Editor’s Note: Summer: So Many Ways To Be Fine

It’s time to meet (and learn from) the Class of 2015

If there’s one thing you know by now about INVISION, it’s that we exist for one big reason: to help you build an independent eyecare business that thrives amid competition. We launched the America’s Finest Optical Retailers competition to find and celebrate businesses that really know how to set themselves apart. Maybe you already read about the winners online at invisionmag.com. If not, you’ve probably flipped to page 36 to see the results!

Our Top 10 businesses for this year show that there’s no single way to be “fine.” These award-winning eyecare and eyewear entrepreneurs are earning raves — from us and from their customers — in many different ways: from bodacious branding to superior service, from elegant renovations to enlightened workplace culture. Some are owned by eye doctors, others by opticians — and one came completely out of left field two years ago to fill an unmet need its owners saw in their local marketplace. We’re sure you’ll see things in all their stories that you can do right now to make your own business better.

Also worth noting: We first learned about several of this year’s winners — including three of the top five! — through their contest entries. (We were already acquainted with a few others through their owners’ participation in our Brain Squad panel of expert ECPs.) We know there are many other outstanding eyecare and eyewear businesses that we’ve yet to discover. If yours is one of them, we invite you to join the Brain Squad now at invmag.us/brainsquad so we can get to know you. Believe me when I say it’s the easiest way to get on our radar!

If you didn’t take part in the contest, we hope you’ll jump in next year. And if you entered the contest but didn’t make the Top 10, take heart: We will be writing about many of you in future issues, including in our regular America’s Finest features in each issue of INVISION.

There are many ways to excel in the business of providing vision care. INVISION is dedicated to finding and sharing them all.

Wishing you the best in business,

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
julie@smartworkmedia.com

This article originally appeared in the July-August 2015 edition of INVISION.