MOSCOT, purveyor of eyewear for more than a century, reveals a new location + its secret sauce for selling high-end eyewear

it is an optical institution. There has been a Moscot providing eyewear since 1915. Well, technically earlier. Hyman Moscot was pushing his cart of ready-made eyeglasses along New York’s Orchard Street even before the first MOSCOT store was opened.

Today, with the fifth generation firmly entrenched in the family business, MOSCOT continues to grow with its own collection of eyewear and its fourth New York City location. The 1,000-square-foot, full-service shop opened its doors in downtown Manhattan’s trendy Chelsea Market in October. The Market, which has a history of its own (it was once the home of the National Biscuit Co.), is a hot spot for locals and tourists alike that is filled with cool shops and hip eateries.

“With the paradigm shift in consumer shopping patterns, Chelsea Market represents a truly unique destination,” says owner Harvey Moscot, O.D.

Here, two of the five generations of Moscots—Harvey (fourth) and Zack (fifth)—share the family’s deep optical roots, its New York heritage, and the philosophy behind the latest MOSCOT location.

TRADITION

Harvey Moscot: While some consider us a global fashion brand, we are at heart and will always be a neighborhood optical shop. As a family business, rooted deeply in optics and eyewear, the generations of Moscots have always kept true to their expertise.

The feeling in our shops evokes this heritage, and we believe the consumer can feel that history and emotional connection to the product. We always want the experience in a MOSCOT shop to be memorable and strive to continue the renowned customer service that my father, Joel, and grandfather Sol delivered. The warm feeling of family, combined with the quality of our frames, as well as superior customer service is a recipe that we feel never goes out of style.

THE HISTORY

Zack Moscot: My great-great-grandfather Hyman Moscot emigrated from Eastern Europe via Ellis Island in 1899. Hyman began selling ready-made eyeglasses from a pushcart on Orchard Street in New York’s Lower East Side (LES). The first MOSCOT shop opened in 1925 and was located at 94 Rivington St.

Each generation since, including my great-grandfather Sol, my grandfather Joel, and my father, Harvey, has been a part of the family business. [The others were opticians] and my father is an optometrist. I joined as a product designer with aspirations to tell the story of my family legacy through the product.

HM: Our MOSCOT shops provide a warm, cozy environment that feels as if you are hanging out in our grandma Sylvia’s living room. When you walk into our shops, you immediately feel the essence of our brand and our history. We fill our shops with family photos and tchotchkes, and historical imagery of the LES collected through the decades.

At our MOSCOT Orchard Street Shop, we use the same historical dovetail drawers we’ve been using since 1939, the handmade showcases we’ve being using since the 1950s, and the peg-and-groove chairs our customers have been sitting on decade after decade since the 1930s. There is no specific formula that was conceived in a room around a table, it just is…it is MOSCOT. It is organic, quirky, humorous, cozy, and fun.

THE FRAMES

ZM: We are always inspired by our past—constantly referencing and analyzing styles from all the past decades. I’ve recently been inspired by frames in our family archives from the 1970s and 1980s, along with historical imagery from the same time period—the colors and shapes, and the people who wore the frames.

The MOSCOT Originals Collection is based on our family archives, but our customers and the neighborhood also inspire us. Many of our designs are driven by the characteristics and urban neighborhood DNA of the melting pot we call Manhattan, and specifically, the LES.

—Jackie Micucci