Forget Store-in-Store Displays — Nearly Three Quarters of You Don’t (or Can’t) Dedicate the Space

THIS MONTH’S QUESTION

Do you have a “store-in-store” area for any big eyewear or sunwear brands?

We upped our Maui Jim board from 40 pieces to 100 … and had 10 Maui’s stolen. Love having more choices for patients but just don’t love not being able to keep up with more inventory. — Katie Kelly, Ochsner Optical, New Orleans, LA

Yes: 28%

• Maui Jim and Costa have their own displays. Many of our Costa patients find us on their website and come because they love the product. — Pam Peters, Midwest Eye, Downers Grove, IL
• 50% of our practice is showcased with La Vida eyewear, an independent frame brand that partners with private practice to help them market their practice. — Diana Sims, Buena Vista Optical, Chicago, IL
• We have a couple of sunglass displays. — Nicole Heyduk, Eye Centers of Northwest Ohio, Fremont, OH
• We have a huge SALT. built in we had made about 10 years ago. It has performed very well and SALT. has become our best-selling line. — Dave Schultz, OD, Urban Optics, San Luis Obispo, CA
• Costa. It’s selling well. — Cindy Henderson, Eyear Optical, Hixson, TN
• An antique glass and oak hutch display. — Dave Goodrich, Goodrich Optical, Lansing, MI
• We do very well with B.E.M.C. Big guys appreciate that we didn’t forget about them. — Vlad Cordero, Focus Eye Care PC, Hackensack, NJ
• It hasn’t increased sunglass sales. — Jill Sweig, OD, Oyster Bay Optics, Oyster Bay, NY
• I have a rotating tower which holds up to 75 frames, most of which are plano suns. It is one of the first things customer see. As prominent as it is, it hasn’t sold as well as expected. — Mitch Kaufman, Marine Park Family Vision, Brooklyn, NY
• We have an easily accessible area with the product in a locker display. — Pam Housley, Texas State Optical of Nederland, Port Arthur, TX
• Since we don’t have room to actually have a store-in-store, we do have separate areas for our more large-headed patients, as well as sunglasses. — Rick Rickgauer, Vision Associates, Girard, PA
• It separates every day frames from “specialty” frames such as safety, computer, readers, and sunglasses. — BJ Chambers, Carrera Optical, McQueeney, TX
• We section off some of our biggest brands in display cabinets that have great lighting and allow us to brand a whole area rather than just throwing them up on the frame board. — Travis LeFevre, Krystal Vision, Logan, UT
• Oakley and Ray-Ban display cases. — Texas L. Smith, OD, Dr. Texas L. Smith & Assoc., Citrus Heights, CA
• We have several sections of floor to ceiling displays where we showcase one frame line. We have done well with it and the patients appreciate the ability to locate their favorite frames easily and everything is in one place. — Mark Perry, OD, Vision Health Institute, Orlando, FL
• Big Maui Jim display and smaller Ray-Ban display. — Bob McBeath, Edina Eye, Edina, MN
• We do have a special spot for Maui Jim. It has performed well, but it’s always been set up like that. — Selina McGee, OD, Precision Vision, Edmond, OK
• We have a separate Maui Jim and Oakley cases. — Bryan Hartgrave, Vision Solutions, Lamar, MO
• Costa sunglasses have their own display with lighting. — Robert M Easton, Jr., OD, FAAO, Oakland Park, FL
• It brings immediate attention to new product. — Annette Prevaux-Matejko, The Visionary, Allen Park, MI

N0: 72%

• We did have a little “Sunglass Hut” in the optical but they seem to do better when grouped with the ophthalmics. — Michael Martorana, OD, Falls City Eye Care, Louisville, KY
• We don’t right now, but we plan on having a shop-in-shop with our new building. We are looking to do this with the Face á Face and Krewe lines. We sell through these lines so quickly, it would make it so much easier to keep the boards full. — Leah Johnson, Central Texas Eye Center, San Marcos, TX
• We have a great selection of independent designer sunwear. We prefer to give our customers this variety rather than focus on one brand. — Paula Hornbeck, Eye Candy & Eye Candy Kids, Delafield, WI
• We do not have the room at the point. Everything in our office is organized by designer already, no specific men’s or women’s area. — Jenna Gilbertson, McCulley Optix Gallery, Fargo, ND
• No reason really. We are small but we do highlight brands. Plus, we are a boutique so we mainly style the patients instead of them standing at the board and choosing themselves. — Nytarsha Thomas, OD, Visionelle Eyecare, Zionsville, IN
• We’ve actually been in talks with Luxottica and Marchon to install something like this so I’ll have a better story in a couple months, assuming it even goes through. — Josh Bladh, Dr. Bladh OD, Diamond Bar, CA
• We have a very small optical space (about 400 sq. ft.). It was kind of an oversight on my part. Looking back, I would have increased the optical size. — Tom Brillante, OD, Decatur Eye Care, Decatur, GA
• My artisan eyewear boutique is small and I am loyal to four independent artist collections, so they are all fully featured, yet have separate display vignettes. — Elle Tatum, Elle’s Island Spectacle, Bainbridge Island, WA
• We like to mix it up. We arrange by color, not brand. A patient is more likely to try on an expensive frame if it isn’t “grouped in” with the “expensive section.” — Cynthia Sayers, OD, EyeShop Optical Center, Lewis Center, OH
• We don’t have the physical space! We do have package and economy deals, we just store them in trays and pull them out as needed. — Jen Heller, Pend Oreille Vision Care, Sandpoint, ID
• While we do have a Maui Jim display, there is just not enough room to do that. — Angel Miller, Cynthiana Vision Center, Cynthiana, KY
• Having such limited space limits how we are able to dedicate separate sales locations. — William Chancellor, Eye Can See Eyewear, McDonough, GA
• The optical is too small. — Frances Ann Layton, Eye Associates of South GA, Valdosta, GA
• Not enough room. — Susie Phillips, Dr. Brendon Johnson, O.D., Pekin, IL
• I wouldn’t install anything for a big brand. We’re big independent supporters. — Jade Kowalick, Ryczek Eye Associates, St. Petersburg, FL
• Just don’t have the space for such a thing. — Larah Alami, OD, Hudson River Eye Care, White Plains, NY