Tag Archives: eyecare

Silmo: A Story of Innovation

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By Paddy Kamen

Philippe LafontSilmo President Philippe Lafont took time to speak with Envision: seeing beyond magazine about the upcoming show and how his team is responding to new ways of doing business. Here is our interview: 

ESB: What changes have you made for 2014 and how will they improve the experience of exhibitors and visitors?

Philippe Lafont: Every year, we make adjustments to the exhibition, some of them minor but others more substantial and highly visible. Our goal is to respond to market changes and meet both exhibitors’ and visitors’ expectations. Our thinking, for this and for future editions, is to simplify the visitor pathway, the “customer experience” by reconfiguring the exhibition’s offering using a more refined segmentation. We believe there is a need to showcase dynamic growth sectors such as sport, luxury goods and new technologies. This segmentation is also a major commercial strategy for exhibitors seeking greater visibility, a guaranteed means of meeting the buyers and opticians attending the four-day exhibition.

ESB: The optical trade show world is becoming more competitive at the same time as the economic realities are sobering. What is Silmo doing this year to improve its competitive edge with exhibitors and visitors? In what ways is Silmo ahead of the competition?

PL: It is true that in a still uncertain economic climate, companies are seeking to optimise, or even reduce their investment in trade shows. We need to integrate this into our own sales strategy by offering solutions tailored to this specific context. For example, companies may not necessarily wish to exhibit at an individual booth, but rather in a showroom setting. Our role is to be open and creative, which will enable us to provide the most wide-ranging and comprehensive offering possible within a flexible exhibition package. Our competitive advantages lie in a desire not to set the event in stone, but rather to shape its development by prioritizing innovation… and above all by remembering that we are much more than just a commercial exhibition rolled out once a year; we are also a forum for debate, knowledge, discovery and promotion of the optics and eyewear sector throughout the entire year.

ESB: Would you agree that the role of the trade show is being rapidly redefined by changes in communications technology? If so, how does Silmo respond to that?

PL: Several years ago, people were talking of the decline or even demise of the trade fair format, but in fact the very opposite has happened – there have never been so many events taking place across the world! The virtual world has crossed over into the real world, placing people at the heart of the agenda. The opening up of new markets globally cannot be achieved from a distance; it relies on meeting stakeholders in person. The more the business environment expands, the greater the need to maximize its presence across every continent. As far as Silmo is concerned, it has long been an active member of the digital community, with a vocal presence in every social media outlet, an interactive website packed with information, and a digital trends magazine (Mo by Silmo).

ESB: The 2014 edition of Silmo – from September 26 to 29, 2014 – in Paris, promises to be a stimulating and educational forum for everyone in the optical industry. 

While Thinking Globally, Ronor Acts Locally

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By Paddy Kamen


Robert Charbonneau and his company, Ronor International Inc., are not shy when it comes to participating in world markets. The 100 per cent Canadian-controlled firm expanded into China in 2006 as one of the first ventures allowed to operate as a wholly owned foreign investment under new central government regulations.

Charbonneau, Ronor’s founder and president, demonstrated his commitment to expansion by moving his family to Hong Kong, where they lived for almost three years. It was a fascinating business experience as well as a tremendous cultural immersion for the whole family. “It was a very positive experience for my son, who was eight at the time, and my daughter, who was ten. She is now fluent in Mandarin, which is a key global language,” says Charbonneau. “And we all learned what it means to be members of a visible minority group.”

Working through 11 levels of government to establish a factory in Foshan City, Guangdong province was, “relatively easy,” notes Charbonneau. “China is a place where you can accomplish great things if you know how. But if you don’t know the rules, speak the language and understand their protocols, things can move at a snail’s pace. The learning curve was much more difficult than anticipated and the project took a long time to get off the ground.”

But Charbonneau succeeded and the factory is now in its fifth year of production, employing more than 200 people who manufacture Ronor-designed lens cleaning products and cases. “It was surprisingly easy to find a reliable and dedicated workforce,” notes Charbonneau. “They are not particularly loyal to their employers but the vast majority work hard and do an excellent job. One of the most difficult things was to establish a good supplier base.”

While it was frightening at the time, the world-wide economic slowdown in 2008-09 actually helped Ronor to succeed, as Charbonneau explains: “The Chinese economy experienced only a quick purge of the weakest manufacturers, which was, in fact, a good thing. Business rebounded rapidly and there were fewer companies to share the same volume. Economic slowdowns force organizations to review their habits and procurement practices, so this turned out to be an opportunity to meet new customers. Suddenly, thinking outside of the box became urgent and new opportunities were created.

“While the whole venture of setting up in China was, in retrospect, riskier and more difficult than expected, one of the rewards is that we are now, as far as we know, the only Canadian and possibly the only North American-based cleaning lens products and cases company that is 100 per cent vertically integrated.”

