn Morgan

It's that magical time when students from preschool to college gear up for the year. This month, ECPs provide an education on which back-to-school promotions work best. If you have a story to share, or would like to see a subject covered, please E-mail us at editor@eyecarebusiness.com or send a fax to 215-643-1705.

We have been doing a yearly back-to-school promotion for the last five years, which has been really successful. It is a frame-and-lens package for $99. If the child's prescription goes over a plus or minus five, it's a little bit more.

We have signs in the store to promote it, and we send brochures to our referring ophthalmologists.

If the selection is higher in price, parents still have the two-year warranty. They come back at that time of year and say, "We want the back-to-school special."

— Kay Faulkner, owner/optician, Children's Frames at Fifth Avenue Eyewear, Fort Worth, Texas

 

The first or second week in August, we run a kids' back-to-school trunk show. On that day, we offer a package for people who don't have insurance—it ranges from $139 to $189 for a frame, polycarbonate lenses, and warranty.

We offer that incentive on pricing and we educate about products like polycarbonate lenses. Also, we send them information on the trunk show and send out mailers to remind patients that it's time to come in.

— Sally Tibbetts,
office manager, Pavilion Vision Center, Mequon, Wisc.

 

Sometimes frame and lens companies provide us with back-to-school giveaways. If the customer buys that brand, they get a notebook or another little thing.

Last year, we had a little basket filled with packages of pens and pencils that the kids could pick from.

— Vincent Russell,
optician, Optical Outfitters, Port Jefferson, N.Y.

Boom Junior
If you focus on kids' business, recent Census Bureau statistics show that you might be on the upswing.  

A record 49.6 million students filled U.S. schools in 2003, breaking the mark set by their baby boomer parents. A few highlights on this new wave follow.

  • The growth is largely due to those born in the late 1940s to early 1960s who have since become parents.
  • n Rising immigration has also helped push enrollment. A total of 22 percent of students in 2003 had at least one foreign-born parent, including 91 percent of Asian children and 66 percent of Hispanic youths.
  • Some of the most extreme growth has been realized in population centers outside urban areas, and in Western states such as Nevada and California. In addition, in districts outside Atlanta, Houston, and Las Vegas, enrollment has soared more than 20 percent in the last five years.
  • The record number of students in grades K to 12 poses steep challenges for schools: Recruiting teachers, helping children who don't speak English, keeping class sizes manageable, and coming up with financial aid for college students.
  • The enrollment growth is likely to continue through this year, but it is expected to drop slightly through 2010 due to a decline in births from 1991 to 1997. After 2010, it should pick up again.

 

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