Last Word
Retail Roundtable
by Erinn Morgan

This new Eyecare Business column provides a forum for eyecare professionals across the country to respond to questions impacting the eyecare industry.

In this inaugural column, we pose the question:

J. Paul Jackson, OD, Animas Eyecare
Gretchen Oldt, Empire Vision Centers
Larry S. Tavel, MD, Dr. Tavel Optical Group

What do you see as your biggest challenge for 2005, and how are you addressing it?

Issues that face a lot of eyecare professionals--like managed care and superstore competition--don't affect us because of our location and our high-end niche.

We will continue to get more high-end lines in and grow that niche. Our goal is to be fair. We may be more expensive, but you get what you pay for. We treat our patients like our own family.

-- J. Paul Jackson, OD, Animas Eyecare, Durango, Colo.

In retail frame buying and merchandising, our biggest challenge is to anticipate patients' desires relative to the overall trends in the economy.

This balance means having an assortment that will fit each individual desire in concert with current pricing dynamics.

Eyewear, as a fashion accessory, enables each person to express himself.

With a tailored lifestyle merchandising campaign, promoting our exclusive branded product line, innovative styles, and lens technology, we continue to evolve.

-- Gretchen Oldt, director of merchandising, Empire Vision Centers, 60 locations in New York, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania

The biggest challenge facing the eyecare industry in the coming year, and for the foreseeable future, is attracting retail patients. With managed (third-party) eyecare serving nearly 75 percent of patients, differentiating your practice and attracting patients with disposable income and some remaining degree of autonomy is the challenge of the future.

This year, smart practitioners will not only have to provide outrageous customer service, superior product knowledge, and a unique product mix to their patients, they will have to get that message out through more effective advertising campaigns.

-- Larry S. Tavel, MD, president, Dr. Tavel Optical Group, Indianapolis, Ind., 21 locations in Indianapolis