Over the past year a rapid and sustained rate of inflation in China has caused a surge in export prices. “Thanks to a strong Canadian dollar relative to the U.S. currency, most of these increases have not yet been reflected in the Canadian marketplace but this can’t continue forever,” notes Charbonneau.

Going global for Ronor also means distributing their accessory products in more than 15 countries, including the U.S.– their biggest customer outside Canada. Most major American retailers, including Luxottica Retail, Costco, US Vision, and Kaiser Permanente, are customers, as are U.S.-based importers like Altair, New York Eye and Nouveau.

Canadian retailers are fortunate in being the first to benefit from distribution of Ronor’s fashion frames, reading glasses and sunglasses. Since going into the frame business in 2000, Ronor has continuously expanded that side of the business and aligned with some of the top names in the industry, including Eschenbach Optik GmbH of Nuremberg, Germany. In fact, the two companies will soon be announcing a five-year renewal of their exclusive contract.

“We are glad that our excellent performance has allowed us to forge such a strong relationship with this first-class German company,” says Charbonneau. “Eschenbach is known for their great design and superior quality and has won numerous international design awards. For at least the next five years, the love affair between Canadian opticians and the Humphrey’s, Brendel and Marc O’Polo brands, among others, will continue to be delivered through Ronor. Dealing with the best in the frame industry helps Ronor become one of the best distributors here at home.”

Humphrey’s is Ronor’s number one collection and the company sells more units of that brand per capita than are sold in any other country among the nine subsidiaries outside of Germany.

The other brands Ronor represents include New York Eye/Hart Specialties and house brands Nordic, King Size and 4U&I. The ‘Boutique Wholesale’ subsidiary Voila Vision Inc. distributes French designer frames Azzaro, Thierry Mugler, Smalto and licensed brands IKKS, and X-One.

Eighteen full-time sales reps bring the Ronor focus on service and customer satisfaction home to more than 3,500 accounts across Canada. “The caliber of our salespeople, most of whom have been with us for over 10 years, makes me confident that each and every contact point with our customers will be satisfying for them. We want every ECP to feel at ease trying all of our products and services because we stand behind them 100 per cent,” says Charbonneau.

Where is Ronor headed? True to form, there will be expansion both at home and abroad. “Here in Canada we will be growing by leaps and bounds with a mix of acquisitions and structural improvements aimed at making us the best service provider ever to Canadian ECPs,” notes Charbonneau. “A company like Ronor, with units outside Canada and customers worldwide, is best poised to deliver added value through our commitment to ‘think globally, act locally’.”

Robert Charbonneau, who has made the local and global growth of Ronor his life’s work, is expecting to hand over the reins of his company to a younger team within the next few years. “Ronor is the story of my life,” he says. “And before long I will enjoy watching it continue to grow while lying on a beach somewhere beautiful and sunny.”

No doubt Charbonneau will be thinking globally when he considers which beaches to visit between September and May. Come the Canadian summer, he’ll have plenty of ‘local’ beaches to choose from in La Belle Province and elsewhere in Canada. Don’t forget the sunscreen — and sunglasses from Ronor!

Unravelling the Mystery of Sunwear

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By Dana Sacco

The funny thing about sunglasses is that they become part of our persona and allow us to project an image or style. Of course, sunglasses also protect our eyes and the delicate skin around them. Technologically advanced sun lenses provide crisp optics and enhance visual performance. It’s such a cliché – the guy on the beach admiring females passing by, with full confidence that his observations are shielded by a pair of dark sunglasses. Like all stereotypes it contains a modicum of truth. Yes, sunglasses protect us from harmful UV rays but they also add that layer of mystery.

So, it’s interesting to look at what motivates our clients and to understand the behavioural needs that drive their sunglass purchases. Opticians have a long-standing tradition in retail and an innate philosophy of customer-focused selling. They are trained to understand the lifestyle and needs of the customer and to provide the perfect eyewear solution for them.

Optical inventory selections are often driven by trends in the marketplace. Some opticians have a “golden gut” that lets them pair the perfect sunwear trend to the patient. Those opticians instinctively understand the key motivating behaviours of their customers and translate that “EQ” or emotional intelligence into the perfect sale.

An example is the “weekend warrior” who lives a sport-centred lifestyle. Many athletes have fiercely competitive natures. This assertiveness drives them to go to great lengths to get the newest style or technology to enhance their athletic performance. Any Oakley or adidas sunwear dealer has served a customer who knows all about the newest, “about-to-be-released” model. Just like a new golf club that will make their shots 20 yards longer, the sunglass is in hot demand.

Generally speaking, if a client pursues individual sports they may be less extroverted and will choose a more conservative style. Their more extroverted counterparts often choose team sports and identify with bold colours and distinctive designs.

An athlete who is a strong sequential processor, such as a long-distance marathon runner or golfer, displays core behaviours linked to repetitive tasks, which are sustained for long periods of time. These people are often quite happy to wear the same style for many years. Or, if they update their look, the next model will be quite similar to their last, as they may be reluctant to change.

A person who is hard-wired for urgency to achieve their goals, such as a beach volleyball player, whose sport has a very random changing pattern, will likely own multiple pairs of sunglasses to suit their mood and playing conditions. Sunwear models that offer choices of lens colours or a changeable palette in the frame design will appeal to their natures.

Identifying your athletic customers’ need for detail will also help the sales process. Those attracted to highly technical sports, such as road cycling and mountain biking, will often display a need to know all the technological aspects of their purchase and demand the same attention to detail as they would in purchasing their coveted bicycle.

The level of core behaviours, such as assertiveness, extroversion, sense of urgency and detail orientation, give the retailer a basic pattern to work with in the selling process. In behavioural science you must take account of individual personality, which is shaped by birth order, cultural context and other external experiential factors. However, some studies indicate that understanding core behaviours can give us insight into about 30 per cent of a person’s make-up and help predict behavioural outcomes with about 85 per cent accuracy.

As an optician, sunglasses represent the “fun” side of the eyecare business. Every client has unique needs and it’s not necessarily the activity that drives their final purchase decision. Each customer presents a new mystery for the optician to solve and a new opportunity to establish a valuable long-term relationship.

Can You Talk Technology?

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Can You Talk Technology?
By Brian P. Dunleavy

Optical shop owner Steven Levy believes he has an advantage when it comes to understanding lens technology. His three-location business inToronto—LF Optical and LF Warehouse – began as an eyeglass-processing laboratory.

“The LF in the name originally meant ‘Lenses First,” he explains.

Even so, it hasn’t been easy for Levy and his staff of seven opticians to stay up-to-date on the latest in spectacle lens design. “Think about how it is when you buy a TV now,” notes Levy, who is not an optical practitioner but has been in the business for more than 20 years. “Three months later, if you walk up to the counter in the store with the same TV, the clerk laughs at you. It’s almost the same way with lens technology.”

Indeed, the past decade has seen a baffling array of technical enhancements in eyeglass lenses, from free-form progressives to digital single-vision. Keeping current can be a full-time job and it doesn’t help that lenses often take a backseat in optical shops to high-fashion frames, or that optometrists have taken an increasing interest in ocular biology and disease.

“Your garden-variety optometrist has not kept up well with new lens technology,” says Dr. B. Ralph Chou, MSc, OD, FAAO, an associate professor in the School of Optometry at the University of Waterloo and a practicing optometrist for more than 30 years.

Adds Madelaine Petrin, RO, an optician and professor in the opticianry program at Toronto’s Seneca College, “Our graduates know the latest lens technologies. For how long? That depends on where they work.”

Educators like Petrin and Chou feel strongly that eyecare practitioners – be they opticians in optical shops or optometrists with optical retail businesses in their practices – must improve their working knowledge of optics technology to ensure they offer their patients and customers the best eyeglass products available. According to Dr. Chou, studies have found that 50 to 60 per cent of optometrists’ income is derived from eyeglass sales, so they, “need to know how to hang glass because that’s where the money is.”

“Without a doubt, patients are more concerned about the ‘label’ on their frames than the actual lenses they house – or at least they are when they enter our clinics,” adds Dr. Alan R. Boyco, OD, owner of Image Optometry, a 14-location chain of optometry clinics in B.C. “But we’ve learned over the years that while a designer frame will elicit a lot of compliments for the patient, a ‘designer’ lens will generate a lot of new patients for our clinics.”

So how can eyecare practitioners stay informed on new lens technology? Continuing education meetings and courses for both opticians and optometrists are an excellent source of information on eyeglass lens designs. Both Boyco and Levy suggest having those who attend such programs share what they’ve learned with their colleagues in the optical shop or optometry practice through in-office workshops. Similarly, sending shop or practice representatives to local, regional or national conferences can help. Lens manufacturers are usually well represented at such events and more than willing to share information on their products. Once again, attendees can come back with knowledge to share with colleagues. Finally, lens-processing laboratories are also excellent sources of information on lens designs; lab personnel have hands-on knowledge of how new designs affect optics.

Above all, it doesn’t matter how you learn, just that you learn. It can make a difference in how your patients see, and whether they come back to you in the future.

“I want to offer our clients the best products available,” Levy says. “If they leave wearing nice frames, friends will ask, ‘Hey, where did you get those?’ If they leave wearing lenses with good optics, they will see better and tell their friends and family how knowledgeable our staff is. It is just good business.”